2012 NBA All-Star Game

Welcome to Orlando! No, I’m not there. I asked Moe to fly me out to Florida for the weekend but he said that the Bastardly jet was already in use. I’ll have to settle for watching it on TV all weekend.

The first day has already been completed and in case you didn’t get a chance to watch it, I’ll just let you know that it was full of laughs and highlights. The celebrity all-star game kicked things off with one Kevin Hart predicting “I’m going to put up 40 and 10” and while he didn’t get anywhere near those numbers, he definitely put on a show for the crowd. Among the other celebrities were Ne-Yo, J. Cole, Common, Vinny Guadagnino and various others. The teams were led by coaches Dwight Howard and Kevin Durant. While it was a blowout in favor of Howard’s Eastern team, it was an all-around fun time for anyone that was involved.

Later on in the day came the NBA Rising Stars Challenge. It used to just be called the “Rookie-Sophomore” game but instead they decided on a new format that I completely agree with. Team Shaq and Team Chuck were the coaches for each team. While Blake Griffin was limited in action, he did provide some night highlights including a couple of excellent passes from Ricky Rubio. John Wall ended the last ten minutes with an array of self-dunks. In the end, rookie Kyrie Irving from Cleveland ended the game with 34 points (including 8 for 8 from 3s) and was named the MVP as Team Chuck took the victory from Team Shaq 146-133. The future of the league looks bright (especially for groupies looking for their future baby-daddy’s) after watching all of this talent go head-to-head with each other.

What’s next for Orlando this weekend? Well tonight there’s an array of events, starting off with the NBA D-League All-Star game. While that game doesn’t sound like it’s going to be very exciting, watch out for the next star that could break out and take the league by storm. Does that sound LINteresting? (man, I’m so funny!) Then it’s on to All-Star Saturday Night with the Shooting Stars, Skills Challenge, Three-Point Contest and it all culminates with the Slam Dunk contest. No Blake Griffin this year but I think that’s the perfect set up for someone to do something special. Hey, if anything, root for the white guy from Houston to win the dunk contest!

The weekend ends with the 61st NBA All-Star game. (Sunday 9/25 8:30 ET) Starters from the East include the Heat’s James and Wade, Knicks’ Anthony, Bulls’ Rose and hometown Howard. The West on the other hand is VERY LA-heavy. So heavy that the Thunder’s Durant is the only starter that doesn’t play in sunny-and-75-degrees-everyday Los Angeles. Lakers’ Bryant and Bynum along with Clippers’ Griffin and Paul are the rest of the starters. In last year’s game Kobe showed the young guns how it’s done and dropped 37 while taking home the MVP honors. Who will emerge in this year’s game? Yes, the stars really don’t care about the game but always look at the 4th quarter if the game is close. Too many alpha dogs. Something exciting will happen and if I had to bet, I’d say that LeBron is going to put up a ridiculous stat line.

Have a great weekend everyone!

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