Is NBA All-Star weekend all hype? What's it's purpose anyway? Well no, I don't believe it is all hype, I believe it is a great chance for fans, players, and coaches to take a well deserved break for a few days and just have fun. I know that I always enjoy watching the events. Last year my favorite Washington Huskie Nate Robinson, although he shouldn't have, won the dunk contest. Dirk put on a show for us with his 3 point shooting. Dwayne Wade was fun to watch in the skills challenge. And the all-star game was good. The West took a big league, then the East came back and it was pretty a exciting game, although I was cheering for the West.The game is good because we get to see the best players in the world square off. Some of them know it's not a game that counts so they can do some crazy things such as throwing the ball off the glass and going for the dunk. You would probably see more alley-oop attempts in an all-star game then all games in the regular season. These players know how to put on a show, and just hearing these names has got to electrify you. Kobe Bryant, Dwayne Wade, LeBron James, Shaquille O'Neal, Tim Duncan, Kevin Garnett, Steve Nash, Amare Stoudemire, the list goes on and on. They are the leagues best, on 1 court, on 1 day, in 1 game a year. Is the all-star game bigger then the NBA Finals? No way! But I guarantee you more people would want to watch this game then watching some of the regular season games. As a matter of fact, the all-star game for some people is the only game they watch all year, because they know the NBA has star power again, something we didn't think we would have after Michael Jordan left. So let's take a look at the all-star games players and their accomplishments.I am not saying this because he's my favorite athlete of all-time, but we all know that Kobe Bryant is by far the best, and most accomplished player in the NBA, and in the all-star game. This is his 9th all-star game in his brilliant career. He has 3 rings, has gone to the NBA Finals 4 times, last year scored 62 points in 3 quarters, 81 points in 1 game, 55 in the second half, and averaged over 35 points per game. This year he is averaging 29 points a game, and has the Lakers back in the playoff mix. He seems to be the favorite to be the all-star games MVP, and he may be this years regular season MVP, and he deserves it. Shaquille O'Neal, a former teammate of Kobe Bryant, is in his 14th straight all-star game, tying the great former Lakers legend Jerry West, 1961-1974, and former Utah Jazz and Los Angeles Laker Karl Malone, 1988-2002. He has gone to the NBA Finals 6 times, winning 4 rings, and 3 NBA Finals MVP awards. Some say that Shaq has run out of gas, but this would be a great time to prove them wrong. LeBron James and Yao Ming both led the votings for their conferences, and are both former number 1 overall draft picks. The race was very close in the East. Dwyane Wade secured one starting spot with 2,029,591 votes and Gilbert Arenas had 1,454,166 just barely beating out Vince Carter, who had 1,451,156 votes. It was the 4th closest voting race in NBA All-Star history. Dwayne Wade was last years NBA Finals MVP, and is having a great year this year averaging 27 points a game, and he was also last years skills challenge winner. Gilbert Arenas is averaging 29 points a game, and has the Washington Wizards in contention. Chris Bosh who recieved 1,091,263 votes, is going to make his 1st career all-star game, and he really deserved it. Don't be suprised to see his name thrown in with Kobe, Nash, and Dirk in the MVP race if the Raptors keep on winning. Tim Duncan has made another all-star game, and he is another great player, one of the best of all-time. He has 3 rings, and 3 NBA Finals MVPs. He is very smart and knows how to win, and that's why he has been so succesful in his career. Kevin Garnett is only 31 years old and has a couple big years left in him. There is only one number that matters and that's the number in the win column. He has won an MVP, but it's amazing he hasn't got the Timberwolves into the NBA Finals yet. He came close in 2004, but fell short to the Lakers losing in the Western Conference Finals 4 games to 2.
im just gonna watch the rookie-soph game. Deron Williams is gonna pwn, and I cant wait to see Brandon Roy compared to all the other rookies.too bad Lamarcus Aldridge isnt there:vs Washington:18 pts, 10 rebounds
Andrew Bynum is going to dominate that game. As much as I love Brandon Roy being a Washington Huskie fan. Nobody is big or strong enough to guard Bynum.
I dont think Bynum will put up very big numbers, this is going to be a guards game and Williams and Paul are going to go off.
