Say what you want about Americans, but they sure know how to celebrate. In the US, they don’t settle for one poxy event to mark a special occassion, they have a whole weekend filled with events to really make the event feel special. The NBA All-Star event is no different. A weekend packed full of events that truly make the whole thing a specticle for the fans, players and coaching staff alike.
The weekend kicks off today with the NBA Celebrity All-Star game, featuring NBA Legends Magic Johnson, Scottie Pippen and Bill Walton, singing sensation Justin Bieber and Saturday Night Live alumni Jimmy Kimmel. This is followed by the Rookie v Sophomore game which pitches the leagues best first year players against the best second year players. Saturday see’s the NBA Development League All-Star game followed by the fan friendly All-Star Saturday Night which consists of the Skills Challenge, 3-Point Shootout and the much lauded Dunk Contest. This is all rounded off on Sunday night by the main event, the 60th NBA All-Star game.
The All-Star game features the best players the NBA has to offer and is usually an offensive onslaught where defending is outlawed and the players really let loose showing their skill-sets. The starting line-ups this season consist of Kobe Bryant (LA Lakers), Kevin Durrant (Oklahoma City Thunder), Chris Paul (New Orleans Hornets), Carmelo Anthony (Denver Nuggets) and Tim Duncan (San Antonio Spurs) represnt the West. The East features Derrick Rose (Chicago Bulls), LeBron James, Dwayne Wade (both Miami Heat), Amar’e Stoudamire (New York Knicks) and Dwight Howard (Orlando Magic).
If you haven’t witnessed the magic of the NBA yet, then this weekend would be a great way to start. The NBA should be more appealing to British fans than some of the other American sports due to the more frantic back and forth style and less stoppages. However the sport seems to take a backseat in Britain to the NFL with British Basketball attendences averaging less than 1000 a game. Dispite this, the NBA are pushing the sport over here by following the NFL’s lead and staging games over here, namely at the O2 arena. The giants of sport know how to put on a performance, and the 2011 All-Star game will no doubtbe any different.
On that note I’m going to leave you with Orlando’s Dwight Howard winningthe 2008 Slam Dunk Contest. You WILL be amazed.