As usual, since the decline of my beloved Pacers, the only NBA-related events I follow are the NBA All-Star Weekend and the finals at the very end of each season. This year's star-studded festivities were held in Phoenix, home of the Suns. The question is: did it live up to previous weekends?
Let's elaborate a little.
All-Star Friday saw the sophomores continue their dominance over the rookies with a 122-116 win . Kevin Durant of the Oklahoma City Thunder led the way with a record 46 points. He was in the middle of things again when he won the inaugural HORSE competition the next day.
Like Kevin, this year's 1st draft pick Derrick Rose of the Chicago Bulls certainly did no harm on his tag as one of the brightest young players in the game. His silky point guard skills were on showcase as he passed the obstacles throughout the skills challenge to win with aplomb (check out the dunk finish).
Moving forward, the shooting stars competition wasn't really a crowd-pleaser in this year's event. Team Phoenix were beaten by Detroit in the second round. Their inability to hit the half-court shot cost them dearly (it took 22 attempts).
Next, Miami Heat shooting guard Daequan Cook performed impressively in the 3 point shootout. Dethroning 2-time champion Jason Kapono, Daequan needed a tiebreak to beat Orlando's Rashard Lewis to win the contest. He finished with a total of 19 points over Rashard's 7.
And to cap things off, the slam dunk contest brought defending champion Dwight "Superman" Howard to face-off against 2006 champion Nate Robinson, J.R. Smith of the Nuggets, and fan-voted Spaniard Rudy Fernandez from the Trailblazers.
There were some neat dunks, although most of them seemed like slight modifications of previous dunks seen in the competition. Having said that, the showmanship, especially from Howard and Robinson was exceptional. Dwight had me laughing on my pants when he brought out a telephone box and a higher ring just to pull off his tricks. Nate was also hilarious when he went to the dressers and came out all green. He was dubbed "Krypton-Nate" as opposed to Dwight being the man in red and blue tights. Probably his dunk over Dwight in the end justified his win with a 52% fan vote. A poor final dunk from Howard also blew the wind in his direction, so I guess the villain deservedly had the last laugh
To wrap things up was Sunday's All-Star Game. Of course it was more circus fare than competition with all the big names and party tricks. It even began before the game, with Shaq showing sweet dancing skills for a seven footer.
Shaq was the center of the attention for the course of the match, with my personal fave of the night: a give and go with CP3 through the legs of Dwight. Now that's funny.
In the end, the romanticism that was Kobe and Shaq playing again in the same team proved deadly, easing the West to a resounding 146-119 over the East. Rightly so, Kobe and Shaq were both named as co-MVP's for the game.
So, to answer the question on how it measures up to the All-Star Weekends of yesteryear, the answer would be yes, but barely. While the usual excitement and razzle-dazzle was there, no records were shattered, and more over, bar-Sunday, no one really brought the house down (read: Carter in '00, Dwight in '08). With that in mind, I can safely say that while the weekend was fun, it was below the ring for those expecting to be blown away.
-R
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