The NBA had their all-star break this past weekend and it was quite eventful and fun to watch. Taking place in New Orleans, the festivities included the Celebrity game, Rookie Challenge, Shooting Stars, Skills Competition, Three-Point Shoot-Out, Dunk Contest, and the All-Star game.
The most notable events were the Three-Point Shoot-Out, the Dunk Contest, and the All-Star game. Toronto’s Jason Kapono easily defended his title against some of the league’s best 3 point shooters including Dirk Nowitzki and Peja Stojakovic. In the much anticipated Dunk Contest, Dwight Howard was quite literally “Superman” and I can’t help but feel that Jamario Moon would have provided a better challenge for the smiling giant Howard, than the serious Gerald Green. In the All-Star game, other than the poorly designed uniforms and the abundance of turnovers, the action was competitive and great at the end. It was exciting to see Ray Allen steal the game away from the West when Chris Paul was leading them to a come-back after being down by ~10 points for most of the game. Somehow LeBron James racked up some serious stats under the radar and was named the game’s MVP. Personally I thought Ray Allen should have received the honours after coming off the bench, knocking down 26 points, and winning the game single-handedly, but stats are stats.
Well that concludes the All-Star weekend summary, and I look forward to seeing how the US team fares in the Olympics in Beijing.