NBA All-Star Game Preview History
2011 NBA ALL-STAR GAME PREVIEW:
This year’s NBA All-Star game in the Los Angeles Staples Center could be one fans of roundball could still be talking about a decade from now. ESPN’s pre-eminent sports and pop culture writer Bill Simmons noted that this could be the best one since the 1987 extravaganza that featured Magic, Bird and Michael Jordan (along with Isiah Thomas, James Worthy and Dominique Wilkins among others). Why? Because the most of the talent is nearing, or at, the apex of their court brilliance, or as Simmons wrote, “The great Tim Duncan is looming as the worst All-Star on a 2011 team.” Think about that.
As of this writing, the balloting for the starting five went like this: the East would start LeBron James and Dwyane Wade (Miami Heat), Derrick Rose (Chicago Bulls), Dwight Howard (Orlando Magic) and Amare Stoudemire (New York Knicks). On the West’s side, Kobe Bryant (LA Lakers), Chris Paul (New Orleans Hornets), Yao Ming (Houston Rockets), Carmelo Anthony (Denver Nuggets) and Kevin Durant (Oklahoma City Thunder) take the stage. Since Yao’s foot will prevent him from playing, this creates a spot for Pau Gasol (Lakers) or Duncan to come in. Have you ever seen so many different past (Bryant, Duncan), present (LeBron, two years running) and strongly possible future MVPs (Rose, Durant, Howard) one game’s roster? This doesn’t even mention possible players like Dirk Nowitzki (Dallas Mavericks, although his injury will derail him, too), Deron Williams (Utah Jazz), Danny Granger (Indiana Pacers) or LaMarcus Aldridge (Portland TrailBlazers).
As you can tell, there's a youth movement taking over the NBA. Besides players like Rose, Durant and Westbrook, a collection of high-flying ballers who are in their first or second years, like the amazing duo of Blake Griffin (Los Angeles Clippers) and Kevin Love (Minnesota Timberwolves) might not even make it until next year. This All-Star Game might be the watershed moment in this new era of the NBA, and thus, something you definitely don’t want to miss.
2010 NBA ALL-STAR GAME PREVIEW:
The 2010 NBA All-Star Game is heading to one the biggest, most advanced new stadiums in the world. The 2010 NBA All-Star Weekend will be played at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas. The 2010 game will be played Valentine's Day weekend, and be the first NBA game at the state-of-the-art facility built by Jerry Jones.
The 2010 NBA All-Star Game should set a new NBA attendance record as over 60,000 fans could attend the game. The NBA All-Star Weekend festivities include the Rookie/Sophomore Game on Friday, the Skills Competition on Saturday night, and the All-Star Game on Sunday. The Saturday night event features the popular Slam Dunk contest and 3-point shooting competition. It remains to be seen whether Lebron James tries to enter, and win, both of those competitions.