Last year we witnessed the emergence of a 7-foot superman and the crowning of King James as the All-Star MVP, so what can we expect to see this year? Expect the self-dubbed "Big Cactus," 7 foot 2 inch, 325 lpound, Shaquille Rashaun O'Neal to make a splash in his 15th All-Star appearance of his career. Shaquille has been an All-Star 15 out of the 16 years he has played in his career (the 2nd most in the history of the NBA).
The weekend kicked off with a bang on Friday, as various celebrities tried their hand at basketball, in the Celebrity All-Star game. Terrell Owens won his 2nd consecutive MVP, once again showcasing his athletic prowess on a national level. The night was capped off with the battle between the rookies and the sophomores in the Rookie Challenge. The game was close but it quickly became a shoot out between rookie Michael Beasley from the Miami Heat and sophomore standout, Kevin Durant from the Oklahoma City Thunder. Durant carried the sophomores to a 122-116 victory with 46 points, shattering Amare Stoudemire's previous scoring record of 36 points. Durant hit 17 of his 25 shots and was 4-8 from beyond the arc. "I approached it like a regular game," Durant said. "I wanted to go out and have fun. Fortunately my shots were going down."Beasley finished with 29 points of his own in the loss. This is the 7th straight win for the sophomores. Durant also went on to win the H-O-R-S-E competition against Memphis Grizzlies' O.J. Mayo and Atlanta Hawks' Joe Johnson.
To follow up Durant's performance on Friday night was a difficult task but leave it up to the stars of Saturday night to meet and exceed expectations. Saturday is always one of the most anticipated and intriguing nights of All-Star weekend, as players from around the league compete in the Skills Challenge, Shooting Stars, Three-Point Shootout, and the Slam Dunk contest. This was also the first year that the NBA D-League players were given the opportunity to showcase their talent in the D-League All-Star game.
Chicago Bulls rookie Derick Rose, won the Skills Challenge, beating San Antonio's Tony Parker, Cleveland's Mo Williams, and New Jersey's Devin Harris. Rose dominated Harris in the final round, winning by a margin of 4.4 seconds, and even adding a double-pump reverse dunk in his final run for good measure. Following the Skills Challenge, Team Detroit won the Shooting Stars competition beating the 2-time champion Team San Antonio. In the Three-Point Shootout, an extra round was needed before Miami's Daequan Cook caught fire, posting a 19 point final performance to beat out Orlando's Rashard Lewis and ending Jason Kapono's 2 year streak.
The highlight of the night, however, was the battle between the Heavyweight champion Dwight "Superman" Howard, and the featherweight challenger Nate Robinson. Robinson, a tentative 5 foot 9 inch guard from the New York Knicks and previous 2007 NBA Slam Dunk champion, managed to literally leap over 7 foot Dwight Howard and win the 2009 Slam Dunk crown. The competition was not as exciting as last year's contest but it was full of Slam Dunk history firsts. Howard became the first to raise the rim and dunk on a 12 foot rim rather than a regular 10 foot rim; however, Nate Robinson's dunk over Howard stole the show, as he was the first to dunk over a 7 footer in the history of the competition.
Robinson could face some stiff competition, as one of the league's best dunkers has proclaimed that he will be making an appearance in next year's Slam Dunk contest. If LeBron James, does decide to compete, it could be a revival of sorts for an often starless Slam Dunk contest in recent years. Maybe the fans will once again be treated to duels between some of the NBA's biggest stars like the old school battles between Michael Jordan and Dominique Wilkins, rather than mediocre performances put on by relatively no-name players in the eyes of the average NBA fan. Don't get me wrong, it's great that others are given the opportunity to shine on such a huge national level but many would love to see Kobe Bryant, Dwayne Wade, LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, Amare Stoudamire and many more household names compete in the Slam Dunk challenge. It would be the battle of the titans like it was in the early '90s.
What to Watch:
Be sure to watch tonight's 58th NBA All-Star game between the East and West. Last year the East took home the title and LeBron James was crowned the All-Star game MVP. Expect the West to bounce back and try to show the world that they are the better conference. Also, every year, the players try to get the home player the MVP title so expect either Amare Stoudamire or Shaquille O'Neal to be in the talks for All-Star MVP. Should be a great game so make sure you check it out and that's it for this installment of Heather's Sports World.
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