It is that time of the year again! Basketball players are getting that break in the season to entertain their fans, while worrying about trade rumors in the back of their head. With the NBA steadily increasing on it popularity, watching all the top athletes together during a weekend full of events can be quite exciting. However, I must admit that the All-Star Games and Saturday night events have not been up to par in the recent past. The competition level has fallen off and the prestige is not as prominent. Even still, the NBA All-Star weekend is still captivating, especially as it continues to grow socially.
For me, I am excited to see the Superstars battle against one another, especially because Lebron seems to be on another level this year. Will he take the last shot in this year’s All-Star game (unlike last year)? Kevin Durant is built for games like these so maybe the West will still have the upper hand. But the more exciting thing to me is the fact that there are a few young guys selected to play in the All-Star game that are the future of the NBA. Guys like Kyrie Irving (who was the Rookie of the Year last year), Jrue Holiday (the young big point guard who is leading the 76ers), and Paul George (Indiana’s swingman forward similar to Tracy McGrady) are all in their first few years in the league and are already make a name for themselves. These are the types of players that the NBA looks forward to featuring as they continue to grow. Also work horses like Joakim Noah and Zach Randolph are finally getting recognized as All-Stars.
Each player voted on this year definitely deserved to be on the All-Star Team, and the only one I believe that was snubbed was Stephen Curry. He has the Warriors playing lights out basketball and deserves to be on this All-Star roster. The one player I am excited to see play in this game is the Houston representative, James Harden. I believe he may get MVP because he is on a tear to show the NBA that he is a superstar, and rightfully so.
So how are the festivities going to turn out? I really like to watch the BBVA Rising Stars Challenge just to watch the young talent in the NBA. Shaq seems to have acquired the better team this year, but Chuck knows how to beat Shaq. The way this game was played last year, I will have to say #TeamShaq will probably win. Kevin Hart makes his return to the Celebrity Game (this should be entertaining) so he probably will get voted MVP again by his millions of twitter fans.
The big question lurking out there is will the Dunk Contest ever get better? With the crop of talent this year, it may be an entertaining event to watch. I will say that either James “Flight” White or Gerald Green wins this dunk contest. However, I think each contestant should get only 3 tries to dunk instead of the time limit so it can speed of the dunks and add more pressure to complete the dunk. And since the NBA loves to use social media, I recently wrote an article about the ways social media can enhance the Dunk Contest. What are your thoughts?
We are at the halfway point and it still looks as if we may see a Miami Heat vs. Oklahoma City Thuner Finals. But don’t count out teams like the Clippers, Pacers, Knicks, and Spurs. They all have looked impressive thus far in the season. Should be an interesting second half of the season.
Check out this video preview of the All-Star Weekend by Macklemore & Ryan Lewis. It is sure to get you hype for some basketball.
Is kobe still the best in the NBA…..
No, Lebron clearly is