All-Star Game thoughts

One of the few games in the NBA I make a point to watch during the early-to-mid regular season is the All-Star Game.

It's one of the few times where you know exactly what to expect and enjoy every minute of it. Although I may love strong defensive play, this game makes no bones about the fact that it is offensively driven and it's thrilling TV.

Honestly, the game itself is a dunk contest, and it makes me wonder why we have a circus-like dunk contest when you could simply have it inside the game and offer a bonus for the best in-game dunk (a la KO of the Night in UFC).

Anyway, the game this year was exciting all the way down to the final minutes, with the Western Conference winning 152-149 over the Eastern Conference.

Some observations I had:

2003 All Stars vs. Kevin and the Angelites

The starting lineup of this year's squads were the epitome of skill meeting in one area.

The East's starters consisted of the three superstars of the 2003 NBA Draft: Dwayne Wade, Carmelo Anthony and LeBron James. The other two (Dwight Howard in 2004 and Derrick Rose in 2008) were later, but I find it interesting that the '03 draft class was so important now in retrospect.

This may be due to the fact that all three are now in their prime. Wade is the oldest and in the midst of his prime, and the other two are entering theirs.

I would expect these three to be a force for the next three or four years in this game as well.

Excellence can be seen converging geographically as well, though, as the West started four people playing for the Los Angeles squads. Kevin Durant of Oklahoma City had to play with Team Staples Center: Kobe Bryant and Andrew Bynum of the Lakers, and Blake Griffin and Chris Paul of the Clippers.

I would say that David Stern is loving this right now, as all the major markets have strong teams representing them, especially L.A.

Even in an All-Star Game, it's D-Wade's team more than LeBron's


In the closing moments of the game, the East had a chance to pull out the win, and in each situation, LeBron passed to D-Wade. I would argue right now that LeBron is not the most talented (Durant), best overall (Kobe) nor the most clutch (Wade) in the NBA.

LeBron has squandered a lot of ability and now is becoming known for failing in the final few moments. Wade is showing a far greater degree of maturity and I think that's why he is the head of the Miami Super Heat.

I know it's just an all-star game, but even so, it's a big stage with a national audience, and the game got very competitive in the closing minutes. I guarantee you the thoughts running through his mind were not "this doesn't mean anything."

He was in full competition mode and still passed up an open shot and threw into heavy traffic, which allowed Griffin to get a clutch steal.

As a whole, the All-Star game was a fun experience to watch on TV.

Unlike the NFL, whose game has no importance; MLB, whose game has an excessive amount of importance that perverts the mood of the game; and the NHL, whose game can't pick a format to save its life, this is an all-star game done right.

It knows what it is, executes it well, is fun to watch and gets serious when it matters. If any league sells individual star power and highlight-reel plays correctly, it's the NBA.