The 62nd annual NBA All-Star game concluded Sunday night with a fairly well-played contest ending with a Western Conference win 143-138 over the Eastern Conference. The game itself is more of a show than a competition which isn’t to knock the annual festivity but rather shed a truthful light upon it.
With that said we will treat the production that it was similar to an awards show and discuss some of the night’s biggest winners and losers.
Loser: The NBA’s selection of entertainment while heavy in name power fell short with its finished product. Ne-Yo‘s singing and dancing didn’t fit well with getting the crowd hyped especially when he crooned out his semi up-tempo ballad “Let me love you.” John Legend was the best performer of the evening and sang the National Anthem.
The entire arena seemed excited to see Alicia Keys perform at halftime and well, but let’s just say it didn’t go as expected. Her midsection, sound, and even song selection were all crucified both at the game and on social media outlets. I mean who sings the song “Empire State of Mind” in Houston four years after that song debuts? Oh, and if I saw Kevin Hart even one more time on the jumbotron I might have lost it.
Winner: Chris Paul won the MVP with a herculean performance of 20 points, 15 assist, and 4 steals. His play demonstrated why many are referring to him as a “point god” as of late. Paul controlled the game in his 27 minutes of action finding teammates for dunks and open jumpers with ease. Yes it was an all-star game with little defense, but Paul showed he is a star amongst stars.
Loser: Dwight Howard looked half-heartedly engaged in just 14 minutes of action. His shoulder is obviously still a problem and the usual joy he plays with seems to be extinguished. He still managed to score 9 points and grab 7 rebounds, even hitting a three but nothing about his performance left fans wanting to see more. He was oddly disengaged with Craig Sager when interviewed mid-game on the bench.
Winner: Kevin Durant scored 30 points and pulled down 6 rebounds in the Western conference’s win. He had some spectacular runs at the rack that left even casual fans impressed with his ability to finish in traffic.
Loser: Fans of the Celtics who wanted to see Kevin Garnett in his “last” all-star game only witnessed six minutes of action from the future hall of famer. Kyrie Irving started for KG in the second half (KG’s choice?). Still, if it was truly his swan song fans deserved a more proper farewell.
Winner: Carmelo Anthony did work posting 26 points & 12 rebounds and would have likely been the MVP if the East had pulled out the win. He seemed to be having a good time out there and his solid performance reminded everyone why he is a regular season MVP candidate.
Loser: All-star reserve bigs saw very little time on the court. Tim Duncan, Brook Lopez, LaMarcus Aldridge, David Lee, and Zach Randolph all saw less than 15 minutes of action. I feel bad for fans of those players but those are the breaks in such a star-studded affair.
Winner: The city of Houston did an amazing job hosting this year’s event. Staff in the arenas, convention center, and supporting areas were all cordial and helpful as much as they could be. Events were organized for young, old, families, and the city even offered free transportation on the city’s light rail service. Spacing of the key events and programs made them easily accessible and it’s easy to understand why Houston was awarded its second All-Star weekend in 7 years.
Loser: The pride of both LeBron James and Chris Bosh have to be hurt a little bit after some embarrassing moments suffered by each. LeBron was locked up by a motivated Kobe Bryant on multiple plays down the stretch and even had two shots slapped by the Black Mamba on crucial possessions.
Meanwhile, Bosh was used and abused by western conference players on the regular. Guards dribbled through the legs of Bosh twice on their way to the basket while others crossed him over on his feable attempts at defense. The memes and social media ridicule that followed the game for both players was classic. Luckily it was a meaningless game.
Did you watch the All-Star Game? What did you think of it?
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