As the NBA season heads into the next stretch of play, fans and players alike were entertained by this past weekend’s all-star festivities. Throughout the weekend fans were treated to the Sprint celebrity game and the Rising Stars Challenge on Friday, the Shooting Stars Challenge and the Sprite Dunk Contest on Saturday and then finally, the All-Star game on Sunday.
The Sprint Celebrity interested many considering Kevin Hart went on a tirade that led to him getting ejected from the event.
Hart threw his shoes off, ripped off his jersey, and even dropped his shorts to the referee before walking back to the bench. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan was the Most Valuable Player.
The Rising Stars Challenge followed the celebrity game. All eyes were on Jeremy Lin, who was just put on the roster last week. Although Lin did not rise to the occasion this time, Cleveland’s Kyrie Irving did and led team Chuck to a victory.
On Saturday, fans were treated to the Shooting Stars Challenge. New York Knicks’ Landry Fields, retired Knick, Allan Houston, and New York Liberty’s Cappie Pondexter lifted team New York to victory.
Next, the Taco Bell Skill’s Challenge began strong. The first round ended in a tie between Boston Celtic’s Rajon Rondo and Washington Wizard’s John Wall. Rondo edged out Wall, but the final round did not go in Rondo’s favor as he was beaten by the San AntonioSpur’s Tony Parker.
The night concluded with the Sprite Slam Dunk Contest. Although Blake Griffin was not a contestant this year, there was still excitement.
Houston’s Chase Budinger’s blindfolded slam dunk looked like it was going to be the winner, but Utah’s Jeremy Evans jumped over teammate Gordon Hayward, while slamming a two-ball dunk and won over the fans. Evans did not even know he was going to be in the contest until earlier last week, when it was announced that the Knicks’ Iman Shumpert was not going to be able to compete.
Sunday brought dunk city and little defense to the television sets across the country. Highlights from Lebron James, Kobe Bryant and MVP Kevin Durant sparked the contest and gave it the necessary flavor needed to keep the fans watching. If one wanted to watch defense, then turn off the channel because it never showed up.
Kobe Bryant wound up passing Michael Jordan on the all-time all-star scoring list and the West beat the East 152-149. The NBA season will begin to heat up again this Tuesday with Minnesota visiting “Lob City” and the L.A. Clippers.
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