NBA, Lebron James, Kobe Bryant, Chris Paul, Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, All-Star Weekend, Dunk Contest
Kyrie Irving stole the show during All-Star weekend by participating in three events
Kyrie Irving: A+
Kyrie Irving was every where during All-Star Weekend. The Rising Stars rookie and sophomore game—check. The Three-point Shootout—check. The actual All-Star Game itself—check. The kid put on a show for the fans all weekend, and may just be the next big NBA star.
The most exciting part of the festivities may have been Irving’s ball-handling display during the Rising Stars game when, during the finals few minutes, he unleashed a tirade on Brandon Knight so nasty and brutal that he will forever known as ‘the guy who got torched by Kyrie’. Check back in a few years and Irving may just be the best point guard in the league.
Chris Paul: A
CP3 absolutely owned the All-Star Game and took home a well-deserved MVP award for his measured and well-rounded 20 point, 15 assist and 4 steals performance. No one is really talking about it yet, but Paul is a serious contender for the MVP awards that really matter—regular season and finals MVP. The Clippers are a legit contender and could easily see themselves in the NBA Finals this season.
All-Star weekend: B
All-Star weekend was fun and definitely had a few extremely entertaining moments, but, overall, the event felt like it was just going through the motions and lacked a sense of buzz. There were no truly must-see events, and that’s including the All-Star Game itself. The NBA would be wise to try and revamp their mid-season celebration before it goes the way of the NFL Pro-Bowl and becomes completely irrelevant.
Kobe’s Block on LeBron: B
All this talk about Michael Jordan’s 50th birthday and who he would rather take, Kobe or LeBron, must have turned Bryant’s competitive meter on full-blast this weekend. During the final few minutes of the All-Star Game Kobe and LeBron went one-on-one for a few plays. Bryant was able to get the better of the King with two blocks. Kobe must have heard about Jordan’s defensive scheme to guard LeBron (in the fantastic piece by Wright Thompson) by making him go left and shoot jumpers. We can’t go too crazy about Kobe’s blocks on LeBron because, after all, it is just an All-Star game. If Kobe would have blocked LeBron the last time the Heat and Lakers played, then our heads could have exploded.
Dunk Contest: D
The major problem with the dunk contest is that the league’s biggest stars do not participate anymore—and on the rare occasion that they do, it is never against another star. This year’s participants gave it their best try, but the event was just a snooze-fest. What happened to Jordan versus Dominique? Sure, Terrence Ross had a few fantastic dunks, but it’s Terrance Ross for Pete’s sake! The All-Star Game is supposed to be about star power. Image if LeBron and Blake were in this years dunk contest. The drama would be off the chart and the internet would probably explode. The NBA needs to step-up and get their star players to dunk.
