JaypeeOnline

UPDATED: 02/04 Added All Star Reserve players and participants of the Playstation Skills Challenge, FootLocker 3-Point Shootout and Sprite Slam Dunk.

For the second year in a row, I wasn’t able to vote for the NBA All-Star game. I was so busy with stuff that I totally forgot about it. This year’s NBA All Star Weekend will be held at Phoenix, Arizona starting February 13 until the 15th. I’m happy with the lineups for both the East and West teams.

Dwight Howard of the Orlando Magic, topped this year’s ballots with a whopping 3,150,181 votes and becoming the first player to receive more than 3 million votes. Cleveland Cav’s main man Lebron James, came in second with 2,940,823 votes, followed by the Los Angeles Lakers Kobe Bryant with 2,805,397 votes, then Dwyane Wade of Miami Heat with 2,741,413 votes and San Antonio Spurs center Tim Duncan with 2,578,168 votes. (All breaking the previous record of 2,558,278 votes held by Houston’s Yao Ming back in the 2004-05 All Star voting)

East Starting Lineup
G – Allen Iversion (Detroit Pistons)
G – Dwyane Wade (Miami Heat)
F – Lebron James (Cleveland Cavaliers)
F – Kevin Garnett (Boston Celtics)
C – Dwight Howard (Orlando Magic)

Almost the same lineup from last year except for Allen Iverson (played for West last year) who replaced Jason Kidd.

Eastern Conference Reserves
G – Jameer Nelson (Orlando Magic)
G – Devin Harris (New Jersey Nets)
G – Joe Johnson (Atlanta Hawks)
F – Paul Pierce (Boston Celtics)
F – Danny Granger (Indiana Pacers)
F – Rashard Lewis (Orlando Magic)
F/C – Chris Bosh (Toronto Raptors)

West Starting Lineup:
G – Chris Paul (New Orleans Hornets)
G – Kobe Bryant (Los Angeles Lakers)
F – Tim Duncan (San Antonio Spurs)
F – Amare Stoudemire (Phoenix Suns)
C – Yao Ming (Houston Rockets)

Western Conference Reserves
G – Chauncey Billups (Nuggets)
G – Tony Parker (San Antonio Spurs)
G – Brandon Roy (Portland Trail Blazers)
F – David West (New Orleans Hornets)
F – Dirk Nowitzki (Dallas Mavericks)
F – Pau Gasol (Los Angeles Lakers)
C – Shaquille O’Neal (Phoenix Suns)

Finally, Chris Paul makes it as a starter for the West All Star team. He definitely deserves this spot and IMO, he should’ve been there last year. Yao Ming is currently injured (knee) so I’m not sure if he’ll be able to play but his condition is listed as day-to-day so he might be able to make it.

There will be a couple of new additions to the NBA All Star Weekend, first is the D-League Dream Factory and second is the D-League All Star game. Its good that the NBA decided to include the D-League into the festivities. It certainly a good way of advertising the league and also giving a chance for the players to be recognized. Of course, the usual events will still be there like the Haier Shooting Stars, Play Station Skills Challenge, Foot Locker Three-Point Shootout, Sprite Slam Dunk and the most awaited event, the NBA All-Star Game.

Playstation Skills Challenge
Devin Harris (New Jersey Nets)
Jameer Nelson, (Orlando Magic)
Tony Parker (San Antonio Spurs)
Derrick Rose (Chicago Bulls)

FootLocker 3-Point Shootout
Mike Bibby (Atlanta Hawks)
Daequan Cook (Miami Heat)
Danny Granger (Indiana Pacers)
Jason Kapono (Toronto Raptors)
Rashard Lewis (Orlando Magic)
Roger Mason (San Antonio Spurs)

Sprite Slam Dunk participants:
Dwight Howard (Orlando Magic)
Rudy Fernandez (Portland Trailblazers)
Rudy Gay (Memphis Grizzlies)
Nate Robinson (New York Knicks)

One of the events that I look forward to during the NBA All-Star Weekend is the slam dunk competition. But this year I’m not that excited or even interested to watch it. Why? Because its not as exciting as it used to be. Dwight Howard last year’s slam dunk champion is a good player, he has a high vertical leap and can do power dunks but personally that’s not what I wanna see at the slam dunk competition. He’s too big for this type of event. Its nice to see players who can fly and float and perform their acrobatic skills.

Usually, I root for the Eastern team but this year, I’m a bit split because I’ve been following the Lakers since I moved to California and two of my favorite players to watch aside from Kobe Bryant, D Wade and Lebron are playing for the East. So this time, I won’t be rooting for any particular team. I’ll just enjoy the game and hope that it would be a close match and hope to see a lot of highlights.

How about you guys? Are you gonna watch the 2009 NBA All-Star Game? Which team are you rooting for? Aside from the All-Star game, what event do you enjoy watching?