Opinion
NBA all-star weekend showcases talent
February 24, 2012
I am ecstatic for the NBA all-star weekend! This year, the NBA’s greatest will be heading to Orlando, Florida to razzle-dazzle fans all around the world.
We all have heard the same grumbling complaints about the NBA game for years; they do not play defense, they never call a travel, they forget the fundamentals, and the college game is way better basketball to watch.
I am not saying I completely disagree with these remarks, but one thing I think we all can agree on is that there is one thing the NBA has done an amazing job of throughout the years that no other league has even came close to, and that is the all-star weekend.
The NFL has a lousy Pro-Bowl weekend where no one hits each other and it has become such a joke that the league is considering getting rid of it. Baseball’s all-star weekend puts up a good effort but is not much better. The home run derby is just plain boring and teams and players are scared of the all-star game itself.
Pitchers do not like risking their season by throwing unnecessary pitches for a game that does not matter. Baseball tried to spice it up by deciding home field advantage for the world Series would go to the winning league of the all-star game. But that turned into a joke and baseball was ripped apart for it.
The NBA players, however, know how to put on a show and have been doing so since 1951. Friday night is the Rising Stars game where we will see Jeremy Lin, aka Linsanity, in action under the big lights!
Everyone is catching Lin fever, I included, and I am tempted to use Lin phrases again and again.
The Rising stars game is sure to entertain as Shaquille O’Neal and Charles Barkley, two of NBA’s greatest players and showman are running the teams for this game.
Saturday night is the three point contest which is honestly as boring as the home run derby, but it is just a little teaser before the big event, the dunk contest. Every year people get pumped up as the players show-off high flying ,exciting dunks.
There have been some lame years, but it usually comes through. Last year’s dunk contest was one heck of a show and I do not see this year disappointing either. Last year Blake Griffin won by leaping over a car and throwing it down hard.
For all you Minnesota fans, Derrick Williams will be representing you in this contest, but my pick is Iman Shumpert who throws it down just plain nasty all over the rim. I don’t know how can he lose when he has Jeremy Lin teaming up with him for what is sure to be some crazy alley-oops.
Finally, Sunday night is the actual all-star game, which for one time, it’s acceptable not to play defense. The score usually ends up anywhere from 120-150! The stars goof around and do not take it super serious, but basketball is the one sport where athletes can do this and still entertain. They throw down alley-oops and spectacular dunks all over the place.
Ryan Tibbitts is a freshman majoring in journalism. He loves all sports but obsesses over his Packers.