You can start making reservations. It's only a coincidence that the Lakers are playing the Magic in the NBA Finals this year.
Although no one was talking on the record about it Monday, two sources with knowledge of the talks said that the league has assured Orlando that it would be following Los Angeles in the All-Star Weekend rotation of warm-weather cities. The only thing that could stop it would be a major construction delay of the new downtown Events Center.
The NBA has scheduled a press conference before Game 2 of the NBA Finals, and with such heavy hitters as David Stern, Tim Leiweke, (President & CEO of AEG) and Antonio Villaraigosa (Mayor of Los Angeles) in attendance, you knew it had to be something big -- and obviously, something to do with the city of Los Angeles.
Some had speculated it might be the confirmation of the rumors that the Draft was relocating to Los Angeles, but that's not it: John Ireland is reporting on his blog that the 2011 All-Star game is coming to Los Angeles, and will be played at Staples Center.
The last time Los Angeles hosted the big weekend was back in 2004, when Shaquille O'Neal -- who was still a member of the Lakers at the time -- took home the game's MVP trophy.
The legend of Mike Taylor began with a casual little under the rim, windmill throwdown in the middle of a game the other night. The announcers, at the time, mentioned Taylor was unleashing dunks like that in warmups. They weren't kidding, either. Via Bethleham Shoals at The Sporting Blog comes this clip of Taylor during warmups. Shoals touches on Taylor emerging "organically" (I would point out that "virally" applies here as well) which is a pretty cool concept compared to "expectations" and what not. Consider me doing my part to help over-expose him.
Shaquille O'Neal stunned the world (in a "wow, now I remember why I freaking love Shaq" kind of way) when he broke out in freestyle dance with the JabbaWockeeZ during the All-Star Game lineup introductions. But he wasn't the only one breaking it down with the hip-hop (?) stars (??) over the weekend. Turns out, Kevin Garnett and Kevin Durant both got down too.
Via NESW Sports, courtesy of Mission G ... who has yet to offer me a G Blogger package. Ahem ... No, seriously, Gatorade folks. Hit me up. I'm easy.
Nate Robinson's "Kryptonite Dunk" was not only the dunk that won him the contest, but also one of the highlights of All-Star weekend. So it's not surprising that memorabilia collectors would be willing to pay top dollar to own a piece of the event's history. It's also not surprising that someone would try to sell fakes in an attempt to cash in.
Nate Robinson has been all over the place since his 2009 Slam Dunk Contest win. Thursday he stopped by the set of the Late Show with David Letterman to show off some of what he did during the dunk contest. Here are the highlights:
PHOENIX -- In the final segment of my interview with Chris Bosh, we discussed the important stuff: how his current season is going with the Raptors. Bosh is very candid in admitting that this isn't exactly how he imagined the season would play out, but with the recent trade that sent Jermaine O'Neal out of town to Miami for Shawn Marion, there might be time to turn it around.
Bosh also told me when he's planning on coming back from his knee injury (hint: soon), and answered one of the hot topics this season: Kobe or LeBron? Our conversation, after the jump.
PHOENIX -- It wasn't "one of those" weekends for the NBA All-Star game. Nobody shot anybody (that we know of), there weren't any amazing plays in the All-Star game, and the biggest storyline was two players that we, as the media, have hyped up as hating each other reuniting for co-MVP awards. But the weekend did give us some highs and lows and, all in all, was a pretty good time in the desert.
PHOENIX -- Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal were co-MVPs of this year's All-Star game, and the fact that they were back on the same team playing together had to have brought back some great memories. But you wouldn't know it by listening to the two speak about it afterwards.
While Shaq admitted that he did indeed miss those old times, Kobe would have none of the nostalgia talk; he said it simply wasn't his cup of tea. He went on to explain that while the two had fun out there on the court, that's as far as things would go, and that they wouldn't be sharing a good cry later that evening over a sappy movie. Video of these hilarious comments, after the jump.
ORLANDO -- Commissioner David Stern made the announcement Sunday that Los Angeles would be hosting the NBA All-Star Weekend in 2011. What he left unsaid was that Orlando will have it in February of 2012.
The NBA has scheduled a press conference before Game 2 of the NBA Finals, and with such heavy hitters as David Stern, Tim Leiweke, (President & CEO of AEG) and Antonio Villaraigosa (Mayor of Los Angeles) in attendance, you knew it had to be something big -- and obviously, something to do with the city of Los Angeles.
LeBron James
