Chauncey Billups wanted to win

duds, this all-star game was gay.

as in a ballin’ gala. hung-over and hung-up on itself, vegas at its best and worst (there’s no difference) hosting an event already polished and primed and trimmed and waxed to superficial meaninglessness by a league management team determined to supplant baseball as “america’s game”, and that can only mean one thing: mediocrity. yeah, the player’s league wanted this — vegas is one big playground for nba players — yet this is one situation wherein stu and dave could have actually earned some points by bringing the hammer down. but they’re boring white guys who run a form of mafia themselves, so vegas actually had some crossover appeal, no doubt.

prince (not tayshaun, but that funny purple symbol-named kid from minneapolis who channels jimi hendrix for fun) was in the audience. tnt had the wisdom not to cut to him during the half-time show — if he was anywhere visible at the time — to get a react. nobody expects to be more than basely titillated by a pre-game or halftime event these days, and prince blew the doors off at the superbowl by going above and beyond, so perhaps the nba just threw in the towel here and said alright — bring on wayne newton, the dancing girls, and get some washed up divas to break things up a bit and keep joe sixpack from nodding off.

and the game. steeze-and-dunks-and-swish-o-plenty, per the order of the day — but also at times embarrassing and sad.

agent zero starting us off by jacking up a trey that had a better shot of hitting a nearby craps table… thanks, gil. you’ve just shown the world why you’ll lead your team into the playoffs… and straight out of them in the first or second round. east coach eddie jordan had the wisdom to question his own presence there. agent zero could learn something from this guy.

i turned it off for a bit after shaq’s 26th missed dunk. the thought of the 7-year-olds across the country looking up and asking “what’s wrong with superman, mommy?” — it was too much. clear evidence this guy should have hung it up last year. crystal. during the pre-game barks and magic went around and about over shaq’s role as figurehead, how it had been passed on to him, and what a wonderful job he’d done. well, he proceeded to demonstrate that he’s aimed for a bridge too far in terms of continued play at an all-star level. then again, the fans voted him in, so perhaps there are some sadists out there stuffing the ballot box.

but hey, at least we didn’t have to endure someone like manu flopping and breaking someone’s nose. the game was what it was, an all-star game.

final score… west blowout. it appears the guys in the west decided to play some defense (e.g. foul people when they knew virtually none would be called), while the guys on the east opted to defer to the entertainment value proposition, show some class (but little effort), and just let people ball.

Yeah it was pretty weak! They need to do something to make it more fun and watchable. I would love to see these guys play pick up games to 10 and the winners stay on the floor.

Wayne Newton made me laugh. Who would pay money to see this fool? He has more botox than all of Hollywood. He his colegen lips and hair plugs un full force. I thought his lips on cheeks were going to explode. Shaq is wearing down big time. Missed dunk after dunk. Nice to hear mason and his Chaunecy Buuubillips! The East might of won if they werent trying to razzel dazel on every play. All in all it was mildly entertaining at best. I think the Dick Bavetta/ Barkley race was the best part, allthough was I the only one who found it obvious that Dick let the round mound win? After all it was only for 2 blackjack hands! Charles at his best.

I tried watching it; the first couple of minutes. But it was back to watching a re-run of “King Kong”. What a joke and waste of time this game is!

Being a rookie fan, I was excited about seeing all that NBA talent sparkle. I saw the names, the faces, the hype – and my hopes fade by the minute. There may have been a few moments when a glimmer came through, but too few. Chauncey nailed it. All-Star it was – “game” it was not.

There’s only one way to make the game more competitive: winners get a salary bonus.