Dunk Contest Participants Announced, NBA Fans Stifle Yawns

The participants for this year's all-star weekend slam dunk contest were announced today. And that strange sound you heard at about 10:30 this morning was a massive, collective yawn from NBA fans worldwide.

This year's contest will feature rookies Iman Shumpert of the Knicks and Derrick Williams of the T-Wolves, Indiana's Paul George, and Houston's Chase Budinger. How weak is that field? Jeremy Lin's participation - as a helper to his teammate Shumpert - appears to be the biggest selling point in the NBA's planned promotions.

In reality, the NBA missed a major opportunity by leaving Lin's name off the roster for the Rookie/Sophomore game, which is where his participation would have made the most sense. I still have a sneaking suspicion that the league will find some way to add Lin to the mix for that event.

View the original article here

All-Star Starters Announced

The starting lineups for the 2012 NBA All-Star game were announced last night on TNT, and for the first time in years, I have no complaints about the fans' selections.

Dwight Howard was the top overall vote-getter. He'll center an Eastern Conference squad that also features LeBron James and Dwyane Wade of the Heat, reigning MVP Derrick Rose of the Bulls and the Knicks' Carmelo Anthony. All are highly deserving, though you could make the case that Wade and Anthony - who have missed significant time due to injuries - could be replaced by Joe Johnson and Chris Bosh.

In the West, Kobe Bryant was named to his 14th consecutive all-star team - tying a record held by his old pal Shaq, among others. His Laker teammate Andrew Bynum and Los Angeles neighbors Chris Paul and Blake Griffin were also selected by the fans, with Kevin Durant completing the West's starting lineup.

The last time two pairs of teammates were selected to start the All-Star Game was in 1997, when Seattle's Shawn Kemp and Gary Payton joined Houston's Hakeem Olajuwon and Charles Barkley in the West lineup.

All star reserves will be selected by a vote of the coaches in each conference and announced on Thursday, February 9. The game will be played in Orlando on February 26th.

View the original article here