All the stars came out Saturday night to watch the NBA’s best put on a show.
Celebrities like Chris Brown, P. Diddy, 50 Cent, Chris Tucker, Philadelphia Phillies star Ryan Howard and Floyd “Money” Mayweather among others, were all there.
The night was kicked off with the Haier Shooting Stars. Team Texas represented by Sophia Young, Kenny “The Jet” Smith and Chandler Parsons faced off against team New York represented by Allan Houston, Cappie Pondexter and Landry Fields in the Finals.
Team New York took the crown following a half court shot by former Knicks great Alan Houston.
“I have to say, we have been practicing a little bit,” Houston said afterward. “Heck, we came up with a good strategy, everybody hit their shots, and once you get to the half court, just kind of have to hit the first few and then it could take you a little while.”
Saturday night was then followed by the NBA Skills Challenge. Defending champion Deron Williams squared off against Spurs Tony Parker, Celtics Rajon Rondo, Oklahoma’s Russell Westbrook, Cavs Kyrie Irving and Washington Wizards John Wall.
Spurs Tony Parker defeated Williams in the Finals, Deron’s trouble with the pass is what kept him from retaining his crown.
“I was very confident before the competition, finishing last the first two times I did it,” Parker said.
The 3-point contest was next on the schedule. A first round tie breaker between Miami Heat’s Mario Chalmers and Minnesota’s Kevin Love was won by Love sending him into the finals.
Kevin Durant and defending champion James Jones came up short against Love. James Jones also of the Heat caught fire in the first round but went ice cold hitting only 12 shots in the final round.
“Sometimes, if I don’t draw blood in games on myself, I’m a little mad,” Love said. “So I definitely like working inside a lot more than outside. But I think I’m just as equally effective outside. At the end of the day, I want to be remembered as a power player.”
The night was topped off by the NBA dunk contest or should I say snooze fest? A competition that once had greats like Michael Jordan, Dr. J, Spud Webb and Vince Carter just wasn’t very good.
The one plus for the fans was it allowed them to vote for the winner, for the first time in dunk contest history.
From Chase Budinger’s dunk over Diddy to Paul George’s “laser tag” dunk, the attempts were watered down and the use of props at an all time high. Never the less Utah Jazz’s Jeremy Evans two basketball dunk over teammate Gordon Hayward was very impressive and enough to give him the dunk crown.
“It’s amazing,” Evans said. “I came in and they asked me how long I’ve been practicing and I think I found time maybe Tuesday, Wednesday and that I was really going to be in it. Thursday night, I came in, they gave me 45 minutes on the court. That’s about it.”
This amazing weekend will be capped off with the NBA All-Star game tonight, tip off set for 7pm.
