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Here are the official starters for the 2009 NBA All-Star game:
East: Dwyane Wade, Allen Iverson, LeBron James, Kevin Garnett, Dwight Howard
West: Chris Paul, Kobe Bryant, Amare Stoudemire, Tim Duncan, Yao Ming.
Read basketball fan reaction and discuss your own opinion in this forum topic.
Los Angeles Lakers head coach Phil Jackson will coach the Western Conference All-Stars for the 2009 NBA All-Star Game, to be played on Sunday, Feb. 15, at US Airways Center in Phoenix.
With the Lakers’ 108-97 win over the Los Angeles Clippers tonight, Jackson and the Lakers (33-8, .805) have at least tied for the best winning percentage in the conference through Feb. 1. In the event that the Spurs and the Lakers have the same winning percentage through Feb. 1, Jackson would earn the spot to coach the West All-Stars since Gregg Popovich has coached an All-Star team most recently (2005). This marks the fourth time Jackson will serve as an All-Star head coach (1992, 1996, 2000).
Head coaches for the East and West All-Star teams are based on teams with the best winning percentage in each conference. Last year’s coaches – Boston’s Doc Rivers and New Orleans’ Byron Scott – are not eligible to coach in the 2009 All-Star Game.
This season marks Jackson’s ninth year at the helm of the Lakers and his 18th season as a head coach. Jackson’s 1,009-426 (.703) record gives him the best winning percentage in NBA history, with his win total ranking him sixth all-time. Jackson became the first coach in NBA history to lead a team to three consecutive championships three different times (Chicago, 1991-93 and 1996-98; Los Angeles, 2000-02), while his 193 postseason wins are the most by any head coach in league history. A member of the Naismith Hall of Fame, Jackson has led the Lakers to three NBA Championships and five Western Conference Championships. The Lakers’ 15-1 (.938) run in the 2001 NBA Playoffs marked the highest winning percentage by any team in a single postseason. From 1996 to 2003, Jackson led his teams (Chicago and Los Angeles) to an NBA-best 25 consecutive postseason series wins. With nine NBA championships over the last 18 years, Jackson is tied with Red Auerbach (Boston) for most NBA Championships in league history.
As always, voting for All-Stars starts way too early in the season. But it’s just as much a popularity contest as it is a measure of who is actually playing like a genuine all-star, so we don’t argue too loudly about it.
Revealed today is the official 2008-09 NBA All-Star ballot.
An All-Star lineup of players will unveil the official 2009 NBA All-Star Ballot on Tuesday, November 11 during a special event in Phoenix, the host city of NBA All-Star 2009. In the event, multiple well-known NBA players will ceremoniously cast the very first All-Star ballots.
Players who will be there include Shaquille O’Neal, Grant Hill, Raja Bell, former players Detlef Schrempf, Glen Rice, Cedric Ceballos, Dan Majerle, and Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon.
Dallas has been selected as the site of NBA All-Star 2010, Commissioner David Stern, Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban and Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones jointly announced today during a press conference outside the American Airlines Center.
Following the mantra that “everything is bigger in Texas,” the 59th NBA All-Star Game will be played on Sunday, Feb. 14, 2010, at the new Dallas Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, which will have a seating capacity in excess of 80,000. This collaboration between the NBA, and the ownership groups of the Mavericks and Cowboys, will afford all Mavericks season ticket holders a chance to partake in the pageantry of the NBA All-Star Game.
The T-Mobile Rookie Challenge and NBA All-Star Saturday Night festivities will take place at American Airlines Center, home of the Mavericks. 2010 will mark the first time the All-Star competitions are split between two venues since Houston in 1989 when The Summit hosted All-Star Saturday Night and the Astrodome hosted Sunday’s All-Star Game.
“Dallas is a vibrant city with a passionate sports fan base that will embrace the NBA All-Star experience,” said Stern. “We appreciate the collaborative efforts of Mark Cuban and Jerry Jones on what will surely be one of the most memorable basketball events of all time.”
Here’s what LeBron James said to the media after the 2008 All-Star game, of which he was named MVP:
Q: Take us through that dunk you had? What did you see? Why did you attack?
LeBron James: The game was tied. I didn’t want to settle for a jumpshot. I had to settle for a couple jumpshots in the fourth quarter. I wanted to be aggressive and try to get the hole to get the lay up. And when I seen those bigs coming, I didn’t want to lay the ball up. They would have definitely made a play and tried to block it, so I was able to go strong and able to dunk it through.
Q: You wanted to win. Did you realize how close you were to the triple double and was that something you were shooting for?
LeBron James: No, I just wanted to win the basketball game. They beat up on us pretty bad last year in Las Vegas, and as the East, we didn’t want to allow that to happen. We wanted to try to win. We did a good job of executing in the fourth quarter. Ray hit some big shots. Some of the biggest shots of the game, and he kept it flowing. You know, we put the finishing touch on it, and it was a dunk.
Q: With the Cavs flying under the radar in the first half of the season, how big is it for you and Daniel Gibson to come through this weekend as big as you did?
LeBron James: Oh well, we know we’re still not going to get the respect we should get. That’s never been a problem for us. We don’t care. We just go out and play. We’re always going to be the third or fourth or fifth best team in the Eastern Conference. You know, we still go out there and win ballgames and we know when the postseason happens, you know, you’ve got to come get it from us, because we’re very good.
Q: I know you don’t care about individual awards or anything, but emotionally how does it feel to get your second MVP in three years?
LeBron James: I mean, to add the MVP trophy with the win means a lot to me. I played well, and I helped our team win the ballgame. It really means a lot to go out there and perform the way I was able to do in front of the fans of New Orleans. In front of my family, and for the Eastern Conference because we really wanted this win. We came out victorious.
Q: How competitive was it on the fourth quarter compared to other All Stars you’ve participated in?
LeBron James: Well, this was one of the most competitive ones. The one in Houston was really competitive also. But you’ve probably seen a lot of guys faces going through the fourth quarter how competitive guys wanted to be, and, you know, who wanted the ballgame. We were able to make a couple more plays had than the Western team down the stretch. D Wade had an unbelievable block on Dirk, and Ray hit some big shots. We were down and the game was tied. And I was able to put the finishing touch on it with the dunk and kept the momentum going for us. So competitive wise, it was the best one. As fans and everybody that watched the game I think would think the same thing.
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Final score: East 134, West 128. Fun game!
The East’s LeBron James was awarded the 2008 NBA All-Star game MVP award.
For the East: Ray Allen (10-of-14, 5-of-9 threes) had 28 points in just 19 minutes. LeBron James (12-of-22) had 27 points, 8 rebounds, 9 assists (4 turnovers), 2 steals and 2 blocks. Dwight Howard (7-of-7) had 16 points, 9 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 steals. Chris Bosh (7-of-15) had 14 points and 7 rebounds. Dwyane Wade (7-of-12) had 14 points, 4 rebounds and 3 assists. Paul Pierce scored 10. Jason Kidd dished 10 assists.
For the West: Brandon Roy (8-of-10) had 18 points, 9 rebounds and 5 assists. Carmelo Anthony (8-of-17) had 18 points and 7 rebounds. Amare Stoudemire (8-of-11) had 18 points and 5 rebounds. Chris Paul (7-of-14) had 16 points, 3 rebounds, 14 assists (just 2 turnovers) and 4 steals. Carlos Boozer (7-of-15) had 14 points and 10 rebounds. Dirk Nowitzki (just 5-of-14) had 13 points and 4 rebounds.
The best East players were LeBron, Dwight Howard and Ray Allen. The best West players were Chris Paul and Brandon Roy.
Read unedited 2008 NBA All-Star game notes taken live as the action happened.
Here’s LeBron James at 2008 NBA All-Star weekend:
Q: Are things good enough to go to the Finals without making any move?
LeBron James: It’s going to be tough because of how the Eastern Conference has gotten better with the addition of how Boston recreated themselves. Detroit is always going to be better. Orlando’s much better. They’ve had some off season acquisitions. It’s going to be tough for us. It’s going to be a challenge. We have to mentally prepare ourselves to go out there and play the game of basketball the right way.
Q: If you don’t make any moves, can you guys get better?
LeBron James: We’ll see. We’re going to let the game do the talking. It doesn’t matter who you have on paper, you’ve got to go out there and win a seven game series.
Q: Are there any players that didn’t make the All Star team that you thought should have?
LeBron James: I thought Hedo Turkoglu in the Eastern Conference played well, to make the All Star team and he’s not a part of it. He played great basketball for the third best team in the East. He played great basketball.
Q: Is this easier than your first All Star Game?
LeBron James: Most definitely easier to take in. It was erratic my first year. I was excited being my first year. I’m kind of used to it now, but at the same time I’m always excited to get around these great athletes.
Q: It must be a surprise having a lot of big names move. What was the most surprising thing?
LeBron James: This year has been most surprising in season and off season we’ve had in the NBA in a long time. With the Lakers dealing Pau, and Miami and Phoenix dealing Shaq and Shawn Marion, and the off season acquisitions… you look at Ray Allen, and Kevin Garnett going to Boston, and Rashard Lewis going to Orlando. There’s been so many new faces. I mean, same faces, new teams. At times it can be hard to keep up with. So it’s been good for the NBA. And hopefully, you know, it’s been good.
Q: Does it put more pressure on everybody to have to try to keep up?
LeBron James: You know, you always want to get better. Especially with me. I’m a competitor, I want to get better. Hopefully we can continue to get better. If not, we’re going to stick to our guns that we have, and get ready for the second half of the season.
Atlanta Hawks star Joe Johnson speaks at All-Star Weekend:
Q: What does it mean for the Hawks to have you here representing the team at the All-Star Game?
Joe Johnson: I think it means a lot, you know, not only to me, but to our organization as well, considering that it’s been such a down past few years for us. It gives us a bright spot, and with Al Horford playing in the Rookie game, that’s a plus — but I think we’ve just got to keep going strong and stay positive and continue in the right direction. I think we’re getting better and better.
Q: Do you find yourself taking a more vocal role as the season winds down and you’re fighting for a playoff spot?
Joe Johnson: I try to just tell guys that we don’t want to get down late April or mid-April and have to win every game trying to fight for a playoff spot when we can take care of our responsibilities now, and then when the time comes, we’ll already be set. It’s tough. You look at our record right now and it’s not great, but we’re still in the playoff race. That’s a good thing. We’ve just got to stay positive and focus in these last thirty-something games of the season.
Q: Is it different for you because you have experienced it before?
Joe Johnson: Yeah, we’ve got a lot of guys who haven’t experienced the playoff atmosphere and I really want them to… it’s such a great feeling, it’s unbelievable. For those guys who haven’t had that experience, I always try to embed it and give them visuals about it.
Here’s Boston Celtics All-Star Ray Allen, speaking at All-Star weekend:
Q: What are your thoughts on the NBA expanding overseas?
Ray Allen: I’d be excited about it. I think it definitely shrinks the world, and to be able to shrink the world through a sport that I play is awesome. I welcome that idea to be able to travel on a consistent basis. As much as I travel between the United States of America through all these great cities and states, I get to see so much and see so many different cultures and people. To be able to extend that to Europe… I think that would do wonders for not only basketball, but for people and cultures in the world bringing them all together through basketball.
Q: Would American players want to live overseas or would that be a problem?
Ray Allen: Well, I’m sure there’s a lot of international players who don’t want to live in America currently. It’s easy for a player now in the league to say that from having lived in America right now, but if you’re a player in college and you get drafted, you get drafted to, you know, the London Gators, you’re happy to be in the NBA. You know, when I came out of college, people were asking where I wanted to play, and I said it doesn’t matter because I’m in the NBA. I’m getting paid to do something I love and get to travel, and I’m pretty sure those would be those guys’ sentiments as they come up out of college. Right now, people are just used to their routines… living in America, thinking I wouldn’t want to play overseas… but once you understood the feel to it, I’m pretty sure a lot of people’s ideas and perceptions of those ideas would change.