Blake Griffin Headlines NBA All-Star Weekend

The 2011 NBA All-Star break gets underway in Los Angeles on Friday with three days of midseason basketball revelry.
Blake Griffin Headlines NBA All-Star Weekend
HIGH-FLYING TIME: Blake Griffin will participate in three events during NBA's All-Star weekend. (Marc Serota/Getty Images)
2/17/2011
Updated:
10/1/2015

<a><img src="https://www.theepochtimes.com/assets/uploads/2015/09/griffin108866116.jpg" alt="HIGH-FLYING TIME: Blake Griffin will participate in three events during NBA's All-Star weekend. (Marc Serota/Getty Images)" title="HIGH-FLYING TIME: Blake Griffin will participate in three events during NBA's All-Star weekend. (Marc Serota/Getty Images)" width="320" class="size-medium wp-image-1808130"/></a>
HIGH-FLYING TIME: Blake Griffin will participate in three events during NBA's All-Star weekend. (Marc Serota/Getty Images)
The 2011 NBA All-Star break gets underway in Los Angeles on Friday with three days of midseason basketball revelry. The break culminates with the Eastern vs. Western Conference All-Star game on Sunday at 7 p.m. (EST). This is the 60th NBA All-Star Game, and the West has played host for the past eight years.

Last year’s game proved to be fantastic with the East edging the West 141–139 in front of a world-record crowd of 108,713 at Cowboys Stadium.

Dwyane Wade was the MVP and produced a double-double with 28 points and 11 assists for the East, while LeBron James and Chris Bosh added 25 points and 23 points, respectively.

This year should prove just as exciting as Wade, James, and Bosh once again play for the East, only this time with better chemistry as they all now hail from the Miami Heat.

The East starters—coached by Boston’s Doc Rivers—will include Wade and James, as well as Derrick Rose (Chicago) at point guard, Amar’e Stoudemire (New York) at power forward, and Dwight Howard (Orlando) at center.

The addition of Stoudemire to the East team surely raises the bar; the Knicks forward-center is tied with James for the NBA’s highest points-per-game average this season with 26.1. Last year Stoudemire played for the West hailing from the Phoenix Suns.

The East’s bench will include four players from the Celtics (you guessed it, Ray Allen, Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, and Rajon Rondo), as well as two players from the Atlanta Hawks (Al Horford and Joe Johnson), and, of course, Bosh.

The West—coached by San Antonio’s Gregg Popovich—has a less experienced team with three first timers, including phenom forward Blake Griffin (L.A. Clippers), forward-center Kevin Love (Minnesota), and guard Russell Westbrook (Oklahoma City)—all of whom will start on the bench.

But they also have the NBA’s points-per-game season leader in Kevin Durant (28.9) and the experience of veteran Kobe Bryant—who has another opportunity to tie Bob Pettit’s record of four All-Star Game MVPs. Look for Bryant to take charge of the West.

The other West starters include Carmelo Anthony (Denver Nuggets), Chris Paul (New Orleans), and Paul Gasol (Los Angeles) who is filling in at the center role for the injured Yao Ming.

In an ironic twist, Anthony may also be finding himself in the Eastern Conference soon as talks with the Nets have recently begun again as the trade deadline approaches.

Exciting Events

Friday will feature the BBVA All-Star Celebrity Game, the T-Mobile Rookie Challenge and Youth Jam, and the Sprite Slam Dunk Showdown.

Saturday will feature the D-League All-Star Game, the Haier Shooting Stars event, the Taco Bell Skills Challenge, and the always-favorite Foot Locker 3-point Contest and Sprite Slam Dunk Competition.

Ray Allen—who made history last week as the all-time NBA 3-point leader—will be joining his teammate and defending champion Paul Pierce in the 3-point contest. Others include Daniel Gibson (Cleveland), James Jones (Miami), Dorell Wright (Golden State), and Durant.

DeMar DeRozan (Toronto), Serge Ibaka (Oklahoma City), JaVale McGree (Washington), and Blake Griffin will be participating in the Slam Dunk Competition. Griffin’s acrobatics will surely prove to be entertaining.

Griffin is the only player this year participating in more than two events; he will also be playing in the Rookie Challenge on Friday. Griffin was technically in the NBA last year so is not a true rookie, but was out for most of the season with a knee injury.