Hello all, the NBA All-Star game is scheduled for Sunday, February 17th in New Orleans. The starters, as voted by the fans, were announced this week. You have to remember that the starters are completely chosen by fan vote and the most deserving players are not necessarily always the starters.  The coaches do get to choose the rest of the team and usually the best players still make it. The rest of the team is not announced until closer to the game.  In case you did not hear yet, these are the starters for each conference with a couple interesting tidbits on each player:
Eastern Conference
F Kevin Garnett, Boston - KG was the leading vote getter this year with almost 2.4 million votes. He is in his 13^th season and this will be his 11^th All-star game. The previous 10 were all in the Western Conference with Minnesota. This past summer, he was traded to Boston in a 7 for 1 deal which is the most number of players ever traded for a single player in NBA history. He was drafted directly out of high school way back 1995 and he is one of 4 All-star starters to skip college (3 in the East alone). Garnett has always been one of my favorite players in the league.
F LeBron James, Cleveland - King James was the second leading vote getter this year. He is in his 5^th season and this will be his 4^th All-star game in a row. He is just 23 years old and is another player who was drafted directly out of high school. James is already one of the best players in the league, but the scary thing is that he is still improving each season. He is an amazing player to watch!
C Dwight Howard, Orlando - Howard was the third leading vote getter in just his 4^th season. This will be his 2^nd All-star appearance in a row. He is only 22 years old and is another one of the 4 all-stars who came directly from high school into the NBA. To put the possibilities into perspective, just remember that Tim Duncan was still in his senior season at Wake Forest at the same age that Howard is now. The sky is the limit for this kid.
G Jason Kidd, New Jersey - Kidd is the most veteran of the All-star starters in his 14^th season. In my January 14^th posting, he ranked #1 on my Top 10 List of NBA Point Guards, so go back and check that posting out to see more about Kidd.
G Dwyane Wade, Miami - Wade is in just his 5^th season (like LeBron & Carmelo) and this will be his 4^th All-star game in a row. He is the only East All-star starter who has ever won an NBA Championship (2006). I have been a Wade fan for quite a while since I followed him when he was in college here at Marquette which is in Milwaukee, WI. He has been battling injuries because of his style of play, but is still one of the most entertaining players to watch.
Western Conference
F Tim Duncan, San Antonio - "The Big Fundamental," as Shaq calls him, is in his 11^th season and has impressively made the All-star team each and every season so far. He is a 4 time NBA Champ, 3 time NBA Finals MVP and 2 time NBA MVP. That's enough said right there. I have plenty of respect for Duncan with his consistency, demeanor and his success. He is without a doubt one of the greatest players ever to play the game.
F Carmelo Anthony, Denver - Melo is now in his 5^th season, but just his 2^nd All-star appearance. Known more as a scorer, the highest achievement he has earned thus far is the All NBA Third Team. He is one of two Nuggets voted to be All-star starters this year.
C Yao Ming, Houston - Yao is in his 6^th season in the NBA and has been the All-star starter each of those six seasons now. He has the support of the entire country of China, so internet voting has played a role especially earlier in his career. He now is more than deserving of the honor. Yao played 5 years in the Chinese Basketball Association before being drafted by the Rockets in 2002. He stands 7 feet 6 inches tall and seems to be improving each year. That's a scary combination.
G Allen Iverson, Denver - A.I. is in his 12^th season and this will be his 9^th All-star appearance. All previous appearances were with the Eastern Conference since he was traded from Philadelphia to Denver during last season. In my January 14^th posting, he ranked #4 on my Top 10 List of NBA Point Guards, so go back and check that posting out to see more about Iverson.
G Kobe Bryant, LA Lakers - Kobe is in his 12^th season and this will be his 10^th All-star appearance. He has a lot of experience despite only being 29 years old (the fourth of the All-star starters to come directly out of high school). He was the leading vote getter in the Western Conference and #4 overall. He is a 3 time NBA Champ and one of just 3 All-star starters who have won a ring. He won the Slam Dunk competition during All-star weekend back in 1997, but has not participated again since. Along with LeBron James, they are probably the two most dynamic players in the league.

Those are the players that the fans chose. You cannot argue too much with any of them. If you based it strictly on how they have played this year, you could question the starting guards for the East. The Miami Heat (Wade's team) are in the midst of a horrible losing streak and there might be some point guards playing a little better than Kidd. I would question Carmelo Anthony more than any player in either conference. Hopefully, the many other deserving players will get chosen by the coaches to represent in the All-star game.

NBA All-star weekend has always been my favorite of these exhibitions. Though the NFL is my favorite sport to watch, their all star game is by far my least favorite. The NFL Pro Bowl will be held on February, 10th which is a week after the Super Bowl and, in my opinion, would not be missed by anybody if they did not have it at all. I think part of the problem is that it is held after the season is completely over. I don't think they can hold it during the middle of the season, but I heard that there is a possibility of moving the NFL Pro Bowl to be played the weekend before the Super Bowl which I think might be at least a step in the right direction. The NBA has learned how to do it right. They created an entire weekend centered around the event. NBA All-star weekend has evolved over the years, but has such entertaining features as the Slam Dunk Competition, 3 point Competition and the Rookie/Sophomore game. The NBA allows the fan to see the personalities of its players and All-star weekend is one of the prime opportunities to do so. I feel that the NBA regular season has lost a lot of its luster, but the NBA playoffs still provides the most entertaining, intense and quality basketball. The playoffs do not start until the end of April, but the NBA All-star game gives you a little glimpse at the greatness. I will talk more about All-star Weekend in February when the rest of the teams are announced, but if you want to find out more about it now, check out the NBA website at www.nba.com/allstar2008.

That is where I am going to wrap things up for today. Thanks for reading and please consider subscribing so you are sure to not miss a single Kickin' it Old School. As always, I appreciate any comments on this posting or any of the past postings.

Check this out: Here is a link to a very funny video starring Will Ferrell called "The Landlord." Warning it does contain some cursing, but laugh-out-loud funny... www.funnyordie.com/videos/74

Quote of the day: "Nobody succeeds beyond his or her wildest expectations unless he or she begins with some wild expectations." -Ralph Charell

Download this: "People Get Ready" by Curtis Mayfield - This is the original, but most of the covers of this song by other artists are pretty great, too.