Dear 2010 NBA All Star Weekend
Do you know what the difference between rap and hip-hop is? I'll give you a second. Whereas rap is saying you love something, hip-hop is being in love. Whereas much of rap is going through the motions, hip-hop is much more extensive. All-Star Weekend, you turned into rap, a shell of your former exciting self. I'm not sparing the rod this year because last year was even less disappointing. Let's see how far you've slipped:
First of all, ASG, what's up with all of the corporate sponsorships and bubble-gum R&B/pop acts? If it wasn't T-Mobile and Taco Bell ads being repeated left and right, then it was Shakira and Alicia Keys as long-winded headshakers of performances and Usher making me feel uncomfortable with his Batman-esque corset during the introduction.
Skin-tight plastic does not make me want to play or watch basketball...
Second of all, All-Star Saturday night SUCKED. Point blank. The three-point contest had at least two participants who shouldn't have been in it (Paul Pierce, you aren't the best shooter in the world; you just got hot). Then, the dunk contest was a yawner to say the least. Gerald Wallace looked like he didn't want to be there, and did some of the blandest, emotionless dunks ever. Shannon Brown did a dunk that I can do after failing terribly at his first (somewhat) impressive dunk. DeMar DeRozan tried to copy Vince Carter with his dunks. And the winner, Nate Robinson did what he's been doing: be short and dunk. I have no problem with him winning it this year, because it sucked, but for future reference, get Nate out of the contest. His dunks wouldn't be as cool if he was 6'4" instead of 5'7". The dunk contest seriously might have taken a shotgun blast to the head with the way 2010's contest went. Either you get the stars to come out and go HARD, or you cancel it. That brings me to my final point, the actual All-Star Game.
DONTLETSHANNONDUNK.COM
ASW, I was one of a few people who didn't criticize some of your omissions from the teams, although I know some of the players didn't deserve to be there. I'm simply going to say that this year's game was a tad bit less boring than the dunk contest, but was unbelievably uncompetitive and boring. I didn't fall asleep because of LeBron James and Dwyane Wade (their dunks and alley-oops could have won the dunk contest) being the superstars that they are and actually being competitive. Other than that, you're game this year was a YAWN. The game was about as intense as Summer's Eve lotion, and the eerie silence in your record crowd of 108,713 displayed that perfectly.
Clearly the most exciting parts of the weekend were when this man touched the court.. Everything else?? Meeehhhhhh....
This was the biggest crowd to watch a basketball game EVER. All-Star Weekend, you could have been the boost that basketball needed. You could have been the reason that people got their interest in the NBA again. For people that don't watch basketball on the regular, the you should have been spectacular and bigger than big. Instead it was like a giant circus with unfunny clowns, tiny elephants and fake fire-breathers. I can honestly say that I've never been let down by a sporting event as much as I was with your ASW 2010. To say you were a slam dunk this year is more than a lie; it is a travesty...