HoopsVibe

HoopsVibe was in the house at All-Star Saturday Night in Dallas. Pictures and videos are forthcoming, but here's a taste of what me and C.Y. thought about what was going on and what we saw.

- Arnold Schwarzenegger is the house! Nice to know that the Governator gets down with the NBA and has enough pull to get courtside seats for himself, Maria Shriver and their daughter. The daughter wasn't feeling things as the night went on, though. Or she didn't get enough sleep last night.


 
- Chris Tucker is courtside as well. He's looking a little slimmer than he has in the past. "I got fat. And you know this, MAN!" I really hope he's doing that for his health and not for another Rush Hour sequel. No need in angering the population of another foreign country.


 
- Is there a less exciting event that the Shooting Stars competition? The only thing interesting about it is the halfcourt shot portion. I think the league should adopt Knockout from the halfcourt stripe in the coming years. It would be just as entertaining, they could still involve some of the WNBA players and  the former players that now work for TNT/NBATV legends. Make it happen.
 

- Speaking of the Shooting Stars competition, I need to say this. I know that some of the WNBA players get some extra attention for their looks-- good or bad-- but let it be known that HD big screens are not good for any of them. Yes, Becky Hammon, this means you. Just be glad that this event wasn't held at JerryWorld. Ugh.
 

- It's nice to see Darryl Dawkins getting some positive attention lately. ESPN had a nice piece on him coaching at a community college and taking classes. They tried to clear up some misconceptions and misunderstandings about him as a person. Someone should have helped clear up the misunderstanding between he and his stylist. Chocolate Thunder definitely had a wardrobe blunder.


 

- Dallas still loves them some Steve Nash. Whenever he's mentioned, the crowd gives him a nice ovation. Somewhere in the bowels of the American Airlines Center, Mark Cuban is kicking himself.
 
- I can appreciate the bravery necessary of Brandon Jennings to come to an event the size of All-Star Saturday with a a reverse ramp, but it wasn't nearly as tight as it was yesterday. Bring the barber with you next time, Young Money. And settle on a hairstyle, already. 
 

- Jay-Z is in the building, sans Beyoncé. An ASG in her home state and she's a no-show? Disappointing. Men everywhere missed out on their eye candy. Maybe her absence is the reason that Jigga didn't smile the entire evening and looked pissed when Benny the Bull reenacted the "Single Ladies" dance right in front of him during a break in the action.


 

- James Harden either lost a bet or watched Cooley High and got inspired.


 

- Speaking of Cooley High, Spike Lee is in attendance.


 

- It's very nice of Vanessa Bryant to teach her husband how to play Bop-It. Get your minds out the gutter.
 

- Rick Fox is here wearing a baseball cap with a huge 10 on the front. No, I don't know why, either.


 

- I love that the NBA still has the balls to include non-old white men as the halftime entertainment. Erykah Badu, Usher, Alicia Keys and Shakira are all on program this weekend. Stay true to your core audience. Nota was there and had their moments where they sounded really good, but they clearly must have had a deal in place for winning that singing competition that allowed them to be there. Otherwise, this is a bit too big of a stage for them.
 

- Big Shot Bob in the house.
 

- When Alonzo Mourning, Dwyane Wade and Marie Ferdinand-Harris come out to do the spot for Haiti, they use teleprompters that I can read from my seat. And while our seats are definitely not in the nosebleed section, they're not courtside. It's sad to think that a 75-inch flatscreen's only use is for entertainers to read poorly from it.
 

- Dwight Howard is wearing a bright yellow blazer. There are no words.
 

- Biggest celebrities of the night have to be Vanessa Bryant's twins. Rajon Rondo and Kevin Garnett got more than their fair share of looks at them throughout the night. Rondo got caught staring by the Jumbotron. KG elbowed him to get him to stop. If anyone has that video, please send it to us. We have enough picture evidence even if not. And yes, we will be posting it.


 
- C.Y. has a great appreciation for Mrs. Bryant. I'll leave it at that.  [I won't leave it at that. - CYE]
 

- Jamie Foxx is courtside. I imagine that it's strange for him to be in an arena this full without undressing and performing for the ladies. No, I haven't caught one of his concerts, but I've heard plenty of stories. Shout to Jamie's hometown of Terrell, which isn't far from Dallas.


 

- I've never understood why right-handed shooters don't go from left to right in the Three-Point Shootout. If you really want to waste time running around the rack every time you shoot, that's your business, but there's a better way. Shout out to Paul Pierce for winning it, to Stephen Curry and his beautiful stroke for coming in second and to Danilo Gallinari for making me look like an idiot for picking him to win it.
 

- Diddy and his son are here. He and Jay-Z are really holding onto wearing shades indoors. Can someone please explain this to me because I just don't understand it.


 

- I passed Bill Walton on my way out the bathroom. I almost wished I had lingered a little longer so I could have seen the physics of a seven-footer using a regular-sized urinal. Can you imagine Walton lamenting the toilet as the worst in the history of Western Civilization mid-stream?
 

- I don't remember what song was on, but the big screen catches the Governator bobbing his head for like 30 seconds. He had no idea the whole arena was watching.
 

- Both Kobe and DJ Mbenga are in uniform prior to the Dunk Contest. If Shannon Brown would have dunked over him, maybe he wouldn't have made a first-round exit. Someone should seriously have a big guy standing in the lane trying to block their shot one of these years. I don't know who would agree to do it, but someone's gotta step up.
 

- Gheorghe Muresan is here and he is one gigantic man. We wanted to get a photo with him, but one guy was having a never-ending conversation with him. We did get his picture though. It'll be up on the site soon.


 

- Back to Shannon Brown: his first dunk should have been scored higher. Jordan switches hands on a layup in the Finals and everyone goes nuts. Switching hands on a dunk to your non-dominant hand is challenging. That being said, the second dunk got the low score it deserved.
 

- Spud Webb tells Nate Robinson not to use any props this year? Uh, why?
 

- DeMar DeRozan promised us a Michael Jackson tribute during one of his dunks and didn't deliver. Reports that this was because Macaulay Culkin was unavailable have not been confirmed.
 

- I haven't seen the We Are the World redo yet, but everyone on Facebook seems to love it. Add HoopsVibe's Facebook page to your account if you're not already a fan, by the way. It helps us with our self-esteem.
 

- Gerald Wallace... Thanks for putting in the time and effort necessary to win this thing. Yes, that is sarcasm.
 

- C.Y.: "Nate Robinson having three Slam Dunk titles is like Steve Nash having two MVPs."
 

- Air Up There presenting the trophy to Nate was probably thinking that he could have won that trophy quite easily if he had participated.


 

- We both thought this, so when we had the chance to interview him, we asked him, naturally. Here's hoping the audio turned out well. We'll post that later tomorrow as well.
 

- Shouts out to John Keefer and Lisa Birgelaitis setting this whole thing up for us. For a couple for basketball fanatics, this is possibly the best thing ever.
 

- Thanks to Sprite for sponsoring our site and the Slam Dunk. They're good folks and they do a great job running everything.
 

- All-Star Game tomorrow and we'll be there. Check back with us for all the details. We're uploading video and calling it a night.