Posted by Royce Young

The second batch of All-Star ballot returns are out and leading the entire league again in votes is Dwight Howard with 1,161,797 votes with Kobe Bryant still second with 1,110,379. Second in the East is Derrick Rose (1,040,210), who jumped LeBron James (972,580) and second in the West Kevin Durant (973,152).

If the voting ended today, the East's starting five would be Derrick Rose, Dwyane Wade, LeBron, Carmelo Anthony and Howard. In the West it would be Chris Paul, Kobe, Durant, Blake Griffin and Andrew Bynum.

And looking over the vote totals, those starting lineups seem to be a bit set in stone, barring injury. Nobody is really all that close to catching anyone (Dirk was close to Griffin in the last voting, but Griffin has opened up a 300,000 vote lead).

So, are the fans getting it right so far? Kind of looks like they are, quite honestly. Can't argue with the West too much. I still take a little issue in that Kevin Love has been absolutely killing it in Minnesota so far this season averaging 26-15, but he's not part of Lob City, so it's hard to see him ever topping Griffin. Same goes for LaMarcus Aldridge, who is off to a fantastic start.

In the East, there's really nothing to change. Melo isn't really a power forward, but you can fudge the All-Star rosters a bit. Rajon Rondo isn't playing better than Rose, there's no better 2 in the East than Wade and of course LeBron and Howard are the best at their positions in the entire league. Injuries have played a role early in the season though, so you have to wonder if everyone will be healthy for the All-Star Game.

If the voting holds like this -- and it should -- we'll have a pretty accurate representation of the best in each league to start the All-Star Game. Again, I'd go with Love over Griffin, but that's not a sure thing case to make at this point. And it's not going to change anyway.

Posted by Royce Young

The first All-Star ballot returns are out and leading the entire league in votes is Dwight Howard with 754,737 votes with Kobe Bryant second with 690,613. Second in the East is LeBron James (640,789) and in the West Kevin Durant (633,538).

If the voting ended today, the East's starting five would be Derrick Rose, Dwyane Wade, LeBron, Carmelo Anthony and Howard. In the West it would be Chris Paul, Kobe, Durant, Blake Griffin and Andrew Bynum.

And looking over the vote totals, those starting lineups seem to be a bit set in stone, barring injury. Nobody is really all that close to catching anyone (Dirk is closest behind Griffin, and he's more than 100,000 votes back).

So, are the fans getting it right so far? Kind of looks like they are, quite honestly. Can't argue with the West too much. The one quibble I'd have is that Kevin Love has been absolutely killing it in Minnesota so far this season averaging 25-15, but he's not part of Lob City, so it's hard to see him ever topping Griffin. Same goes for LaMarcus Aldridge, who is off to a fantastic start. I'd also like to mention that Kyle Lowry has gotten off to a terrific start this season, but it's not good enough to top Paul.

In the East, there's really nothing to change. Melo isn't really a power forward, but you can fudge the All-Star rosters a bit. Rajon Rondo isn't playing better than Rose, there's no better 2 in the East than Wade and of course LeBron and Howard are the best at their positions in the entire league.

If the voting holds like this -- and it should -- we'll have a pretty accurate representation of the best in each league to start the All-Star Game. Again, I'd go with Love over Griffin, but that's not a sure thing case to make at this point. And it's not going to change anyway.

Posted by Ben Golliver. 

On Friday, the NBA officially postponed the start of its preseason schedule. With that first ugly step now taken, the question becomes how many more similar announcements are coming down the pipeline?

The next two major decisions, chronologically, will be the cancellation of the rest of the preseason and the delay of the regular season. Past that, the next major event on the NBA calendar is the league's annual All-Star Game, slated to be held at Orlando's Amway Center in late February.

The Orlando Sentinel looked back at the NBA's last work stoppage, during the 1998-1999 season, to pinpoint a possible deadline date for the league's mid-winter classic.

In the last lockout, the league cancelled the Feb. 14 1999 all-star game scheduled in Philadelphia on Dec. 9, 1998. This year’s game is set a little later — Feb. 26 at the Amway Center in downtown Orlando. So it could be that if this lockout continues, eating up regular-season games, the league likely will cancel Orlando’s game around Dec. 15.

NBA commissioner David Stern has reportedly pledged to bring the All-Star Game back to Orlando should next season's game be compromised.

Kobe Bryant snakes past LeBron's chasedown block attempt for the jam on his way to All-Star MVP honors despite LeBron James' triple-double.
Posted by Matt Moore

In the endless debate over who's the ruler of the NBA, Kobe Bryant with his five NBA championship rings, MVP, four All-Star MVPs and established position in NBA history or LeBron James who is highly regarded as the best overall player in the NBA right now, along with two MVPs, there's always a feeling that Bryant is just one step ahead. He's just had the things happen for him, or made them happen for him, that LeBron has not. And on a night where LeBron dropped the second ever triple-double in an All-Star Game, Kobe still managed to one-up him, landing the MVP trophy. The night was encapsulated, though, on a play where LeBron went for his famous chase-down block, only to find Bryant flush it. See for yourself. 




LeBron's team is stacked with two other All-Stars, but Kobe Bryant maintains his status as the icon of the league. He looks every bit on his way to a third Finals appearance despite his team's recent struggles, and if against the Heat, he may serve the same reminder to King James. Kobe Bryant still runs this game. 

(For more on All-Star Weekend, check out Ben Golliver's superlatives from All-Star Weekend.)

5 Things to Watch in the NBA All-Star Game. 
Posted by Matt Moore

Here are five things to watch in tonight's NBA All-Star Game

1. The Last Ride?

Kobe Bryant, Tim Duncan, Kevin Garnett, Dirk Nowitzki, Ray Allen, Paul Pierce. This could be the last ride for those players to all be in the All-Star Game. Most of them will be around in Orlando next year as All-Stars (if there's an All-Star Game next season, if there's a next season). But this is the last time to see them as all having earned their way through their play and not as legacy selections (you could argue Duncan's already hit that point but seeing as how his team is six games up in the West, we'll give him the benefit of the doubt). We do wish Steve Nash could have made it though. It's a shame the point guards in the West are so talented and deep, because it would have been good to see Nash out there one last time. 

2. The Boston Pops

How will Doc Rivers play the four Celtics? Will he play them together, giving them the chance to share the floor for their accomplishments? Will he hold them back, knowning that rest and injury are the two biggest concerns for the Celtics this season? The Celtics don't exactly get along with their Eastern teammates. Dwight Howard's been known to swing a few elbows and the Heat clearly have a problem with them. All teams are competitive, but the Celtics' culture takes it a bit further than most. Seeing how the Celtics play in what lineups, and how the L.A. crowd greets them will be worth watching, especially if it's anything like what greeted Paul Pierce in the three-point contest Saturday night. 

3. Rebounding Dominance

Dwight Howard, Al Horford, Kevin Love, Blake Griffin. Four of the best rebounders in recent history are in this game, and if they give even three-quarters effort, this could be fun.  Defense isn't going to be played at all, but rebounds are necessary regardless, and all of these players are instinctive rebounders.  Love has something to prove as the replacement addition when everyone's wondering why LaMarcus Aldridge was left out, even with Love leading the league in rebounding. Howard can make a statement about his position as still the league's most dominant big, and Blake Griffin just wants to kill everything that moves. Speaking of...

4. Simply Blake Griffin

There are multiple championship rings taking the floor today, yet the biggest buzz will be when Blake Griffin takes the floor. A rookie, in the All-Star Game, for the Clippers, has captured the imagination of the NBA world. If that doesn't telll you how quickly his star has risen, nothing will. Griffin has to watch it, though. He's got to peel it back, or he's going to get on the nerves of his teammates who are pretty much there to not play defense and launch ill-advised three-pointers. But the first guy he posterizes is going to be seen on the news for the next 24 hours around the globe. Something tells me the Eastern centers will be watching out when Griffin makes a cut. 

5. Durant's moment? 

Kevin Durant is still the humble superstar. But he's also still the leading scorer in the NBA, and the leader of a club that no one seems to have noticed is closing in on first-round home court advantage. Durant's had a quiet season despite his scoring dominance because of heightened expectations. But the All-Star game could be his time to step up and showcase his abilities. He needs to after a dreadful performance in the three-point contest. An All-Star MVP trophy would go far in kicking off his MVP campaign in the second half of the season strong. 

We preview the NBA All-Star Game (Sunday 8 p.m. EST) by looking at what Hollywood films the All-Stars compare to. 
Posted by Matt Moore




The big game is here. OK, so the game's not actually all that big, considering it's a group of severely hungover 20 and 30-year-olds not playing defense and winging up ridiculous shots with little effort or focus. But it is a staple, a part of the game, and the crown jewel of sports' best All-Star Weekend, the NBA All-Star Game. It's a matter of recognition to be among these players, the best in their industry.  This year they're in Los Angeles, Hollywood, and in the spirit of that, we thought we'd break down for you what some of these players will be showing us tonight in relation to some classic movie performances. 

Carmelo Anthony as Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart) in the Twilight Saga. You see, just as Bella must choose between werewolf beau Jacob and vampire soulmate Edward, so too does Carmelo Anthony have to choose between the New Jersey Nets and certain money/bigger market, and the New York Knicks, his franchise soulmate, who he's longed for for so long. All-Star Weekend has adopted the role of the woods where so many deep and meaningful conversations between Belo (see what I did there?) and his prospective mates have occurred.  After long conversations and serious contemplation, Belo must choose what life he is to lead. Plus, just like the Twilight Saga, everyone is completely and totally sick to death of this story. It's meandering, pointles storylines and overdramatic interpretations have left us weary, longing for the days when players played out their contracts and vampires were actually tough.  Sunday's game represents Breaking Dawn, the finale to this traveshamockery, and we all pray that afterwards we never have to hear about it again. 

Kobe Bryant as Seth Gecko (George Clooney) in From Dusk till Dawn. Kobe Bryant said last week that his favorite Robert Rodriguez movie was Desperado. But Byrant bears little resemblance to the tender-hearted, vengeance-starved dreamboat from El Mariachi. Instead, Bryant most closely resembles George Clooney's take on a violent criminal turned hero when a Mexican brothel turns out to be a feeding ground for vampires (I know, two vampire flicks in a row. Bear with me.).  Like Bryant, Seth is a cold hard killer who will do what it takes to survive and thrive, but is also portrayed as a hero due to the circumstances he falls under. You're left wondering if Gecko was a good or bad person, but you have no question as to whether he's the toughest S.O.B in the room. And, like Gecko, Bryant is forced to try and protect and carry along those weaker than him, like his Laker teammates. In short, expect a lot of firing out Bryant's guns, even in an All-Star Game he'll mostly be taking off due to injury.

Kevin Garnett as Jaws in Jaws. Garnett's coming off the bench for this All-Star game, so much like his counterpart, you won't see him for a while. But there's likely to be some scary moments when he steps on the floor, as Garnett struggles with turning his hyper-intense attitude off. Much like the gigantic man-eating creature in the horror classic, Garnett's mouth never stops moving as he's always running it at opponents. And like the monster, it takes a ridiculous sequence of events to destroy Garnett, involving a tank of compressed gas and a rifle shot from a piece of flotsam when the creature opens it's mouth having lodged the tank in its teeth.  This isn't exactly like the knee injury that sidelined him in 2009, but it's close. You also get the feeling that after this spring's playoffs, LeBron James may be left saying "We're going to need a bigger boat." 

Derrick Rose as Jules Winfield (Samuel L. Jackson) in Pulp Fiction. A postmodern neo-noir exposition on the concept of cool? That's the very mark of Rose, who now steps into the spotlight as a starter for the first time in the All-Star Game. Rose is cool, calm and collected, much like Winfield, and just as Pulp Fiction is often overlooked now for its influence and yet wildly overrated for being a work of complete genius, so too does Rose both outperform our expectations and suffer from an overload of hype. Those who "get" Rose adore him, and those who don't think his game is little more than a flashy version of Stephon Marbury. But the impact of his play is just as considerable as the film that pushed Tarantino from indie-filmmaker to one of the world's premier directors. 

LeBron James as Josh Baskin (Tom Hanks) in Big. Yup, I went for the cheap laugh here. The overgrown child who winds up succeeding beyond his wildest dreams thanks to his natural ability? Hello, Lebron. But while Josh is endearing to the audience in Big thanks to Hanks' delicate performance of naivety, instead we play the part of John Heard's Paul Davenport, the annoyed boyfriend of the love interest who can't undestand why this guy keeps getting pushed when he's such a moron. In this way, LeBron reveals that we're at once right, and wrong, and it doesn't matter because in the end he gets to play with his friends and that's all that matters. 

Dwyane Wade as James T. Kirk (Chris Pine) in Star Trek. Smooth, aggressive, and constantly doubted by those in his life, Wade ends up saving the planet because of his ingenuity and bravado. That's Wade. This J.J. Abrams re-invention of the classic sci-fi tale serves as a comparison for Wade re-inventing himself as part of an ensemble cast rather than the lonely lead.  In this scenario, the 2007 season was Wade's time spent as Sam Bell (Sam Rockwell) in Moon. Wade brings fast action and a nice smile to the game, and the knowledge that when you put him on the big screen, this flick is going to sell. Try not to get lost in the fact that J.J. Abram's penchant for formulaic character concepts wrapped in overly-developed plots are desperately similar to Erik Spoelstra's offensive schemes. 

Kevin Durant as Jason Bourne (Matt Damon) in The Bourne Identity. Humble, unassuming, and kill you quick. That's Durant. Durant also seems to have a hidden past, as he shows up as this fully formed phenom despite his time in D.C. And similarly, Durant is looking to escape the shadowy organization out to take hold of him. In this case, the media. 

Dwight Howard as Truman Burbank (Jim Carrey) in The Truman Show. Just as the movie reprsented Carrey, the biggest comedic star in Hollywood at the time's first real attempt at drama, so too does this season see Dwight Howard straining for serious recognition as the best player in the game.  In the end, it's Carrey's humor that helps deliver the emotion and empathy needed for the Peter Weir film to carry us to a place of consideration, just as it will always be Howard's goofy demeanor combined with his freakish athleticism that puts him on the front page of the NBA paper. But whereas Carrey's Truman steps out of the world he's been placed in in order to experience reality, Howard seems to further immerse himself in the cocoon that's been placed around him, refusing to take responsibility for his part in the Magic's championship hopes and instead holding the threat of his departure to a bigger market over the heads in Orlando like the giant metal moon in The Truman Show. 

Join us tonight for a livechat during the NBA All-Star Game. We'll talk about shoes, the parties from last night, the lockout that's going to ruin us all, Allen Iverson, and Gregg Popovich's outright hilarity. Join us at 8 p.m. EST as we close out NBA All-Star Weekend in style. 




For more on our coverage from the 2011 NBA All-Star Weekend in L.A., check out the following: 

Royce Young sits down with Kevin Durant: "I wouldn't say I'm a star but I'm growing, I can tell you that." 

Our All-Star Saturday Night wrap-up, featuring a break down, dunk by dunk.

David Stern comments on contraction, free agency, and the labor talks.

Ben Golliver talks to Tim Duncan, All-Star elder who's feeling young.

Carmelo Anthony speaks at All-Star media availability, and affirms no meetings scheduled with Nets or Knicks. Melo says he's "ready for this whole thing to be over."
Posted by Matt Moore

In front of one of the largest media assemblies at All-Star Media availability, Carmelo Anthony faced the throng to speak about his current situation, while rumors fly as heavy as any in recent memory. Ken Berger of CBSSports.com was there to capture Melo's quotes in our live feed . 

As he played the verbal tango with the media, Anthony made one thing clear: he's tired of all this. ""There's some things that I'm still thinking about in the back of my head. I'm ready for this whole thing to be over with," Melo said, as he reasserted that he had not scheduled meetings with either the Nets' or Knicks' representatives. His frustration with the situation was evident behind his usual (this season, anyway) cool, collected demeanor. "I'm mindboggled right now about this whole situation," he said. "I just want to get this thing over with right now. I wish there was just something, a legit offer on the table and the Nuggets can say, 'Let’s get it done.'"

He did say however that an extension with the Nets, the matter which is reportedly holding a nine-player deal in pending , is not off the table. ""That's something I'm going to have to think about," but he noted "there are a lot of things that come into play when dealing with that. The superstar was very clear that he wasn't going to get boxed into any decision, and that staying in Denver is still a possibility.

"I've told you guys this since day one, that's still an option," Melo said in regards to the possibility that he would re-sign with Denver. He reasserted that he's said that continuously since the summer, while of course omitting that he's also turned down the opportunity to sign that extension since July. However, he did say he hadn't talked with Denver in months about that possiblity. "I haven't had that conversation since November or December, it doesn't surprise me. It just tells me what they’re trying to do, obviously they're trying to get younger and save money over there. At the end of the day, it’s a business so they’ve got to make a business decision. And I've got to look at it as my career and as a business decision."
"I can't really sit here and say I want to go here or I want to go there," Melo said on his preference between New York and New Jersey, remaining coy while admitting that he was "pretty sure" the Nuggets were negotiating with N.J., giving a little weight to the reports of the past day while still feigning ignorance. Melo did say he was examining the possibility of being traded without an extension. "It’s a lot of situations that I look at. If the Nuggets came to me and said, 'This is a deal that we have, this is another deal that we have', I would have to look into that if my option is not to sign."

But the idea of being a "rental" as Melo referred to it, should he be traded without an extension, does not appeal to him. "Unless they’re trying to get car services and want to rent a car. I really don’t want to have to be a rental. I don’t feel like I'm a rental player. I don’t want to go somewhere and be a rental for two months and then have to deal with this all over again. I dont want to go there."

For all the talk that Melo is the one who can control his destiny, he says that Denver has just as much control over where he ends up. While he can tell the Nuggets where he wants to go, Anthony says it's still their job to figure out what's best for them. "They have to do what’s best for them and their organization, too. So at the end of the day, they can say, forget it, we have to take care of our organization, Melo. He did what he had to do here for eight years, but we have to do what we have to do, too."

Anthony said that the Knicks have a different situation from the Nuggets, because in Melo's mind, the Nuggets are looking to rebuild, while the Knicks are already ready to win. "Far as building, which the Nuggets are trying to obviously do in their near future they’re trying to start all over and build up – and don’t try to flip it on me – but New York already has something there. I think the city is looking forward to briging back great basketball and they’re looking forward to that. So if that’s my destination then that’s something that I can bring to that city."


So if Melo's so big on New York, what would he be looking for in a meeting with Knicks' owner James Dolan? "Just something that I want to look in Mr. Dolan’s eyes and see if he’s really interested in me coming to New York or see if Mr. Prokhorov is interested in me coming to Jersey. Whoever I deal with I want to have a sitdoown with. That’s just proper etiquitte."

Anthony made clear that New York and New Jersey aren't the only options, however. "I don’t think they're the only two teams that I can sit here and say, "Yo, I definitely want to be on those teams or nobody else." The Nuggets have to weigh their options. If it’s a deal with somebody else that’s legit then we all have to sit down and hash that out and talk about it. But time is ticking, man, and time is money."

The most revealing quote from Anthony was that he wanted to see a "legit" offer by the end of the weekend. He's through sitting back and being accepting of what has been happening. "Before I leave here I would love to have something on the table. I would love to have an offer, a legit offer on the table where they can sit down with me and say, 'Melo, this is what we have. Let’s try to figure it out.' But as of late there’s been a lot of things that have been going on in the media, deals in the media that haven't been legit."

"I would love to have something happen this weekend. I would love to have a legit offer to sit down and figure it out."

After six months, this thing may finally be coming to an end. At least Anthony understands the media and fans are tired of it as well.

"This has been  a long process for me, for my family, just for everybody, I'm pretty sure it’s been a long process for you guys too, to have to wake up in the morning and deal with the Melodrama."

Maybe this weekend is the breaking point for all this nonsense to end.