While Kobe stole the show on Sunday night with an MVP-performance of 37 points and 15 rebounds, it was the Clippers’ Blake Griffin who everyone wanted to see during All-Star Weekend 2011 in Los Angeles, Calif. Fortunately, for LakersNation.Com’s Editor in Chief, Daniel Buerge and myself (his faithful assistant), American Express hooked us up with two exclusive box seat passes to All-Star Saturday Night, allowing us to see for ourselves, just how amazing Blake Griffin truly is. 
From the moment we escaped the downpour outside of STAPLES Center, the buzz about the night’s final event was insane. Sure, it was going to be funny to see “legends” take the court in the Shooting Stars competition; and the 3-point Shootout is always exciting in the final round. But, the slam dunk contest is what everyone wants to see. Even though the past couple of years have been called watered down, and have even drawn comparisons to WWE events, it’s still the event that everyone talks about. With Griffin – a budding superstar and arguably the most exciting, young player in the NBA right now – everyone (myself included) was eagerly awaiting to see what Griffin would put on for show in the league’s annual dunk-a-thon.
However, like anything exciting, we had to wait to the end of the night to see what Griffin had in store, but that wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. Thanks to American Express, we got to see players frantically fire up half-court bombs, Stephen Curry defy physical impossibilities and even better – watch two Celtics lose in STAPLES Center, in the same event!
Next: Al Horford Catches Fire From WAY Downtown
As boring and lacking as the Shooting Stars competition is, there’s still a solid amount of entertainment value to it. How often do you get to see an NBA legend, a current NBA player and a WNBA star all suit up on one team for a shootout against other teams comprised of the same trimmings? Only once a year, actually. Unfortunately, Charles Barkley, Bill Russell and Magic Johnson weren’t the legends in question, but that wasn’t the biggest disappointment in the world. Rick Fox returned to the court for Team Los Angeles (however, it was eerily weird to see him wearing Andrew Bynum’s jersey) and Scottie Pippen even played too (although, he might have been using this event in hopes that a team would sign him, still thinking that he has some game left).
httpvhd://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TdFa0pKNvF0
Although my “beloved” Team Los Angeles was knocked out in the opening round, my money wasn’t on them to win anyways. They had Pau start off shooting from the three-point spot – an obvious recipe for failure – and when Al Horford decided that his new specialty shot was from half-court (he actually hit both half-court shots for the eventual event champion Team Atlanta), it was all but over for Team Los Angeles.
With one event down, and two more to go before Blake would fly through STAPLES, the anticipation continued to grow, and you could see it throughout the arena (only because the crowd’s population suddenly grew from about 37 fans to a couple thousand following the completion of each event – before a packed house was waiting to see Griffin’s stuff).
Next: Stephen Curry Proves the Doubters Wrong
I’m somewhat torn on the Skills Challenge event. Personally, I think that it’s a great event, and really creative. However, none of the players seem to think so as, year-after-year it’s the same drill: no one goes full-speed (even in the final round!) and the person who ultimately wants to win the event, will likely win it.
This year, there were five competitors in the event: Oklahoma City’s Russell Westbrook; New Orleans’ Chris Paul; Chicago’s Derrick Rose; Golden State’s Stephen Curry and Washington’s John Wall. Although proven point guards such as Paul and Rose (the defending champion of the event) seemed like much more logical choices to win the event, I put my faith in the ball handling skills of Curry. No, I didn’t think he was the best, or the fastest of the bunch – but I wanted him to win so badly – solely for the purpose that I did not believe he would be able to pick the trophy up, let alone hoist it over his diminutive body.
Boy, was I wrong. Well, kind of.
Much to my satisfaction (and as my only correct prediction of the night), Curry won the event. However, he shocked me, and probably most of the arena, when he took that massive trophy and held it above his head like it was nobodys business. His arms may look small, but that kids apparently got some gusto.
httpvhd://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DCCxOFtrMMI
Two events down, and half of a prediction right, only one more event separated the salivating, Blake Griffin-loving fans from the dunk contest – the three-point shootout.
Next: Two Celtics Lose In Los Angeles
My favorite part of the three-point shootout was that, no matter who won, there was a 100% chance that a Boston Celtic was going to lose that night. Eagerly awaiting the moment when Paul Pierce would either a) hit 20 points during a round a proceed to center court to take bows while being showered with boos from everyone from his hometown of Inglewood, Calif.; or b) the moment he would mildly sprain his knee/ankle/finger/[insert any body part here] during the event and require a foaming Kevin Garnett to carry him to the locker room, while he yelped in “pain.”
Unfortunately, neither of those things happens, but something even better did: BOTH CELTICS IN THE COMPETITION LOST. Yeah, it was to a member of the Miami Heat (James Jones), but at this point, what do you think Laker fans enjoy more, watching Paul Pierce and Ray Allen leave Los Angeles as losers, or watch James Jones win the three-point shootout? I’m going with the former, and I think most of Los Angeles would agree with that.
httpvhd://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gUgvzsWDbyg&feature=related
Now, with the Celtics crying and the STAPLES Center crowd cheering, it was time for the event everyone (especially Daniel Buerge) had been waiting for: Far East Movement’s special performance!
Next: The Only Event Anyone Cares About
Just kidding, it was actually (and finally) the dunk contest! With everyone standing and anticipating the first slam that Blakers Nation would serve up for them, the buzz inside STAPLES Center was at a season high, and even though Blake did miss his first few attempts, his completed throw down was still something out of the ordinary and nasty.
However, what I have not revealed to you yet, is that earlier in the night, Daniel had relayed a tweet he had read earlier in the night: Blake Griffin was supposedly going to jump over a car for one of his dunks. Every year, everyone is always saying, “ah man, it would be so cool if someone jumped over a car!” In alignment with the WWE comparisons but to many people’s surprise, a car (which just happened to be a Kia – the “official automobile sponsor of the NBA. Yeah, like any NBA player drives a Kia, hah!) was wheeled out under the basket (along with the Crenshaw Choir, which sang I Believe I Can Fly) and for his final, and “contest-sealing” dunk, Griffin “lept” over the front end of the car, caught a pass through the moon roof from now-former teammate Baron Davis and put down a basic, two-handed slam.
httpvhd://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4BS8Qbd9P6s
Although the dunk was simple, the setup was not, and in today’s WWE styled dunk contests, that’s what you need to do in order to “win.” So, to nobody’s surpise, Griffin went home with some hardware that night, and even though he may not have been the best dunker that night, he was the best prop-dunker, and the fans ate it up.
While the Slam Dunk Contest is nothing close to what it used to be, I’d have to say, it was pretty fun and entertaining set of events to lose my All-Star Saturday Night virginity too.
Another thanks to American Express for making all of this happen and giving me the chance to say “I was there when Blake Griffin kind of jumped over a car and dunked a basketball!” For access like this to upcoming Lakers games, check out americanexpress.com/entertainment