The rainy weather did not stray the young stars from shining in the bright lights of Los Angeles on Friday evening. With the late crowd filing into Staples Center like usual, the Rookies did not wait for any late arrivals as Kings forward, DeMarcus Cousins started the game with several thunderous dunks and finished the game with a game high 33 points.
The main attraction of the night was no other than hometown hero, Blake Griffin, who was on the receiving end of several John Wall alley-oop passes, who was awarded MVP finishing the game with 12 points and 22 assists., leading the Rookies to a 148-140 victory. Both Wall and Griffin were involved in my eyes the “play of the game” which came from a John Wall bounce pass over the head of Golden State’s Stephen Curry that found an air high Griffin for a reverse alley-oop slam. Griffin put on quite a show that fans did not want to see him sit. They were enjoying his game to the point that chants of “we want Blake” echoed through the arena even after he had thrown in the towel for the night. Luckily fans will be able to catch more glimpses of Blake throughout All-Star weekend.
Other notables were the amount of Los Angeles natives partaking in the game. The names include: Jrue Holiday, Brandon Jennings, Landry Fields, DeMar DeRozan and James Harden. Harden, the Artesia High School alum rose to the occasion of being a last minute replacement to Kings’ Tyreke Evans and having the eyes of All-Star teammate Kevin Durant watching courtside as he led the Sophomores in scoring with 30 points. Friends and family of the local players were in attendance as I walked out of Staples Center behind a man where the back of his jersey red “DeRozan Dad.”
httpvhd://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nWXkhPNTjr4
The event kept me entertained even during timeouts courtesy to the mascots making their way from their respective cities for a mascot collaboration as they danced with kids and teased with one another. But the highlight of the night for me all relates back to the purple and gold thanks to an apperance from the Laker Girls and their number to Katy Perry’s California Girl. How fitting!
Big thanks for All the Access to Twitter.com/AmericanExpress and for their hospitality. Be sure to check back with more updates from all the events occurring this weekend.
