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Carly Rae Jepsen — Call Me Maybe
(Source: muchaclase)
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Here are some thoughts from All-Star weekend:
- The dunk contest represents everything the NBA is not: The dunk contest officially hit rock bottom this year, with four relatively anonymous names (to the general viewing audience) and tired gimmicks that overshadowed some impressive dunks. When Kevin Durant tweeted after the game that Lebron, Wade, Derrick Rose and Russell Westbrook should enter the contest next year, he echoed the thoughts of many: it’s time to make the dunk contest relevant again. But I don’t think we necessarily need to bring the biggest names out to rejuvenate the event. We just need better personalities. While it’s easy to merge these two thoughts of best players and best personalities as one, remember that some of your favorite interviews and best follows on Twitter are not necessarily from the top guys. Though he tried his best to entertained, Chase Budinger is still, well, Chase Budinger. We still don’t know who Jeremy Evans is, and despite being rising stars in a league of many, Paul George and Derrick Williams don’t have that connection and reach to an outer audience. For a professional sports league brimming with individuality, it’s tragic that the one event that takes center stage on All-Star Weekend highlights everything that the NBA is not: boring, stagnant and deprived of any fun.
- My favorite photo from this past weekend: Chris Bosh being Chris Bosh.
- The All-Star game, surprisingly entertaining: The first five minutes of the game salvaged the entire weekend. The real stars came out and put on a show for the fans. Continuing with the theme of individuality, every superstar’s personality came through in the game. From Derrick Rose’s surly response to his teammate’s dancing during the introductions, to Kobe mouthing off to anyone within his line of vision, to Dwight Howard generally not taking much of anything too seriously, it was a reminder of why even though the quality of basketball has suffered, it’s nice to have these players around instead of hibernating through a nuclear winter of lockout talk. Even watching Russell Westbrook’s athleticism on display without the shadow of whether he’s taking too many possessions away from Durant, and Deron Williams exiled from New Jersey for one night and back on the big stage, there were so many interesting subplots to follow that made what is often called a farce, surprisingly entertaining.
- My favorite tweet from this weekend: Ozzie Guillen on Nicki Minaj.
- What’s our opinion on Dwyane Wade? For the past two years now, Wade has gotten away with almost everything. When in doubt, blame Lebron. From The Decision, to their mocking of Dirk’s sickness during the Finals, it seems Wade is protected as all the criticism is directed towards Lebron. On Sunday, Wade broke the unspoken rules of the all-star game and took a swipe at Bryant that resulted in a broken nose and a mild concussion. Competitive? Or out of line? I’m surprised more hasn’t been made about this. In the same breath, it was Wade who bobbled a breakaway pass from Lebron with over a minute left that would’ve put the East in the lead. Of course, it’s easier to lament Lebron’s deference on the final possessions. Slowly but surely, I’m starting to view Wade as a bigger villain than Lebron. To be continued.
- The tipping point for our hatred of Lebron James might’ve been this weekend: You know it’s crazy that we’re all sitting here criticizing Lebron’s passiveness in the final seconds of an all-star game. Key word: all-star game. Somewhere in Lebron’s head, he genuinely believes that when he’s making these passes and not taking the final shots, he’s making the best basketball decision on the court that’ll lead to victory. And who are we to question the best basketball player in the world right now? The criticisms for Lebron since the Decision have gone from reasonable with a touch of bitterness to irrational with complete bias and jealousy. I think this Sunday will be the tipping point where we will all start moving towards rooting for Lebron again. When he’s in that position again in the playoffs, with much more on the line, we will find ourselves rooting for Lebron to take that shot, and root for that shot to go in. If only to satisfy our desire to move onto to the next conversation. And that’s the best storyline as we head into the second half. This is Lebron’s championship to lose. Even as we’ve waited year after year for him to come through, it seems the pieces are finally in place. But we’ve been down this road before. If anything, we are moving closer towards embracing Lebron again. I can’t be the only one. But if he falls short again, we will re-start this conversation with another year’s worth of evidence to support all that we hate about him.
(Source: thetickr)
Andre Iguodala windmill dunks at the All-Star game… I wouldn’t mind seeing him in the dunk contest again either…
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