West All- Stars light up Las Vegas

 

 

By: Larry Fitzgerald
Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder
Originally posted 02/22/2007 

 

  Las Vegas , Nevada — For the first time in NBA history, the league held an All-Star game, its marquee event, outside of a city that does not have an NBA franchise. That could soon change.

 

  Las Vegas is world-famous as the city that never sleeps. It is the entertainment capital of the world; if NBA Commissioner David Stern has his way, the next NBA expansion in about two years or so will reward Las Vegas with an expansion team. The NBA has shown a history, however, of doing things other sports leagues never even consider, like Black ownership of the Charlotte Bobcats.

 

Las Vegas is a wonderful place filled with glitz and glamour, and the NBA already has a history here. The University of Nevada at Las Vegas (UNLV) is where the famous Runnin Rebels played their games at the Thomas & Mack Center, and they have a pipeline to the NBA past and present: Larry Johnson, Stacey Augmon, Shawn Marion, Greg Anthony, and former Timberwolves player Marcus Banks, just to name a few.

 

In April of 1984, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar took a pass from teammate Magic Johnson and scored on his famous sky-hook. The Lakers played the Utah Jazz on April 5 of that year, and Jabbar set the all-time league scoring mark by passing Wilt Chamberlain in the record books.

 

One of the current NBA ownerships, Joe and Gavin Maloof of the Sacramento Kings, owns the lavish Palms Casino and Resort. So the momentum may just be rolling. According to Stern, if Las Vegas votes to drop sports book wagering on NBA games, that could clear the last hurdle.

 

This city has grown from 350,000 residents to about two million. I think there is a reason why no professional sports franchise in football, baseball, basketball, hockey or any other has ever considered putting a sports franchise here. The problems are moral and social; the implications outweigh the short-term financial rewards. That’s always been the case.

 

Some things are, as they say, best left alone. Las Vegas is and always will be an adult playground. It’s a place where just about anything goes, where anything can and will happen. Anyplace nicknamed Sin City tells you just about all that you need to know. Legalized gambling obviously is permitted here; slot machines — one-armed bandits, as they are called — are everywhere, even in some bathrooms.

 

If you do something here that you’re not supposed to do, say, something that would upset your mother, no need to worry — you don’t have to tell. I’m about to tell you, though, that parties and women were everywhere during the Las Vegas 2007 All-Star weekend.

 

Anybody and everybody came, from the very rich and famous to the so-called have-nots. Gangsters, the Crips, the highest and the lowest — after all, this is America , the land of the free. More than 350,000 visitors came for the NBA showcase weekend to party and to touch and to be a part of greatness. Talk about star power!

 

Not to mention the Chinese New Year, which fell on Saturday. The number-one revenue day for the city of Las Vegas is Super Bowl Sunday; it’s been that way for 41 years when thousands, more than 450,000 people on average, pour into this city to wager on the big game.

 

The NBA Western All-Stars led by Kobe Bryant and Amare Stoudemire, who combined to score 60 points, shot down the Eastern Stars 153-132 in keeping with the theme of the weekend (scoring), one of the highest scoring All-Stars games ever before 15,694 fans. Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers was named the MVP for the second time, leading all scorers with 31 points, six assists, six steals and several spectacular dunks.

 

The West led 39-31 after the first quarter and just outgunned the East led by Cleveland ’s LeBron James with 28. The Western Stars set a record with 52 assists; the previous record was 46 in 1984.

 

Many passes were thrown over the weekend, if you know what I mean, so the players were in a very giving mood, and it carried over to the game. Carmelo Anthony of Denver , the league’s leading scorer, added 20 points, while Shawn Marion had 18. Minnesota ’s Kevin Garnett added seven points, six rebounds, and four assists for the winners in his tenth All-Star game.

 

Garnett, by the way, is the league’s highest paid player per year at $21 million to match his jersey number. Shaquille O’Neal of the NBA Champion Miami Heat, after dunking on Tracy McGrady of Houston , stopped and kissed him. Charles Barkley, however, landed the most surprising kiss when, after beating NBA Official Dick Bavetta, he kissed him on the mouth.

 

Viva Las Vegas !

 

Larry Fitzgerald can be heard weekday mornings on KMOJ Radio, 89.9 FM, at 8:20 am, and Monday evenings 6-7 pm. He welcomes reader responses to lfitzgerald@spokesman-
recorder.com, or visit www.
Larry-Fitzgerald.com.