Kobe Bryant wins NBA All-Star MVP in his house

Can't say it--Kobe and LeBron/Courtesy: wally skalij-LATimes

And like every other major sports all-star game, nobody played defense.

NBA's All-Star weekend finished last night with their night to show off. Kobe Bryant of the LA Lakers led the West all-stars to a 148-143 win over the favored East squad last night on his home court at the Staples Center.

Bryant scored 37 points and grabbed 14 rebounds, bascially dominating a game which featured the Miami Heat "Big 3" and 4 out of 5 starters for the Boston Celtics on the East squad.

Read more from the LA Times, RIGHT HERE

Quite honestly, this was a good weekend for the NBA. The game, did well for them. It showcased their best players and the youngsters also had a role in the weeks success.

Perhaps the biggest talk of the week was the Dunk Contest, and for the league and the weekend, that is a good thing. The contest had gotten incredibly stale and uninteresting over the past several years and this years group brought unheard of excitement to it.

As for Bryant, while not forgetting his legal issues of a couple years ago, he's matured into the player and person that he had hoped to become. He's still the most dangerous player in the league when he goes all out and it showed on Sunday. Sure, there are question marks around his team, but do you think anyone wants a part of them...or Bryant in the Playoffs. Bryant doesn't seem to duck and cower over being asked tough questions, but he does a pretty good job of keeping it in perspective.

Your game highlights are here...




And here is Bryant talking about his day. Thanks CBSSports:

2011 Slam Dunk Contest: Yeah, Blake Griffin Jumped Over a Car

Really, there aren't a whole lot of words that we can use to describe Blake Griffin and his Slam Dunk awesomeness that haven't already been said.

With that in mind, imagine what his bosses in Clipper-land thought when they saw what he was planning to do to cap off the night.

By the way, if you don't know who JaVale McGee of the Washington Wizards is, after watching this video, you will

Here's the 1st part of the competiton. Thanks NBA.com and YouTube:


The next round. As the stakes and the creativity gets larger:





And the finals:

Kevin Love Wants To Be An All-Star Really Badly...

((HT: 612allstar.com))

He should already be there...

But with videos like this... he should be there on merit alone...

NBA All-Stars Overshadowed by Jerry World...

The title of this story kind of says it all. Really, how often can you say that a building overshadows such NBA luminaries as LeBron James and Kobe Bryant and Dwyane Wade. Well, Cowboys stadium stole the show. 108,713 fans showed up to watch an NBA exhibition game. Yes, that's right 108,713.

The story from Star-Telegram.co RIGHT HERE

((Thank god for the Gargantu-tron TV//Courtesy: Paul Moseley/Star-Telegram))

If anyone is interested. The East won the game 141-139 and the aforementioned Mr. Wade was the MVP.

Cowboys stadium...a.k.a Jerry World was filled to the max, the crowd actually larger than the 105,721 who showed up at the Cowboys home opener. We can only imagine the view...or lack of one from the nether regions of the stadium, but hey, if you went, you can say you were a part of history.

Either that or you had a very good set of binoculars...well, actually you probably just watched the game on the Gargantu-tron HDTV screens in the middle of the stadium. To the naked eye, it would have appeared that you were watching the game from an airplane.

((The sideview is thanks to us and Brother Martin who was in the 200 level))

We couldn't find game highlights, but check out this cool video of the transformation of the stadium from football field to basketball court.

Thanks You Tube:

More Injuries For Milwaukee Bucks - Mascot "Bango" Tears ACL

The Milwaukee Bucks have been decimated by injuries this season. Andrew Boget and Luke Ridhour have been out of action and their best player, Michael Redd, is on the shelf for the rest of the season thanks to an ACL tear. Now you can add Bango, the Bucks mascot to the injury list.

Bango tore his ACL at the NBA All Star weekend in Phoenix.

Here's the video evidence and look closely, when Bango falls through the hoop and lands is where the knee gives.

You knew it wouldn't end well for Bango after Rufus, the Charlotte Bobcat, nails him in the groin with his backwards shot. Stupid kitty. Then Bango gets banged up falling through the net.

Here's a statement from the Milwaukee Bucks:

While gazelle-like dunks and agile maneuvers around the court will be impossible for a time, the heart of Bucks game-night entertainment and the emotional leader of Bucks fans of all ages will continue to lead fan enthusiasm at home games. He will miss few – if any – home games, and the Energee! Dance team, Hoop Troop, Rim Rockers, Air Bango, Super Force, and newly formed Bucks Wild! percussion drumline will continue to fill the court in support of Bango.

“All of the entertainment elements and their performers have bought into our new initiative: Care Bango,” Director of Game and Event Presentation Mike Schnieders said. “They all care about Bango and will assist him in his recovery and continued contribution to Bucks games throughout the rest of the season. We’ll be adding some Care Bango enhancements and announcing the initiatives in the coming days. In the meantime, we look forward to Bango’s speedy recovery.”

We hear at the OSG HQ wish "Bango" a speedy recovery.

Photo Courtesy: Jeffrey Phelps/Milwaukee Journal Sentinel