An insight into NBA All-Star Game 2011- Western Conference (Part 1)
The top performers of NBA’s Eastern Conference meet their Western Conference counterparts at Staples Centre on 20 February, 2011, to compete in the NBA All-Star Game 2011.
The Western Conference will appear in their blue uniforms coached, Greg Popovich.
Los Angeles, the home to Los Angeles Lakers and Los Angeles Clippers will be hosting this year’s All-Star weekend. The 2011 NBA All-Star Game will take place at the Staples Centre on 20 February, 2011 at 8:00 p.m.
Rihanna, the sensational pop star, and, Kanye West will be entertaining at the All-Star halftime show.
The players playing in the Western conference will be those, who have been selected through fan voting. There is a different procedure of voting for the starters and reserves in the All-Star Game.
The starters of the game are selected through fan votes. The starters of the game are those two guards and two forwards, who win the most number of votes among all.
However, the head coaches of their respective teams vote and select the reserves. But in this manner, the coaches are not allowed to vote for their own players. Two guards, two forwards, one centre and one player from any position become a part of the reserves.
The replacement of a player, who cannot play due to an injury, can only be made by the commissioner. This year, Yao Ming could not participate due to a stress fracture injury.
David Stern selected Kevin Love to fill in for the injured player but the final decision was still with the coach of the conference. Hence, Popovich selected Tim Duncan, and the player will be starting in place of Yao.
Although, the same rules of NBA are followed in All-Star, the game is a little different than the atypical NBA games. There is little defensive effort by the teams and the final scores are also higher than usual NBA games.
The players show their best performances with a marvellous display of slam dunks and alley oops. The final quarter of the game is more competitive than normal games as both teams struggle to score more than the other team.
The game is more thrilling and sensational than usual NBA games as the best of the best players in the NBA compete against each other. The player with the best record is awarded the Most Valuable Player (MVP) at the end of the All-Star game.
Let us take a look at the West conference’s players, who made it to the All-Star game this year:
Starters squad
No: 24, Kobe Bryant- Los Angeles Lakers
Three-time MVP, five time NBA Champion, and the leading scorer of the Los Angeles Lakers is also the NBA’s two-time scoring champion. The 32-year old has averaged 25.1 points this season.
No: 35, Kevin Durant- Oklahoma City Thunder
The 22-year old was awarded the Rookie of the Year award in 2008. The player has made it to the NBA All-Star game twice in his career. Durant extended a 5-year contract with the OKC on 7 July, 2010 worth approx. $86 million.
(Continued in Part 2)
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