2009 will be the third time this annual basketball game will be taking place in Arizona which will feature the East vs. West Championship; the first 2 years being 1975 and 1995. The NBA All-Star Game is part of the NBA All-Star Weekend scheduled to be held from February 13 to 15 February 2009, which includes the ever popular Slam Dunk Contest and Three Point Shoot Out Contest. The best and brightest stars from NBA’s Eastern Conference will play against their rivals from the Western Conference at the All Star Game which is the highlight of this basketball weekend.
The All Star Game was first staged in 1951 and has been played every year since then. The game has seen some of the best players in the Eastern Conference with the best basketball players from the Western Conference. The participants of this basketball event are chosen in two ways, via fan ballot and the other method is by voting among the head coaches of each squad. Of course the coaches are not allowed to vote for their own players.
Each year, NBA All Star Game brings new excitement and thrill among thousands of basketball fans all over the world. The event highlights twelve players, which consist of five starters and seven reserves from each conference, who are chosen from a pool of 120 players using the two methods already mentioned. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is the only player who has been selected for a record 19 times in this annual event. Michael Jordan, Karl Malone and Shaquille O’Neal along with Jerry West are players who have been selected for this major event 14 times during their sports career.
The NBA All-Star Game is recognized by the league in every way. It has seen major events and thrills too. NBA All Star Game basketball 2008 results were East 134, West 128, and the event was held at New Orleans Arena, New Orleans, LA. This year will be NBA’s 58th game, and the second round of voting results has also been announced, with Dwight Howard of the Orlando Magic and LeBron James of the Cleveland Cavaliers leading the Eastern Conference, with Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers and Yao Ming of the Houston Rockets leading the Western Conference. Dwight Howard is by far the overall leader with 1,421,882 votes. LeBorn James from the Eastern Conference leads with the second highest votes so far counting 1,259,764 followed by Kevin Garnett from Boston with 905,506 votes. Dwayne Wade from Miami, Allen Iverson from Detroit and Samuel Dalembert from Philadelphia and several other leading NBA scorers follow them.
You wouldn’t want to miss this exciting spectacle of the NBA season where the best basketball players will show their spectacular trick plays at the NBA All Star Game.