NBA All-Star Saturday ~ Practice

If you can’t go to the actual NBA All-Star game, definitely go to NBA All-Star practice. Practice was held Saturday morning at the Los Angeles Convention Center.  ****  This was the first time since the NBA All-Star festivities were held in Cleveland, OH that I went to watch practice.  I have been missing out!

The LA Convention Center hosted the NBA Jam Session.  If you’ve never been to NBA Jam Session, check it out. There are numerous opportunities to interact with players, complete various basketball drills, and celebrate the game of basketball etc. More on that in a later post.

Practice is a ticketed event. I suggest you get there early if you want to take pictures since the tickets designate a section only. It’s general admission within the sections.

The guys are pretty loose during practice and you can see the smiles on their faces. NBA All-Star weekend is a fun time for the fans and the athletes. Unlike in football, where it’s a challenge to get the athletes to play in the Pro Bowl, the NBA shows up and enjoys itself during the All-Star break. 

 Don’t believe me? Check out the smiles on the guys’ faces.

One funny moment during practice occurred when Doc Rivers, coach for the Eastern All-Stars, told Carmelo Anthony to stand in the middle of the court since he didn’t know whether he was playing for the West or the East. ****  Obviously this was before Monday’s trade that sent Carmelo Anthony to the New York Knicks and in the middle of the Melo-drama.

At any rate, practice was a good time and the teams performed various shooting drills. Towards the end of the practice Paul Pierce and Ray Allen established a record for 3-pointers by a tandem for the Guinness Book of World Records. Unfortunately for the Celtics duo, Dirk Nowitzki and Kevin Durant promptly broke the record to claim it as their own.

After practice there was media availability. The media had a chance to go onto the court to talk to the players. Picture it. I liken it to the media version of “storming the court”.

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Iverson arrives in Turkey ~ English: practice, Turkish: uygulama

One of my favorite post-game interviews is Allen Iverson's and his take on "practice".  I've posted it before, but here you go.  DJ Steve Porter remixed the video to include other coaches, and its hypnotic beat is captivating.



I wish Iverson the best in his latest endeavor.  It's my understanding that he's arrived in Turkey, since my friend posted the video of Iverson getting mobbed as he arrived in the country to play for Besiktas Istanbula'da.



Allen, just so you know, the Turkish word for practice is "uygulama"...


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Viva la Practice - France loses to South Africa, 2-1

So in 2010 FIFA World Cup action today,  France lost to RSA (i.e. the Republic of South Africa) and all I know is that a few of the French players refused to practice.  According to the ABC News article, "On Sunday the French players refused to practice to protest the decision by the French soccer federation to send home forward Nicolas Anelka, who reportedly insulted Domenech at halftime of a 2-0 defeat by Mexico last Thursday. " 

Well, we all know now how that worked out for the French team. 

France lost today, with a final score of 2-1.  If you want a game recap, use this ESPN link.  If you want to laugh, check out the following video of a remix from DJ Steve Porter.  It has Allen Iverson, Jim Mora, Dennis Green, Joe Namath (i.e. incidentally, who can forget that sideline interview?!?!  wow...), Mike Gundy & Terrell Owens.   Have we learned nothing about the value of practice?!?! 

Viva la Practice!!!



****  Oh and it gets better, I just saw this USA Today article with another video clip. It appears that the French coach, Raymond Domenech, refuses to shake the hand of the South African coach.  Nothing like a poor loser and a lack of sportsmanship...


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