| All Star Week-End |
10 February 2003
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West Beats East in Double Overtime
Atlanta hosted the NBA's All-Star Week-End and provided the world with a glimpse of why the NBA used to be fun to watch. Double over-time in basketball is inherently exciting, and a 155-145 finish proves that the ability to score is still there. This week-end was particularly important, marking as it does the end of Michael Jordan's career (this retirement may stick) and the arrival of Yao Ming. The 3-point and slam dunk contests were heavy draws on their own, and a celebrity 3-on-3 with Magic Johnson rounded the fun.
So, the second half of the season is here, and it's back to the grindstone. Denver and Memphis will still struggle to score more than 80 points in 48 minutes, and too many teams will make it into the play-offs. Sometime around the end of the school year, a baseball announcer will inform the fans that the basketball season is over, finally.
It doesn't have to be that way; the game of basketball is much better when the players let loose the way they did in Atlanta this week-end. Of course, since the game didn't matter much, they played a more wide-open style. That can be Commissioner Stern's next mission -- getting the game played every night the way it was in Atlanta on Sunday.