NBA All-Star Saturday 2011 Results & Winners

If you bet on Derrick Rose, Ray Allen and Blake Griffin to win tonight's All-Star Saturday contests, you were 1 for 3. As predicted, LA Clippers star Blake Griffin took the trophy for the dunk contest, after he leaped over a parked car in a single bound. That car was a brand new Kia and had his teammate Baron Davis inside, tossing the ball out of it from the sunroof.

The dunk contest capped off the night of events for All-Star Weekend 2011, which started with the Haier Shooting Stars contest. Teams of 3 players competed, made up of a WNBA player, current NBA star and legend from NBA past. The winning team was the Atlanta squad composed of Coco Miller, Steve Smith and Al Horford. Horford hit the big half-court three-point shot to help them win in good time. The defending champs, Team Texas, couldn't put that shot away, even with Kenny Smith and Dirk Nowitski on the floor.

Next up, it was the Taco Bell Skills Challenge. Competing in 2011 were Derrick Rose, Russell Westbrook, Stephen Curry, John Wall and Chris Paul. Stephen Curry ran through the course featuring dribbling, passing and shooting drills, in excellent time. Nobody was as fast as the young star and he took the trophy while also earning a young female fan a $30,000 scholarship. Not bad!

The Three-Point Shootout was next in line, with all eyes on the new NBA leader in 3's, Ray Allen. Allen would beat out his Celtics teammate, Paul Pierce, and make it to the finals, against James Jones. Jones was not predicted by many to win it, but he was the real deal tonight. The Heat star scored 20 in the finals, while Allen faltered on his final rack, finishing with 15. Congratulations to Jones, although Ray Allen still reigns supreme all-time.

And then there was the dunk contest...People have been sour on this event in year's past, and it did offer some creativity this time around. There was a questionable score of 50 given to Serge Ibaka on his takeoff from behind the FT line. DeMar DeRozan had some impressive slams, but the finals came down to Javal McGee of the Wizards against Blake Griffin of the Clippers. McGee had some interesting dunks, one of which included two basketballs and two rims next to each other. Another included McGee dunking 3 balls into one basket, in succession.

However, Blake Griffin and his hype man coach, Kenny Smith had a master plan. Griffin's final dunk involved a brand new Kia brought to the floor near the basket. Smith had a Crenshaw Choir singing "I Believe I Can Fly" and then Griffin ran, jumped, caught the pass from Davis from the car, and jumped over the hood of the car to dunk. After the recently added idea of fans voting for the finals by text or internet, Griffin had won the event. In an emotional moment, he dedicated the win to his best friend who recently passed away.

Hat's off to all of the competitors on some great contests tonight. Also, a shout to the hilarious commentary of the TNT team with Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith and Reggie Miller. Now we can all look forward to a fun game on Sunday night when East meets West!

NBA All-Star Weekend 2011 Events Schedule & Participants

NBA All-Star Weekend 2011 is here, so it's time to get familiar with which NBA stars will be participating. There's a range of events include the Skills Contest, Three-Point Contest and Sprite Slam Dunk Contest. Stars such as Ray Allen, Paul Pierce, Derrick Rose, Blake Griffin and John Wall will all be featured.

By the way, the Rookies defeated the Sophomores 148-140 on Friday evening, with John Wall capturing the MVP award. DeMarcus Cousins contributed mightily with 33pts and 15rbds, while Wall had 12 points and an amazing 22 assists. Blake Griffin added 14pts, while DeJuan Blair was a standout for the Sophomores with 28pts.

All-Star Saturday kicks off after 8PM EST on TNT.

Haier Shooting Stars 2011:

Team Atlanta: Al Horford (Hawks), Coco Miller (WNBA's Atlanta Dream), Steve Smith (Legend)

Team Chicago: Taj Gibson (Bulls), Cathrine Kraayveld (WNBA's Chicago Sky), Steve Kerr (Legend)

Team Los Angeles: Pau Gasol (Lakers), Tina Thompson (WNBA's L.A. Sparks), Rick Fox (Legend)

Team Texas: Dirk Nowitzki (Mavericks), Roneeka Hodges (WNBA's S.A. Silver Stars), Kenny Smith (Legend)

Taco Bell Skills Challenge 2011:

Chris Paul (NO)
Stephen Curry (GS)
Derrick Rose (CHI)
John Wall (WAS)
Russell Westbrook (OKC)

2011 Foot Locker Three-Point Contest:

Ray Allen Boston
Kevin Durant Okla. City
Daniel Gibson Cleveland
James Jones Miami
Paul Pierce Boston
Dorell Wright Golden State

2011 Sprite Slam Dunk Contest:

DeMar DeRozan (Tor)
Blake Griffin (LAC)
Serge Ibaka (OKC)
JaVale McGee (WAS)

This will all be a precursor to the big game Sunday night when East meets West. TNT will air the All-Star game starting at 8PM EST!

Blake Griffin out for season for surgery

The chosen one for 2009-10 in Los Angeles reportedly has seen his season end, before it even began. According to the latest reports, the LA Clippers' #1 Draft pick, Blake Griffin, will be out for the remainder of the season for surgery. Griffin was injured in the final game of the NBA preseason when he broke his kneecap. Griffin's left kneecap hasn't healed as quickly as intended, so he'll be sidelined with surgery, rest and rehab.

This makes for the second straight year that the NBA's #1 draft pick was sidelined for the majority of their rookie campaign. Previously it was Greg Oden who had microfracture surgery on his right knee, causing him to miss the entire 2007-08 season. He returned in 2008-09 and was classified a rookie, but played sporadically, never quite materializing. In this current campaign, Oden hurt his left knee on December 5, 2009 and is out for the entire season.

As for the Clippers, they'll continue to rely on Marcus Camby at starting power forward, with Craig Smith backing him up. They're near a .500 record, and have Chris Kaman, Baron Davis and Eric Gordon all playing great, but obviously having the talents of Griffin would have propelled them higher. With the draft of Griffin at #1, there were high hopes for the "other team in LA" this season, but now they've been sidelined just like their rookie star. 2010-11 will begin the rookie year for Blake Griffin, and Clippers fans hope this isn't some eery deja vu, shades of Greg Oden just a year ago.

More about the Greg Oden injury at NBA.com

NBA 2009-10 Season Schedules

The 2009-10 NBA Season will kick off in style on TNT Tuesday Ocotober 27th with an NBA doubleheader. In game 1, last year's Eastern Conference Finals Runner-ups, the Cleveland Cavaliers will go up against the NBA Champs from 2 seasons ago, the Boston Celtics. Lebron James and Shaquille O'Neal will have their first regular season contest together while the Celtics look to welcome Kevin Garnett, and recent pickups, Rasheed Wallace & Shelden Williams. In the second game of the night, it will be a battle of the two LA's. Kobe Bryant's NBA Champion Lakers will be taking on the in-town rival Los Angeles Clippers with their #1 draft pick, Blake Griffin. Two other games will go down on opening night; Washington takes on Dallas, while Portland hosts Houston.

The next night will be yet another doubleheader, this time airing on ESPN. Game 1 will feature Tim Duncan, Richard Jefferson and the San Antonio Spurs battling Chris Paul, Emeka Okafor and the New Orleans Hornets. In the second game of the night, Carmelo Anthony and the Denver Nuggets will go into Utah to go against Deron Williams and the Jazz. October 28th features a total of 12 NBA games on the slate.

The NBA Champion Lakers won't see their NBA Finals opponent from 2009, the Orlando Magic until Monday, January 18th, 2010. The Magic will have to wait until March 7th to host the champs at home. There will be a Christmas day treat for NBA fans as Kobe's Lakers visit Shaq, Lebron and the cavs in Cleveland for an afternoon contest.

In addition to various local sports coverage of games around the country, the usual networks will air plenty of games this season, with ESPN, ABC and TNT all showcasing some of the top matchups.

The NBA season will wrap up on Wednesday, April 14th 2010 as the Playoffs will kick into high gear soon thereafter.

NBA Preseason schedules will also be announced withing the coming weeks.

View Team by Team schedules here for the NBA 2009-10 season

NBA Summer League Las Vegas 2009 Edition

The NBA's Summer League 2009 kicked off in Las Vegas, Nevada on July 10, 2009. The schedule includes 21 teams participating and 55 games total, wrapping up on July 19th. You can expect to see the likes of top NBA draft prospects and D-Leaguers in action. The top NBA draft picks will be in action: Blake Griffin of the Clippers, Hasheem Thabeet of the Grizzlies and James Harden of the Thunder. Some of the vets in the summer league include the Thunder's Keith McLeod and Spurs' George Hill.

#1 pick Blake Griffin expects to have a busy summer, according to NBA.com:

“I’m going be to be working out as hard as I can,” Griffin said. “You know, Summer League, I'll be there, and I'm also going to the USA trials at the end of July in Vegas.”

There's also a summer league going on down in Orlando, and according to NBA.com, the Thunder are one team that is competing in both of the leagues. Guard Russell Westbrook will be in Orlando, while James Harden and BJ Mullens will play in Vegas. Several other second year players and some international prospects from their team will also make the trip to the desert. Unfortunately, Blazers rookie Patty Mills suffered a broken right foot and won't be participating in the league.

NBA.com has also picked out 10 games of note, including a July 12th battle between the #2 and #3 picks, Memphis Grizzlies' Hasheem Thabeet and OKC Thunder's James Harden. One of the final games of the schedule features Blake Griffin in action against the Phoenix Suns.

On day 1 of the league, Pistons #35 pick DeJuan Summers scored a monstrous 24 pts against the Kings, including many dunks, and seven rebounds as well. The Warriors' young phenom, Stephen Curry, scored 16, missed 10 out of 14 shots and had 7 fouls (I guess the rules change in a summer league).

All in all, the 2009 NBA summer league will provide a fresh look at some of the top prospects to possibly gauge who will be making some noise during the regular season, possibly propelling their team to greater success.

Also see: 2009 NBA Draft Results, Round 1

2009 NBA Draft Round 1

The 2009 NBA draft lottery picks started off just as expected as Oklahoma phenom Blake Griffin was selected first overall. The Grizzlies snatched up imposing Connecticut defensive player Hasheem Thabeet to man the middle in Mephis. From there the Thunder took James Harden who many continue to be the most talented overall player in the draft. Minnesota had two picks in the top 5, and took Tyreke Evans of Memphis followed by Ricky Rubio from Spain.

Here's a look at the first 13 picks in the 2009 NBA Draft:

#1 Blake Griffin (Oklahoma) drafted by Los Angeles Clippers
#2 Hasheem Thabeet (UCONN) drafted by Memphis Grizzlies
#3 James Harden (Arizona St.) drafted by Oklahoma City Thunder
#4 Tyreke Evans (Memphis) drafted by Sacramento Kings
#5 Ricky Rubio (Spain) drafted by Minnesota Timberwolves
#6 Johnny Flynn (Syracuse) drafted by Minnesota Timberwolves
#7 Stephan Curry (Davidson) drafted by Golden State Warriors
#8 Jordan Hill (Arizona) drafted by NY Knicks
#9 DeMar DeRozan (USC) drafted by Toronto Raptors
#10 Brandon Jennings (USA-Intl.) drafted by Milwaukee Bucks
#11 Terrence Williams (Louisville) drafted by New Jersey Nets
#12 Gerald Henderson (Duke) drafted by Charlotte Bobcats
#13 Tyler Hansborough (UNC) drafted by Indiana Pacers

As usual, the local NY Knicks fans booed their teams pick Jordan Hill, but according to the commentators he was the best pick available at that spot. Of course, the NY fans have quite a bit to be unhappy about with their team failing to make the playoffs yet again, and possibly losing out on the Lebron James sweepstakes with the news Shaquille O'Neal had been traded to Cleveland earlier in the day.

In other trade news, New Jersey Nets All-Star forward, Vince Carter, was dealt to the Orlando Magic, in what appears to be a rebuilding effort for NJ. Orlando definitely added to its lineup now with Dwight Howard having the shooting services of Turkoglu and Rashard Lewis.

More draft coverage at NBA.com

2009 Draft Lottery Results

Tuesday night, the Los Angeles Lakers were on the court getting ready to try to take out the Denver Nuggets and move one step closer to the NBA finals. Meanwhile, their in-state rivals, the Los Angeles Clippers won the draft lottery on Tuesday night, possibly securing a franchise player in the process. Blake Griffin from Oklahoma was interviewed by Mark Jones of ESPN, and asked about the possibility of him coming to LA as the #1 pick. Griffin said he plans to try his best to learn on the fly and make an immediate impact wherever he's drafted to. Other top draft picks will include the likes of Johnny Flynn, James Harden, Stephen Curry and Hasheem Thabeet of Connecticut.

2009 Draft Lottery order:

1) LA Clippers
2) Memphis Grizzlies
3) Oklahoma City Thunder
4) Sacramento Kings
5) Washington Wizards
6) Minnesota Timberwolves
7) Golden State Warriors
8) New York Knicks
9) Toronto Raptors
10) Milwaukee Bucks
11) New Jersey Nets
12) Charlotte Bobcats
13) Indianapolis Pacers
14) Phoenix Suns

Several of the representatives in attendance for the draft lottery selection show on ESPN wer either current or former players, as well as coaches. Chris Webber was there on behalf of the Kings, while Kevin Love was there for the Timberwolves. Former Knick Allan Houston was in attendance for New York. Scott Brooks represented his Oklahoma City Thunder, while Larry Bird represented the Pacers.

The 2009 NBA Draft will take place on June 25, 2009.

2009 NBA Mock Draft

Last year's #1 pick was a toss up between Derrick Rose and Michael Beasley, with Chicago grabbing Rose and making him their franchise player while the Miami Heat took Beasley. For 2009, it appears it may be a toss up between two monstrous players, Oklahoma's Blake Griffin and the human eraser, UCONN's Hasheem Thabeet. Both players have plenty of skills to offer teams in desperate need. Griffin may have a slight edge as he's the better offensive player, but teams can't go wrong by choosing a 7'3 guy who fills the lane, intimidates opposing players and sends shots into the stands.

Here's a look at just one NBA Mock draft for the projected draft picks #1 through 14. These team positions will most likely change, as of right now they are determined by worst to best ranking in the NBA amongst teams that may not qualify for the playoffs.

1 Sacramento Blake Griffin So.
2 Washington Hasheem Thabeet Jr.
3 LA Clippers James Harden So.
4 Memphis Jordan Hill Jr.
5 Oklahoma Cty Brandon Jennings Intl.
6 *Minnesota Gerald Henderson Jr.
7 Golden St. Earl Clark Jr.
8 Toronto Chase Budinger Jr.
9 Indiana Al-Farouq Aminu Fr.
10 Charlotte Demar DeRozan Fr.
11 New Jersey Craig Brackins So.
12 *New York Jeff Teague So.
13 Chicago DeJuan Blair So.
14 Phoenix Eric Maynor Sr

Currently opinions vary on where Connecticut Junior Hasheem Thabeet might be drafted. Mock draft sites currently speculate him anywhere from 1-5. MyNBaDraft.com has Thabeet going 5th to Oklahoma City, while draftexpress.com has Thabeet being drafted 4th by the Memphis Grizzlies. Of course, players' stock can rise and fall with the NCAA tournament as well as their performances in team workouts and pre-draft activities.

Also, for the 2009 draft, Minnesota receives the Miami Heat's first round pick, a top 10 selection due to the Ricky Davis trade several years ago.