Well, at least it’s over. Is it too soon to say All Star Weekend 2012 was the worst yet? It’s the worst I can remember watching, thats for sure. But I didn’t have high expectations to begin with, so I was prepared in a way. I first knew the weekend was in danger way back when I heard Blake Griffin wouldn’t be competing in the dunk contest again. That’s all some fans were waiting for. I was let down a bit, but I got over it because, as of last week, there was Iman Shumpert and Jeremy Lin to look forward to. Unfortunately Shump - and Lin by default- would also dropout in the last minute (due to injury). That’s when I lost all interest in the Saturday night.

Hearing what Shumpert and Lin had planned that night only made things worse. In hindsight, it made me wonder what could’ve been…or how much better the contest would’ve been. Not that Shumpert and mainly Jeremy Lin would’ve saved the whole weekend (like he did the Knicks season) simply by participating, but it would’ve brought some much needed excitement to the night. And had the contest been actually been a success, most fans would have been satisfied enough for the whole weekend. It is the one thing all fans check for anyways so it should be the highlight of the 3 nights. Unfortunately, this year’s edition had no major stars in it and, therefore, was doomed from the beginning. It ended up being arguably the worst in history and now there’s been talk about ending it.

Anyways, Dunk Contest aside, the weekend did have it’s high points. Of course, it was bad overall. I probably don’t need to convince you of that. Matter fact, it doesn’t even deserve much of a write up or debate, but I had to give it a recap. I’ll be sure to break it down quickly. Then, we can move on and forget it ever happened. Most importantly, we can look forward to the rest of the regular season and playoffs which i guarantee will not disappoint.

FRIDAY: There was the Celebrity game and the BBVA Rising Stars Challenge. I really wish I watched the Celeb game. Based off the highlights, lil Kevin Hart stole the show. I saw that Penny and J. Cole were also in the game. I heard Cole was good so I’d have liked to see that and I’ve been a Penny fans so any chance to see him still play is one I hate to miss. Maybe I’ll catch a rerun on NBATV or something…

The Rising Stars game was the Highlight of the whole weekend for me. I was waiting to see what Wall, Lin, and Kyrie would do. Two of them showed up. Wall showed out as I expected. I didn’t expect Kyrie to go off like he did, but I’m not surprised. Based of how he played I’m sure he could’ve been an All-Star. Best performance I’ve seen in a rookie game without a doubt. Shout out to Marshon Brooks for giving me a couple laughs, Greg Monroe too. This game delivered.

SATURDAY: I barley watched the Skills Challenge. Never could really get into that even much (Although, Steph Curry and last year was interesting haha). Who won it again? I can’t remember. Moving on, the three point contest was a shock. How’d a PF/Center end up winning the contest? That has to be a first. I had Durant winning it. He is arguably the best shooter in the league and he looked to be the best that night….until the last round. Not to hate on Kevin Love, but he’s not exactly what I envision the NBA’s best three point shooter to look like. All in all, it was slight let down. Next year lets get more guys under the height of 6 foot 8 in the contest. It’s just more exciting that way.

The Dunk Contest speaks for itself. I would break it down and all it’s problems (and I might in a separate post) but there’s nothing I can say that you probably haven’t heard already on ESPN, Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr or in school/work today. It was a disaster minus “that one dunk” from “that one guy”. Too many gimmicks and too much Kenny Smith for sure. I’ve seen more entertaining impromptu dunk contests after pick up games….

SUNDAY: After a rough start, the All Star Game delivered in the end. Isn’t that how it always happens though? The highlights? They pretty much all belong to Lebron James with a little bit of Russell and Durant here and there. Lebron really saved the game, however. If it wasn’t his sweeping reverse Dunk in the first quarter (basically a mixture of Dr J, Jordan and Vince Carter all in one) or his late game 3 pointer barrage, it had to be his choke in the last minutes that stole the show and had me up out of my chair. It was a good game thanks to the King. As usual, without him ESPN analyst would have nothing really to talk about this morning….other than Kobe breaking Jordans scoring record, (and his nose) but who really cares about that?

edit: I can’t NOT mention Charles Barkely who was hilarious each and every night with the commentary. He definitely kept us all laughing through all the pain.