All-Star Mania

we've already discussed barkley-bavetta, but the nba all-star weekend has given us so many more memorable moments. so i sat down to choose my some of my favorites. there's no doubt that this list is incomplete and that there are several glaring omissions. let us know your favorite all-star moment in the comments section below.

2004: ron artest's shoes – in hopes of landing a shoe deal, ron artest wore four different brands during the game. the only major brand artest ever endorsed was l.a. gear, which made him the ideal sponsor for 'double dare'. since i couldn’t find video, here’s the on-air call of the pistons-pacers brawl. my favorite part: bill walton saying, “this is a disgrace”.

2007: gilbert’s grapes – after shaq offered him $100k for his charity, agent zero followed the timeout entertainment on to the floor and did a between the legs dunk off a trampoline. bonus points for this because it made its way into gilbert’s fantastic all-star blog.

2007: rookie/sophomore game – the sophs scored 155. david lee made every field goal (14) and free throw (2) he attempted. chris paul ended with nine steals and seventeen assists. monta ellis converted seven alley oops. defense is overrated.

2007: shaq/howard/lebron dance - seeing the lighter side of athletes is a refreshing change from hearing about ‘taking it one game at a time’, or ‘playing within ourselves’. my dream is for juan carlos navarro, luis scola, and yi jianlian to reenact this during the rookie/sophomore game. my dreams suck.

2006: barkley on damon jones - the only bad thing about this was that it overshadowed andre igoudala. he had a behind the back dunk and a dunk in which he took off from out of bounds under the basket. meanwhile, nate robinson had to try his dunk over fifteen times.

1988: jordan-wilkins dunk contest – probably the most famous dunk contest of all-time, and one that made little to no sense. dominique’s third dunk getting a 45 was a move by the judges to keep the contest in reach, but jordan’s double-clutch from the free throw line was worth the controversy.

2003: rookie/sophomore game - the sophomores embarrassed the rookies in a game that was capped off with jason richardson bouncing the ball off carlos boozer's head and draining a three. after calling j-rich “classless” for his actions, boozer broke a handshake agreement with cavs owner gordon gund, who is legally blind. pure class.

2000: vince carter dunk contest - with a lineup of larry hughes, jerry stackhouse, ricky davis, steve francis and tracy mcgrady, this should have been the most competitive dunk contest ever. instead, vinsanity obliterated everyone. this clip is worth it just for the look of sheer euphoria on dikembe mutombo’s face.

2003: jordan’s last all-star game - despite playing only 15 games due to injury, vince carter was elected the starting 2 guard for the east, but he eventually gave his starting role to jordan. his shot over shawn marion would be number one on my list, except kobe tied the game with free throws and the west went on to win big.

1992: magic johnson (skip to 6:50) - magic had just been diagnosed with hiv and the public still didn't know very much about it. at the time, aids was basically a death sentence and most people thought you could get it from simple contact. more than the game itself, magic’s courage in dealing with this disease is what i remember most about the game. him taking over the final two minutes was a moment i'll never forget.

despite baseball's attempt to make the all-star game relevant, the nba still serves up the best showcase of their elite talent. the entire weekend is a blast and with this year's celebration being held in new orleans, there will be plenty of good done for a community that sorely needs it. as much fun as it is to look back on the past, i'm infinitely more excited to see new history being made.

now please, go back to damon jones' coat.