2008 NBA All-Star Weekend: Far East Meets West

now that we are a few days removed from the 2008 all-star weekend, i think i can say for certain that by all accounts it was a terrific success for both the nba and more importantly, new orleans. and though there's obviously still more work ahead, it at least seems like there is hope and optimism in a city that only a few years ago had little. and impressively, while lending their extended support to the rebuilding effort in new orleans, the nba even managed to put on a great show. because between the different all-star games and events there was hardly a dull moment. but if i was forced to choose one thing that "stood" above all else throughout the all-star weekend, i think i'd have to go with jet li, who despite being the opposite height of most basketball players is apparently chummy with many of them.

as seen above, pictures of jet li enjoying the all-star game were not in short supply this weekend. in every new orleans nook and cranny, you could find jet chatting up an nba all-star. what were they talking about? why was he only talking to western conference all-stars? why was i so curious about this? as the visual evidence mounted, i became more convinced that the action star was using all-star weekend as a forum to pitch his various movie ideas to basketball players. here's my best guess as to what these ideas were.

rush hour 2, 2 - i'm sure jet li expressed interest in this project to an assortment of different players since it makes so much sense. hopefully it happens. because in my opinion, there aren't enough remakes of sequels.

twins too: taller - similar to the original, yao and jet li are twins separated at birth. they blossom into superstars in basketball and martial arts and eventually reunite. the rest of the movie is yao and jet finding themselves in humorous situations. situations that occur when jet li asks, "oh no, how am i supposed to be at a photo shoot and a movie premiere at the same time? ...wait a second... yao, you can go for me!!"

junior 2 - admittedly, there are probably hundreds of movies that would make more sense. but for some reason, i think it'd be really funny if jet li was really obsessed with arnold schwarzenegger and danny devito movies. almost as funny as arnold schwarzenegger and danny devito movies themselves. seriously, a pregnant man?! now i've seen everything!

white men and the temple of doom - here's steve nash sharing his idea for a summer blockbuster. if it's anything like its predecessors, my interest is piqued. not only would the movie feature steve nash as woody harrelson and jet li as short round, it would feature a two-on-two team composed of a white guy and a short asian guy beating people at basketball and then going on adventures that involve a rail car.

shanghaiami vice - "my giant" might be the first thing that comes to mind, but i doubt yi wants to get typecast so early in his young, or allegedly old, career. plus, it'd be a waste to not capitalize on these adorable suits.

pulp fiction - this isn't a movie idea so much as it's what i hope yao was saying to jet li when this photo was taken.