They finally found what was missing. The secret ingredient came to play and it really did its job.
February 16-18 NBA All-Star Weekend took place in Los Angeles California and it couldn’t have been a bigger hit. The whole weekend was turned upside down and it couldn’t have come at a better time. Teams were chosen, a great game was played and one team remained victorious.
All-Star Weekend kicked off with the Rising Stars and the Celebrity Game (both eventful in their own rights.) For the first time in the game’s history, there was a player to be in both the rising starts and All-Star game. Joel Embiid of the Philadelphia 76ers contributed to both games with his razzle dazzle game and love of theatrics.
There were many other noteworthy events performed during All-Star weekend. Donovan Mitchell brought home the trophy for the Verizon Dunk Competition, Devin Booker took the JBL 3-Point Challenge and Spencer Dinwiddie of the Brooklyn Nets took the Taco Bell Skills Challenge over a close competition with Chicagos’ Lauri Markkenin.
This all warmed fans up for the main event: The All-Star Game. However, traditional theatrics of the game with basketball’s best players, saw something different this year: Fergie’s National Anthem.
As the night kicked off, popular artist and LA local Fergie performed one of the more unusual renditions of the National Anthem the All-Star Break had ever seen.
Since the performance, commentary has ensued from around the country. Heather Mickel a freshman at Snow College said, “It was terrible… it felt like she was joking around… I am different after watching this video, and not in a good way.”
Lauren Baker, of Snow College had this to add. “I feel uncomfortable… I am worried… why? Don’t do that to the National Anthem!”
After the pyrotechnics Fergie laid down, a great game of basketball ensued. With previous struggles in the past, captained teams lead by Lebron James and Steph Curry battled it out, with Team Lebron pulling out a close game against Team Steph 148-145, turning an otherwise easy exhibition game into a nail-bitter in the last 2 minutes of the game.
All Star Weekend showed us that working hard and hanging tight pays off in just about every way.