The Clippers and Lakers were both awarded the All-Star Game in an announcement by commissioner David Stern on June 9, 2009. This was the second time that the Staples Center had hosted the All-Star Game; the arena had previously hosted the event in 2004. This will be the fifth time that Los Angeles had hosted the All-Star Game; before Staples Center opened in 1999, the city had previously hosted the event in 1963, 1972, and 1983.[2]Rihanna, Kanye West, and Drake were the halftime performers, while Keri Hilson, Lenny Kravitz and Bruno Mars were the entertainment for pre-show festivities.[1]
The coaches for the All-Star Game are the head coaches of the teams with the best winning percentage in each conference through the games of February 6, two weeks before the All-Star Game. However, an NBA rule also prohibits a coach from being selected for consecutive All-Star Games, even if his team again holds the conference's best record. Because George Karl and Stan Van Gundy coached in the 2010 All-Star Game, they were not eligible for selection.[3]
Kobe Bryant received the most votes with more than 2.3 million.
The rosters for the All-Star Game are chosen in two ways. The starters were chosen via a fan ballot. Two guards, two forwards and one center who receive the highest vote were named the All-Star starters.[3] The reserves were chosen by votes among the NBA head coaches in their respective conferences. The coaches were not permitted to vote for their own players. The reserves consists of two guards, two forwards, one center and two players regardless of position. If a player were unable to participate due to injury, the commissioner would select a replacement.[6]
Yao missed the game due to injury; he was replaced by NBA commissioner David Stern with Love.[8] Western Conference coach Gregg Popovich selected Tim Duncan to replace Yao in the starting lineup.[9]
^INJ Yao Ming was unable to participate due to injury.[8] ^REP Kevin Love was named Yao Ming's replacement by NBA commissioner David Stern.[8] ^1Gregg Popovich selected Tim Duncan to start in place of Yao.[9]
The head coaches for the Rookies and Sophomores teams were the lead assistants from the All-Star Game coaching staffs, Mike Budenholzer from the San Antonio Spurs and Lawrence Frank from the Boston Celtics. They were assisted by two All-Stars and two veterans who served as assistant coaches: Carmelo Anthony, Amar'e Stoudemire, Steve Kerr and Kevin McHale. Budenholzer, McHale and Stoudemire coached the Rookie team while Frank, Anthony and Kerr coached the Sophomore team.[12]
The Rookies defeated the Sophomores 148–140, extending their winning streak to two games. Rookie's John Wall, who scored 12 points and notched a record 22 assists, was named MVP. He is joined by his former Kentucky teammate DeMarcus Cousins, who scored a game-high 33 points and had 14 rebounds. James Harden, who was born in LA, led the Sophomores with 30 points and DeJuan Blair had 28 points and a game-high 15 rebounds. Rookie's Blake Griffin, who also participated in the Slam Dunk contest and the All-Star game, only played 13 minutes and had 14 points. Both teams started the first half strong; the Rookies only had a 2-point advantage at halftime. The game remained close in the second half and the Rookies eventually came out with a victory.
On January 5, 2011, the four contestants for the dunk contest were announced. Blake Griffin, JaVale McGee, Serge Ibaka, and Brandon Jennings were all chosen to participate.[14] On January 20, it was announced that DeMar DeRozan would replace Jennings due to his foot injury.[15] For this edition, the contestants were also provided with a 'dunk coach': Griffin was mentored by Kenny Smith, McGee was paired with Chris Webber, Ibaka was mentored by teammate Kevin Durant, and DeRozan paired up with Darryl Dawkins as his mentor.
During the first round, McGee made two perfect score dunks, including a dunk that had him dunk three basketballs at once, sending him to the finals. Griffin, who scored a total of 95 points in the first round, also entered the finals. In the second round, McGee and Griffin each made their two dunks, but Griffin won with 68% of the fans votes after he dunked over the hood of a car, with an assist by Baron Davis.
The Taco BellSkills Challenge was contested by five players. Chris Paul, a three-time contestant, have been automatically selected to participate. He went against Stephen Curry, Derrick Rose, John Wall, and Russell Westbrook, who were voted in by the fans from a pool of 8 candidates.[17] In this contest, the contestants had to complete an "obstacle course" consisting of dribbling, passing and shooting stations. The contestant who finished the course with the fastest time wins the contest. All contestants had to comply with basic NBA ball-handling rules while completing the course. Curry won the event with 28.2 seconds in the final round against Westbrook who finished with 44.2 seconds.
The BBVA Celebrity All-Star Game featured two teams composed of retired NBA and WNBA players, actors, comedians, singers, celebrities, and others. The game was divided into four eight-minute quarters. The head coaches were Hall of FamersBill Walton and Magic Johnson. Their assistants were comedians Ty Burrell and Jason Alexander. Each team featured fake "general managers" who simulated to have chosen the team.
The game's MVP was chosen by voting of the audience through text messaging. At the end of the game, Justin Bieber was announced the MVP. Bieber scored eight points (3–11 FG), and had two rebounds and four assists. NBA legend Chris Mullin said of Bieber, "He's got a nice little game... but more importantly, he's got great passion. It looked like he loves the game."[18]
The Eastern Conference All-Stars defeated the Western Conference All-Stars 115–108 in the game held at the Los Angeles Convention Center. Courtney Sims of the Iowa Energy won the All-Star MVP honors by scoring 25 points on 10/13 field goal shooting.[19]
^INJ Dexter Pittman did not participate due to injury.[20] ^REP Scottie Reynolds was named as Pittman's replacement.[20] ^REP Cedric Jackson, Marcus Landry and Jerel McNeal were named as replacements for Dowdell, Johnson and Shakur.[20] ^CUP Zabian Dowdell, Trey Johnson and Mustafa Shakur were currently called up by the Phoenix Suns, Toronto Raptors and Washington Wizards, respectively.[20]
For the second straight year, Dar Tucker won the D-League Dream Factory Slam Dunk Contest, beating Chris Johnson in the finals. In the final round, Tucker got the assist from Bakersfield Jam's Jeremy Wise then dunked over New Mexico teammate Shane Edwards for the score of 50.
^INJ Latavious Williams did not participate due to injury.[21] ^REP Derrick Byars was named as Williams' replacement.[21]
Three-Point Shootout
Booker Woodfox won the NBA D-League Dream Factory Three-Point Shootout, defeating Scottie Reynolds 16–7 in the final round. Woodfox advanced to finals after defeating Marcus Landry 20–17 in the tie-breaker shootoff (both players were tied at 16 at the end of the first round).