The 2016 NBA All Star Weekend is upon us, and for the first time, basketball's biggest exhibition event will take place outside the United States - in Toronto, Canada. To bring Hoopdarshan listeners closer to the event, we invited Payal Doshi, the Social Media Manager of NBA Canada, to give us a brief buzz of how Toronto has prepared for All Star. Of course, hosts Kaushik Lakshman and Karan Madhok give their unadulterated predictions and expectations for the All Star Weekend, too. We wrap up this episode by speaking to Payal about her experiences with Indian Basketball and reveal a big Bollywood-NBA surprise for ASW.
Toronto's own Payal Doshi is the Social Media Manager at NBA Canada. With vast experience as a writer, in TV and digital production, and social media outreach, she has worked with ANOKHI Media, The Score, OMNI Television, and more in the past. She was also the face of the famous 'Inside the Purple Room' series. You can follow her on Twitter at: @PayalDoshiTV.
The new episode of Hoopdarshan also touches on recent sobering news in Indian basketball, like the South Asian Games fiasco, and a variety of other topics in the wide breath between India and the NBA All Star Weekend, including Vince Carter tattoos, Sting, Drake, Butter Chicken, and taking Amir Johnson to the Taj Mahal.
Hoopdarshan aims to be the true voice of Indian basketball, and since we're such hopeless fans of the game, it will become the voice of everything basketball related we love, from the NBA to international hoops, too. On every episode of Hoopdarshan, we will be inviting a special guest to interview or chat to about a variety of topics. With expert insight from some of the brightest and most-involved people in the world of Indian basketball, we hope to bring this conversation to a many more interested fans, players, and followers of the game.
I want to take a short interlude from our regular scheduled programming here at the Hoopistani blog to talk about my favourite dunk.
AAAAAH... The dunk... Everyone has a favourite dunker, a favourite slam, whether it is in a Slam Dunk competition, during a fast-break in a game, or my personal favourite, an unexpected elevation from a freakish athlete right in the middle of the crowded lane. Usually, these are the dunks that make for the best posters.
With so many choices, how do you pick just one? I'm starting off my narrowing my field down a little bit - the dunk has to be elite and relevant - and by that I mean, the dunker has to be a relevant basketball player at his time and the stage has to be at the most elite/competitive. So, sorry random dunkers (with little other basketball skills) in Algeria (Kadour Ziani) or streetball dunkers (Taurian Fontenette), or our own Indian Blake Griffin, TJ Sahi (who dunked over a Mumbai taxi two weeks ago): I'm officially unconsidering you all for my list.
The next thing I want to count out are dunk competitions altogether. Yes, they are nice to watch, sometimes. Yes, the likes of Jordan, Dominque, Dr. J, Kobe, Vince Carter, Dwight Howard, Nate Robinson, and Blake Griffin have been spectacular in dunk competitions, but they don't count for two points and crushed souls of the opponents like in-game dunks do. This paragraph is officially dedicated to TJ Sahi, the finest dunker in India, who one-upped Blake Griffin in India's own slam dunk competition 10 days ago with a dunk for the ages in Mumbai, when he jumped over a kali-peeli taxi.
Anyways, now seeing that my field has been narrowed down so far, you probably expect an in-game NBA dunk. You probably expect to see a big man like Amar'e Stoudemire, Shawn Kemp, or Blake Griffin eating opponents alive here. Or a backboard breaker by Shaq or Darryl Dawkins. Or John Starks pulling out a classic. Or Scottie Pippen making Patring Ewing cry, or Dr. J, Michael Jordan, or Dominique, or Vince Carter making posters out of ordinary human beings in an NBA game.
Nope.
My favourite dunk of all time does indeed belong to one of the names above. The last one, actually. Vince Carter. But it isn't from an NBA game - it's from the Olympics.
To a new NBA fan, Vince might be that dude who comes off the bench for the Suns, behind Jared Dudley. He's that slow-footed guy who looks like he doesn't care about the game at all, and averages about 14 points a game. Well, my friends, you need to go back in time, about a decade back actually, to realise that at point, Vince Carter was the most unstoppable force in the league. Without going into superlatives, I'll just say that where other talented players choose to slide in a tough lay-up, Vince Carter chose to rise above and slam it in. He is the man behind countless SportCenter Plays of the Day, countless Slam Magazine SLAMADAMONTH's, countless in-game humiliation, and the single greatest slam dunk competition performance of all time.
But for me, Vince's finest moment came in the 2000 Olympics, where he was representing the USA Basketball Team. This moment came in the game against France on September 25, 2000. Carter (6"6), jumped OVER the 7"2 Frédéric Weis' head and slamming the ball in. This dunk was so famous that it made the man who was dunked on famous. Just think about that. Weis, A French player, who never played in the NBA, and was barely an influence in the French national team, is known amongst hoop-heads for one reason, and one reason alone - Vince Carter. Hell, this dunk is SO famous it has its own nickname: The French Media called it "le dunk de la mort", or "the dunk of death".
It's a pity that, being an Olympic game, there are few excellent copies of it available on the internet. I present you the best copy available. Enjoy!
Earlier this week, I had posted pictures and information from the first NBA game I ever attended: the Warriors @ Knicks, played at the World's Most Famous Arena, the Madison Square Garden. A week after that exciting night, I was back to some live NBA action in Washington DC on November 16th, where I got to see the Washington Wizards play the visiting Toronto Raptors.
It was a peculiar change of scene from the game at MSG. The crowds were scarce, and much quieter. The pizza was better, but nothing could match the hot-buttered MSG popcorn. And the game was pretty much over in the third quarter, so the crowd was kept enthused by T-shirt guns and hot-dog give-aways.
But I, for one, had special interest in this match-up: ever since the glory days of Vince Carter (now amongst Toronto's Public Enemies), I have been slightly partial to the Raptors, and was interested in seeing their young players such as Andrea Bargnani and Sonny Weems in action. Most importantly though, I was here for Gilbert Arenas - one of my favourite players in the league, who was attempting to make a comeback after some horrific decisions last season.
Arenas' backcourt partner-in-crime and Washington's current darling John Wall unfortunately missed that game, and it was a pity, since Wall has been the most explosive player in the league. The rookie easily the quickest player on the ball ever, drawing comparisons to a certain Allen Iverson, and he has been putting up some good performances as well.
But without Wall, it was Arenas' night. This game was his first start of the season. After the game, I wrote about his attempt at a comeback on my NBA-India article. Sure enough, Arenas has repaid my faith by significantly improving his output ever since.
Arenas took over in the third quarter in this game, and with the help of Andray Blatche and Nick Young, Wizards easily beat the visiting squad.
Anyways, here are some of the not-very-fantastic photographs I have from that night. And no, I'm not sorry for the Hibachi overdose.
Wow, it's All Star Weekend already... The NBA season just seems to be blurring past us, isn't it? The "show" begins in Dallas on Friday and concludes with the main event, the All Star Game, on Sunday night. Here is a list of some of the weekend's highlights (please forgive me if I purposely skip over the the Taco-Bells and the T-Mobiles and all the other dumbass sponsor names in the event titles):
All eyes are on Sunday night's bonanza, which like every year, will features most of the league's finest stars. As you may be aware, the league allows fans to vote in their starting 5's. Unlike most sport writers and critics, I like to vote for these players based purely and unabashedly on passion instead of their actual talent/performance. There, I admitted it. Stop criticizing me, bro.
So, my starting fives were:
East:
G: Dwyane Wade: my favourite player.
G: Vince Carter: Ya, I've heard the disses. Half Man/Half Gimpy Knee. No heart, etc. etc. Whatever, I'm still a fan since the rookie year - I still wear #15 on my basketball jerseys. Somewhere in France, Freddie Weis is still shaking in a dark corner.
F: Kevin Garnett: Yes, he was injured for most of the season, and no, I don't care.
F: Chris Bosh: Along with Wade, this is my second "deserving" pick for the starting five. 'The Boshasaurus' has arguably been the best big man in the league this season.
C: Al Horford: Because someone has to play center. And because I hate Dwight.
West:
G: Baron Davis: Try using him in NBA 2K5, the guy is murda. Zyman, if you're reading this, I'd just like to add the word 'posterize'.
G: Deron Williams: Cuz he deserves it, and cuz Iverson only played three games in the west.
F: Ron Artest: I had a faint suspicion that he will start a brawl with all the other all stars and get the best of the NBA suspended for the season and thus lead to David Stern's suicide. Okay, time to wake up again.
F: Pau Gasol: I'm not the biggest Laker fan, but Gasol has always been one of my favourites.
C: Amar'e Stoudemire: He likes to dunk. And I love that needless apostrophe in his name.
That's right, no love for LeBron, Kobe, Dwight, and definately none for gimpy ass T-Mac. The final rosters are unsurprisingly very different from my picks:
East:
Dwight
KG
LeBron James (leading vote getter)
Wade
Allen Iverson
West:
Amar'''e
Carmelo Anthony
Tim Duncan
Kobe Bryant
Tracy Mcgrady
Luckily, T-Mac will not be taking part, and the much-deserving Steve Nash has taken his spot instead. As of today, there are also doubts about AI and even reigning ASG co-MVP Kobe missing the game. Unlike several criticisms, I don't have too much of a problem with fan voting. The game is after all an "exhibition" more than an actual serious affair, and the NBA makes no qualms before admitting that it is designed specifically for the fans. If the fans wanna see AI and T-MAC, then give them AI and T-MAC. (okay, maybe not T-MAC). My solution is that the system shouldn't change, but the names on the ballots should. Only players who have averaged a given minimum average of minutes per game in a given minimum amounts of games played should be in the list. This would mean that the NBA needs to chill and not post the ballot list out too early in the season. This way, we can get rid of all the players getting voted in despite much contribution to the league.
The reserves roster looks like this:
East:
Horford
Bosh
Paul Pierce
Gerald Wallace
Joe Johnson
Rajon Rondo
Derrick Rose
If Iverson does skip out, I am hoping that the league does me a favour and makes David Lee the first Knick all star since Allan Houstan.
West:
Gasol
Kevin Durant
Dirk Nowitzki
Zach Randolph
Chris Paul
Chauncey Billups
Brandon Roy
Chris Kaman
Deron Williams
Chris Paul and Brandon Roy are both injured and will not participate in the game, hence the additions of Billups and KaveMan in the lineup.
Me being a Knick fan, and most of my favourite teams playing in the East, my allegiances are going to lie with the Eastern Conference taking this one. D-Wade for MVP.
Now, on to the other exciting events. The Dunk Contest will obviously be a great crowd pleaser like always, but I am still waiting to see players like LeBron, Kobe, Wade, Vince, Josh Smith etc. come into the fray of things. This year, we will see the dunkaholic Nate Robinson take on the likes of Gerald Wallace, Shannon Brown, and either DeMar DeRozan or Eric Gordon. All great dunkers, but my money is on DeRozan.
Speaking of Vince and dunk contests, here you go. Thank me later:
The Three-Point Shootout is another fun event. Knick Sophomore and my favourite for this tournament Danilo Gallinari is going to cause some damage here. Remember where you heard it first - the guy is the best shooter in the league. "Gallo" will be beating Billups, defending champion Daequan Cook, Stephen Curry, Channing Frye, Paul "Paranoid" Pierce on his way to the victory stand. Btw, credit the "paranoid" nickname to hours on the playstation and bullshit conversations in my university years while playing with Pierce on the aforementioned NBA 2K5.
I don't care much about the Skills Challenge, Shooting Stars, Celebrity Game, the NBDL Dream Factory (because I don't care about the NBDL), and especially about friggin H.O.R.S.E. (seriously, H.O.R.S.E.? how about C.H.O.O.T.? let's play that, shall we?)
The Rookie/Sophomore game on Friday night should be fun. The Sophomores usually take this one very easily, but the Tyreke Evans led rookies seem to be determined this time around. Some of the players I'm looking forward to performing well here are Evans, Jonny Flynn, James Harden, and Brandon Jennings for the rookies.
The Sophomores are gonna take this one though. They have way too much talent: A lineup of Michael Beasley, Marc Gasol, Gallo, Eric Gordon, Brook Lopez, Kevin Love, Anthony Morrow, OJ Mayo, and Russell Westbrook seems too damn good to be beat. AND, they are playing without Derrick Rose, who would rather save his energies for the friggin Skills Challenge the next day.
Come to think of it, the 2008 draft class is pretty damn awesome.
I was frantically hunting for All Star TV Timings in India, but nothing was listed on the Global NBA Programming schedule. Following a few short moments of despair, I discovered that ESPN/Star Sports WILL be showing some of the events live here (phew!). The Saturday night events will be on live at 7 AM on Sunday morning on Star Sports and then repeated at 10 PM. Sunday's All Star Game will be shown Monday morning here, again at 7 AM on Star Sports with a repeat at 2:30 PM the same day.
Hopefully it's another memorable All Star Weekend. I'll recap what I saw next week.
P.S.: I still think Ron Ron should be at weekend somehow. H.O.R.S.E.? Coaching the Celebrities? Coaching the cheerleaders? Whatever... just get him there.
