NBA Orlando All-Star Weekend Rolls Around
Orlando is the place to be this weekend if you’re an NBA fan. The most valuable and best players in the world are in the City Beautiful for the 2012 All Star game that will be played on Sunday evening.
The game takes place at the Amway Center and there’s been quite a bot of controversy around town as a group of nearby merchants went to court to try to prevent an 8 foot security fence being erected that will effectively secure the VIP’ area. The business folks lost their case as Judge Alice Blackwell ruled the potential economic harm to the businesses wasn’t reason enough to alter the security plan for the high-profile event.
This will be the second time that Orlando has hosted the All-Star Game; the city had previously hosted the event in 1992 at the Orlando arena. As you can see from the above pictures, arrangements are well in hand for the packed weekend and the shop is already well equipped with shirts and souvenirs ready for the event.
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The schedule of event is pretty packed… take a look:
NBA All-Star Jam Session: February 23 – 26, 2012 at the Orange County Convention Center – 9860 Universal Boulevard, North Building. Friday 4pm – 10 pm, Saturday 9am – 10pm, Sunday 9am – 5pm
NBA All-Star Celebrity Game: Friday, February 24, 2012 at the Center Court at Jam Session 7:00 PM EST.
NBA All-Star Rookie Challenge: Friday, February 24, 2012 at the Amway Center 9:00 PM EST.
NBA All-Star Practice: Saturday, February 25, 2012 at the Center Court at Jam Session 10:00 AM EST.
NBA All-Star Saturday Night Contests: Saturday, February 25, 2012 at the Amway Center 8:00 PM EST.
NBA All-Star Game: Sunday, February 26, 2012 at the Amway Center 7:00PM EST.
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. 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 is unable to participate due to injury, the commissioner will select a replacement.
Dwight Howard of the Orlando Magic topped the ballots with 1,600,390 votes, which earned him a starting position as a center in the Eastern Conference team while Derrick Rose, Dwyane Wade, LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony complete the line up.
The Western Conference’s leading vote-getter is Kobe Bryant, who earned his 14th consecutive All-Star Game selection with 1,555,479 votes. Chris Paul, Kevin Durant, Blake Griffin and Andrew Bynum complete the Western Conference starting position.
NBA All Star weekend also attracts many celebrities from the movie, music and sporting world and among them will be Mary J. Bilge, Chris Brown, Lil Wayne and Nicki Minaj. Also, today over at Arnold Plamer’s Bay Hill, you’ll be able to find many other stars as they participate in the All-Star Celebrity Golf Invitational, an event designed to benefit the Arnold Palmer group of charities.
Former Magic players Nick Anderson and Bo Outlaw, NFL Hall of Famer Darrell Green and former N’Sync vocalist Chris Kilpatrick are among more than two dozen luminaries teeing it up for the Anthony Anderson (Law & Order) hosted event. We’ll have coverage and photos from the event later in the day so make sure you check back a little later on.
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