Black Panther movie will be out nationwide and the NBA week end will start on the "West Coast".
As you probably have seen my previous posts from last year, we were invited to New Orleans for the that same exact event. It was wonderful to be present. I invited my colleagues to join me, the team of "Afropolitain Magazine" for an unforgettable experience.
For the ones who don’t know what “The National Basketball Association All-Star Game” is, let me break it down for you. It is a basketball exhibition game hosted every February by the NBA. The aim is matching a mix of the league's star players from the Eastern Conference and the Western Conference. Each team consists of 12 players, making it 24 in total. It is a three-day event which goes from Friday to Sunday.
Little history fact: The first All-Star game happened at the Boston Garden on March 2, 1951.
Thanks to my childhood friend “Will M’Biakop” (FYI, we have known each other for over two decades, yes pretty long time! I cherish great minds and hearts) happens to be the NBA's director of the development of global marketing partnerships and corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives across Africa. Will has a special interest in how sports can positively impact communities through business, infrastructure, education and health, while empowering youth and generating revenues for corporations. He has developed creative marketing strategies and activation plans targeting both retail and corporate markets.
Will is such a smart, progressive and ambitious brother to me. I could not be more proud of his achievements.
In 2017, he made sure that we enjoyed this weekend festival by participating to a variety of events, exhibitions, and performances culminating in the NBA All-Star Game held on Sunday night. Most basketball stars were present. No regular season games are held during this period, which is also known as the All-Star break. So you can imagine the euphoria!
This year the same event is happening but this time in Los Angeles, California. Let me tell you this! In one year a lot have happened. I got married, moved to New York, changed my circle of friends and have started a new life.
I am not working anymore for Afropolitain magazine as "Beauty Editor". I am instead a freelance writer. That’s why since I am blogging so much, it would be such a pity to refuse the 2018 invitation.
As a matter of fact, it is worth going every year.
The “All Star” program consists in having everyday day activities to entertain the crowd.
Friday:
NBA All-Star Celebrity Game: First held in 2003, the game features retired NBA players, WNBA players, actors, musicians, and athletes from sports other than basketball.
Rising Stars Challenge: From 1994 until 1999, the event was called the "Rookie Game," and composed entirely of first-year players. From 2000 through 2011, the game, renamed the "Rookie Challenge", featured a team of first-year players ('Rookies') against a team of second-year players ('Sophomores'). The 2012 game debuted a new name, the "Rising Stars Challenge", and a new format. While the game continued to feature first- and second-year players, the participants were assigned to teams in a "fantasy draft" by two honorary captains (Charles Barkley and Shaquille O'Neal in 2012 and 2013, Grant Hill and Chris Webber in 2014). In 2015, the Rising Stars Challenge format was switched again to a USA vs the World format, which is the current format in use.
G League Dream Factory Friday Night: First held in 2008, the events includes a slam dunk contest, a three-point shootout and a H-O-R-S-E competition. These events were modeled after the NBA All-Star Saturday Night events.
Saturday
G League All-Star Game: First held in 2007, this game features the best players from the NBA G League. The First winner was the East by a score of 114–100. The G League All-Star game was not held in the same arena as all the other All-Star Saturday activities. Instead, it was held on NBA Jam Session's practice court.
Slam Dunk Contest: This competition showcases the creativity and athletic ability of some of the league's youngest best dunkers. The specific rules of the contest are decided each year, but the competition is always judged subjectively. After each dunk, or attempted dunk, competitors are awarded a mark out of 10 from five judges, giving a possible high score of 50. The usual rules of 'traveling' and double dribbling do not apply.
Three-Point Contest: The league's best three point shooters shoot five basketballs from five different spots around the three-point line. Each shot is worth one point except the last ball of each rack (informally called 'money balls'), which is worth two points. The highest score available in one round is 30 points. The shooters have one minute to shoot the basketballs.
Skills Challenge: Making its debut in 2003, the Skills Challenge pits selected players in a timed obstacle course of dribbling, shooting and passing. Agility, quickness and accuracy all come into play.
Africa on the rise:
In addition to all these activities comes the annual “NBA Africa All-Star Luncheon”. My favorite of all! This is where Will M’Biakop and Amadou Fall Gallo NBA “Africa vice president and managing director of African Office” talk about growing basketball in the continent.
As you may have noticed at least 14 players out of 114 international players are from Africa. Amadou Gallo Fall is confident that the rise in popularity and participation of basketball in Africa will not only increase the number of players in the league but also the involvement in the game on all levels.
NBA Africa Office is based in Johannesburg. Created in May 2010. Before then, the former University of District of Columbia center spent 12 years with the Dallas Mavericks as director of player personnel and vice president of international affairs. In 1998, he also founded the Sports for Education and Economic Development (SEED) to use education and basketball with boys and girls to grow the next generation of African leaders. As you can see Amadou Fall is a busy man! He is ceasing the moment. His goal is to bring basketball awareness in the continent and Making it accessible to young people. Growing a fan base. And ultimately, growing the business of the NBA.
You may wonder how?
Well NBA Africa is organizing a game "team World vs team Africa". It started in 2015. It has been a tremendous success since. The (2015) game was not only broadcasted in Africa, but it was broadcasted on a global basis in over 215 countries. The (2017) game happened in South Africa. Last summer, Team Africa won, with players such as Bismack Biyombo, Emmanuel Mudiay, Serge Ibaka, Luol Deng, Thabo Sefolosha, Clint Capela, Gorgui Dieng, Dennis Schroder, Victor Olapido, Salah Mejri and Luc Mbah a Moute. What a great exposure for the continent.
However it is not only what Amadou Fall and his team are doing. They are also involved in the creation of an "NBA Academy Africa" part of the NBA’s global network of elite training centers. To shape and give the fundamentals to young scouted future NBA champions. There are three centers announced in China, one in India and one in Australia. The one in Africa will be based in Senegal.
Moreover, NBA AFrica Office is trying to establish an ecosystem, too. Because they surely know that not everyone will be on the NBA roster. It is working with local federations to build stronger local leagues where all the talent outside university and NBA. The players will have a choice to stay home and play in a highly stable and operated league in their own country.
I am sure, you can understand why it is such a pleasure for me to be part of this “NBA Africa Lunch” and listen to the guests on the discussion panel. I enjoy basketball but I prefer overall conversations about the development of the motherland and the empowerment of her youth.
Sunday
“The All Star game”... The fun and excitement end on the best note.
Wish me good luck guys, hopefully I will be there to share lots of videos and pictures.
*check out in my previous post "ALL-STAR" NOLA 2017...
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