NBA All-Star Game 2007
The NBA All-Star Game in 2007 took place on 18 February at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas ( Nevada instead). The 56th All-Star Game was the first in the history of the National Basketball Association to be played in a city that does not have an NBA team.
In front of 15,694 spectators, the West clearly prevailed against the East with 153: 132. With 31 points, Kobe Bryant was voted Most Valuable Player of the Game ( MVP ).
Trainer
The coaches of the two All-Star teams were the two NBA coaches, whose teams led the respective conference on February 4th (two weeks before the game). Due to the rule that no coach is allowed to stand on the sidelines in two consecutive All-Star Games, this year it was the two coaches of the Conference runners-up, as both Avery Johnson ( Dallas Mavericks ) and Flip Saunders ( Detroit Pistons ) had already looked after the teams in the previous year.
- Western Conference : Mike D'Antoni ( Phoenix Suns )
- Eastern Conference : Eddie Jordan ( Washington Wizards )
player
The players in the Western Conference competed in white jerseys with red accents, the players in the Eastern Conference in blue jerseys with white accents. In addition to East and West, the jerseys show the number, name and emblem of the club for which the respective player is playing. The outfitter was adidas for the first time , who drew inspiration from the gambling for which Las Vegas is known for the design of the jerseys.
Starting Five
In the period from November 13, 2006 to January 21, 2007, the fans had the opportunity to vote which players should be on the floor at the beginning of the game. A total of 69.1 million votes were cast via the Internet, in the NBA arenas, at various places in Las Vegas and a few other locations, with each voter choosing two forwards , two guards and one center per conference .
In the east, LeBron James got the most Simmen with 2,516,049, in the west Yao Ming got the most with 2,451,718. This puts them in the first two places across all conferences. Allen Iverson is in 6th place with 1,813,638 votes, but due to the strong competition in his position, he is no longer part of the starting five.
- Q: Kevin Garnett ( Minnesota Timberwolves )
- Q: Tim Duncan ( San Antonio Spurs )
- C: Yao Ming 1 ( Houston Rockets )
- G: Kobe Bryant ( LA Lakers )
- G: Tracy McGrady (Houston Rockets)
- Q: LeBron James ( Cleveland Cavaliers )
- Q: Chris Bosh ( Toronto Raptors )
- C: Shaquille O'Neal ( Miami Heat )
- G: Dwyane Wade (Miami Heat)
- G: Gilbert Arenas ( Washington Wizards )
- Q: Dirk Nowitzki 1 ( Dallas Mavericks )
1 For the injured Yao Ming, West coach Mike D'Antoni promoted Dirk Nowitzki from the bench to the starting five.
Substitute player
In order to avoid players who are only popular with the fans taking part in the All-Star Game and having to watch “less popular”, better players, the substitute players were chosen by the 15 head coaches of their conference after the fan voting. No coach was allowed to vote for players from his own team.
On February 1st it was announced which players will be allowed to sit on the substitutes' bench. The two forwards, the two guards and the center with the most votes were invited, as well as the two players who received the most votes from the other players, regardless of their position, from the head coaches.
- FC: Carlos Boozer 2 ( Utah Jazz )
- Q: Shawn Marion ( Phoenix Suns )
- Q: Dirk Nowitzki 1,2 ( Dallas Mavericks )
- C: Amar'e Stoudemire (Phoenix Suns)
- G: Allen Iverson 3 ( Denver Nuggets )
- G: Steve Nash 3 (Phoenix Suns)
- G: Tony Parker ( San Antonio Spurs )
- Q: Caron Butler ( Washington Wizards )
- FC: Jermaine O'Neal ( Indiana Pacers )
- CF: Dwight Howard ( Orlando Magic )
- G: Chauncey Billups ( Detroit Pistons )
- GF: Vince Carter ( New Jersey Nets )
- GF: Richard Hamilton (Detroit Pistons)
- G: Jason Kidd 4 (New Jersey Nets)
Failures
Due to the injuries of Yao Ming, Carlos Boozer, Steve Nash and Allen Iverson in the west and Jason Kidd in the east, NBA Commissioner David Stern nominated the following players for the All-Star Game:
- Q: Josh Howard 2 ( Dallas Mavericks )
- Q: Carmelo Anthony 2 ( Denver Nuggets )
- C: Mehmet Okur 3 ( Utah Jazz )
- G: Ray Allen 3 ( Seattle SuperSonics )
- G: Joe Johnson 4 ( Atlanta Hawks )
Competitions in the supporting program
As part of the supporting program of the All-Star Games, the following competitions took place on the Friday and Saturday before the game:
- Slam Dunk Contest:
- Three-point shootout:
- Skills Challenge:
- Shooting Stars Challenge:
Gerald Green ( Boston Celtics )
Jason Kapono ( Miami Heat )
Dwyane Wade (Miami Heat)
Team Detroit ( Chauncey Billups , Bill Laimbeer , Swin Cash )
- Rookie Challenge:
Sophomores - Rookies 155: 114
MVP: David Lee ( New York Knicks )
- D-League All-Star Game:
East - West 114: 100
MVP: Pops Mensah-Bonsu ( Fort Worth Flyers )