Musings from the Mid-Season Classic

The mid-season classic has come and gone and the Wine and Gold will be getting it back together on Tuesday night. Here’s just a few random notes from All-Star Weekend and Sunday’s All-Star Game …

Even in his absence, Shaquille O’Neal is larger than life. Of all the superstars that took part in the weekend – including major heavyweights like LeBron, Kobe and Allen Iverson – the Big Aristotle was conspicuous by his absence. A hip injury that sidelined him for a good part of the first half eventually derailed his record-tying 14-year run.

“We miss him a lot,” said James. “This is my fifth year as part of All-Star Weekend and his comedy and his pizzazz and everything he brings to All-Star Weekend is being missed. We wish he was here, even if he wasn’t part of the game, just to keep us laughing and level-headed.”

But the newly-self-dubbed “Big Cactus” won’t be out of the spotlight for long. On Wednesday night, probably the most eagerly-anticipated game of the NBA season tips-off in Phoenix as the Diesel plays his first game as a Sun against Kobe and the Lakers.

Almost as strange as Shaq’s absence was the lack of anything Nike down in New Orleans. Unlike adidas signage, which towered along buildings throughout the city, the ubiquitous swoosh was nowhere to be seen over All-Star Weekend. Instead of spending money on advertising, Nike chose to put that money in Katrina rebuilding efforts.

This is how nicknames are made. “Thunder” and “Man-Child” were never really fitting for Orlando’s superstar, Dwight Howard. After his high-flying dunk on Saturday night, the fourth-year forward from Georgia will be forever linked to “Superman.”

(Personally, I still think Gerald Green’s dunks were more impressive. Prop-wise, the “cupcake dunk” was spectacular. And the shoeless throw-down was as impressive if not more. “I don’t think people realize how hard of a dunk that was,” said Kevin Garnett. “He didn’t just go up and dunk the ball barefooted. He went up and threw it between his legs and dunked. Half of the league can’t dunk between their legs, let alone do it in socks.”)

But Gerald Green is Gerald Green – toiling on one of the league’s bottom-feeders – and Howard is one of the faces of the NBA. His development as not just a player, but as an NBA celebrity, was tangible this weekend in Atlanta. Until recently, Howard was one of the more obscure stars in the league. But he’s obviously growing into his superstardom.

LeBron James is the league’s rock star. No player elicits the crowd reaction like the Cavaliers’ young King. It’s always interesting to see which non-local player gets the biggest ovation when they’re introduced; and on Sunday night, it was LeBron. Close behind was the polarizing Kobe Bryant, who got a huge ovation and also a fairly sizeable smattering of boos. Bryant – who came into the game with an injured pinky – played just 2:52 seconds.

With 10:14 remaining in the fourth quarter, the referees actually called a player (Carlos Boozer) for traveling. And yes, that is noteworthy in an All-Star Game.

As much as this might cheese off Cavalier fans reading – it’s obvious after seeing the pair over the course of the weekend that Jason Kidd and LeBron James have a natural chemistry both and off the court.

Charles Barkley didn’t create headlines this year for racing referee, Dick Bavetta, but he did create headlines when he announced that he’s going to run for the Governor or Alabama in 2014 and that Conservatives are “fake Christians.”

As you might expect from a an All-Star Game in New Orleans, Sunday’s game had some of the best musical acts and performances of any contest in recent memory. The National Anthem, performed by Branford Marsalis, Stephanie Jordan and Jonathan Dubose might have been the best since Marvin Gaye’s in 1983.

The Rebirth Brass Band – whose performance I accidentally caught while stumbling around the French Quarter on Friday night – blew it up for player introductions. Harry Connick’s halftime number was outstanding, as was Dr. John’s version of “What a Wonderful World” on Saturday night.

Dwyane Wade – one of the league’s premier talents – has really fallen off the radar in terms of the league’s zeitgeist. Wade was once on LeBron’s level, popularity-wise. But being on the NBA’s worst club at 9-41, and without the benefit of Shaquille O’Neal to ease double-teams, it could be a while before Wade’s star returns to its former flash.

“He’s seen the highest level of success and the lowest point, being the worst team in the league,” said close friend, LeBron James. “They’re just going to have to rebuild for next season. It’s tough – as a friend – watching him go out there and give it is all every night and have them still come up short.”

On Sunday, the league celebrated the 57th anniversary of the mid-season classic. The date – (February 17) – also marks the 45th birthday of arguably the greatest basketball player in the game’s history, Michael Jordan.

Every Cavalier fan knows that LeBron chose No. 23 because of Jordan, but not everyone knows why Jordan originally chose that number. His favorite number had always been No. 45 – which he wore for 22 games in 1995. In high school, Michael couldn’t wear it because it was his brother, Larry’s. So he took half of that number (22 ½) and rounded up to No. 23.

When the smoke clears and everyone returns from the All-Star break, the Cavaliers – who began the month of February 4-3 after going 11-3 in January – play three games in four nights. They start the second half a full ten games behind the Pistons, who ran off 10 straight wins before the break.

The Cavaliers welcome the Houston Rockets to The Q on their first night back. Cleveland dropped a 92-77 decision to Yao Ming and Co. less than two weeks ago, but that was without the power forward combo of Drew Gooden and Anderson Varejao. Gooden will be back in action on Tuesday. The Wild Thing might be, too.