NBA All-Star Game 2010

The 2010 NBA All Star Game will be held in Arlington, Texas at Cowboys Stadium. The All Star game is held annually at the halfway point of each NBA season. The game brings together the top players from around the league, and honors the top athletes of the season. The voting system works in two ways: one part of the voting process comes via fan vote, and the other comes from the head coach of each team. The first NBA All Star Game was held in 1951 at Boston, Massachusetts.

The All Star game features two teams, with one team featuring the best players from the Eastern Conference, and the other team is filled with the best players from the Western Conference. In the overall series, the Eastern Conference holds the advantage with a 35-24 edge. The game has been highlighted by some of the greatest players to ever step on the hardwood, including Michael Jordan, Wilt Chamberlin, Allen Iverson, Kobe Bryant, and more recently, LeBron James. When the game goes final, there is a game MVP selected. Bob Petit has won the MVP the most in this history of the NBA All Star games, bringing in the hardware four times between 1956 and 1662. Last year, Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal won the MVP honors, which gave them their third MVP trophy each. http://www.nba.com/history/allstar/allstargame_recaps.html

The Eastern All-Stars defeated the West by a final score of 141-139. Dwayne Wade scored 28 points along with 11 assists to earn the game's MVP honors. Lebron James, who has won the All-Star game MVP twice in his young career, scored 25 points, while Chris Bosh added 23 points for the East squad.

On the West side, Carmello Anthony led with 27 points and 10 rebounds. The hometown hero, Dirk Nowitzki, finished with 22 points and made all six of his foul shots, including his last two which tied the game up in the final seconds. Steve Nash, who only scored 4 points, led everyone with 13 assists in the game. http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/basketball/nba/gameflash/2010/02/14/27685_boxscore.html

On February 11, 2010, Kobe Bryant announced that he will not be able to compete in the 2010 NBA All Star Game. He is suffering from a sore left ankle, and has decided that he will not risk further injury in the All Star game. Bryant will be replaced by Dallas Mavericks Guard, Jason Kidd. Dirk Nowitzki will be starting in place of Bryant.

The same day that Kobe Bryant announced he will be missing the 2010 NBA All Star game, Philadelphia 76ers Guard, Allen Iverson, announced he will skip the game.

The reasons are labeled as "personal matters", but this could be made out to be about how Iverson didn't deserve to make the team, let alone be a starter.

New York Knicks Forward, David Lee, will be replacing Iverson on the East roster.

East Reserves:

• C Al Horford
• F Chris Bosh
• F Paul Pierce
• F Gerald Wallace
• G Joe Johnson
• G Rajon Rondo
• G Derrick Rose

West Reserves

• C Pau Gasol
• C Chris Kaman Replacing Brandon Roy
• F Kevin Durant
• F Dirk Nowitzki
• F Zach Randolph
• G Chris Paul Injured
• G Chauncey Billups Replacing Chris Paul
• G Brandon Roy
• G Deron Williamshttp://www.nba.com/allstar2010/players/