For those die-hard basketball fans out there, you probably already know that the 2013 NBA All Star game took place Sunday, Feb. 17 at 8 p.m at the Toyota Center in Houston, TX.
The last time the NBA All-Star game was played in Houston was in 2006, and four of the atheletes who played in that game returned this year, although they might have changed uniforms since the game seven years ago.
LeBron James, Dwayne Wade, Tim Duncan, and Kobe Bryant are the four players that returned to Houston this year. Back in 2006, however, James and Wade were still young superstars.
On the other hand, Brooke Lopez, Joakim Noah, Tyson Chandler, Paul George, Jrue Holiday and Kyrie Irving all made their first appearances on the All-Star rosters this year.
The game has come a long way since its beginning, when it was hosted at Boston Garden on Mar. 2, 1951.
Interestingly enough, a head coach cannot be chosen to lead an All-Star team two seasons in a row.
This year’s teams featured head coaches Gregg Popovich of the Spurs who headed up the Western Conference team and Erik Spoelstra of the Miami Heat who headed up the Eastern Conference team.
The Eastern team had multiple first time All-Star game players, which led to a more inexperienced team than the more seasoned players on the Western side.
Given this, it’s no surprise that Coach Spoelstra lead the Western Conference to victory this year with a final score of 143-138.
This marks the Western Conference’s third consecutive win over the Eastern Conference.