NBA All-Star 2016: Location, location, location, and why the game needs to return to Salt Lake

Kobe Bryant, 2016 NBA All-Star Game Voting - Should He Be In?

Get it done, Mitt! - Matthew Stockman/Getty Images

Breaking down the division history of the game, and pointing out some uncomfortable truths.

I seem to harp on having a star player on the team a lot. And I recognize that can get pretty tiresome to some fans. Thank you for bearing with me as I publicly express my fears and feelings for our franchise. I also think the team needs a reliable go-to scorer, but the communism approach seems to be working well at times. One thing I haven"t been talking much about has been the upcoming All-Star game in Toronto. I"m excited for this even if we Utah Jazz fans aren"t likely to have a lot of representation that weekend. Yes, it"s not going to be like that one year where Deron Williams was in the Skills competition, Carlos Boozer was in the All-Star Game, Ronnie Brewer and Paul Millsap were in the Rookie/Soph game, and Morris Almond and Kyrylo Fesenko were in the NBADL All-Star Game. (N.B. Kyle Korver was asked to be in the three point contest that year, but instead elected to use the weekend to go back to Philly to do laundry and pay bills .) This season the team may have no one representing the franchise at the mid-season celebration for the league. Again. But I"m still excited. Why?

Truly, we all should be excited because at the very least it"s another ASG closer to returning the game to Utah. (Freebie Marketing pitch "Bringing the Stars back to Utah.") Having looked at where every game has been played (or in the case of the 1999 game, where it was scheduled to be played had there not been a lockout), and which franchises were the hosts it"s clear to me that the next city to be honored to play host SHOULD be a North West division team.

Atlantic Central South East Arena Location Year Arena Location Year Arena Location Year 1 Boston MA 1951 1 Fort Wayne (DET) IN 1953 1 St. Louis (ATL) MO 1958 2 Boston MA 1952 2 Detroit MI 1959 2 St. Louis (ATL) MO 1962 3 New York City NY 1954 3 Chicago IL 1973 3 St. Louis (ATL) MO 1965 4 New York City NY 1955 4 Milwaukee WI 1977 4 Baltimore (WAS) MD 1969 5 Boston MA 1957 5 Pontiac (DET) MI 1979 5 Atlanta GA 1978 6 Philadelphia PA 1960 6 Richfield (CLE) OH 1981 6 Landover (WAS) MD 1980 7 Syracuse (PHI) NY 1961 7 Indianapolis IN 1985 7 Miami FL 1990 8 Boston MA 1964 8 Chicago IL 1988 8 Charlotte NC 1991 9 New York City NY 1968 9 Cleveland OH 1997 9 Orlando FL 1992 10 Philadelphia PA 1970 10 10 Washington DC 2001 11 Philadelphia PA 1976 11 11 Atlanta GA 2003 12 East Rutherford (BKN) NJ 1982 12 12 Orlando FL 2012 13 New York City NY 1998 13 13 Charlotte NC 2017 14 Philadelphia * PA 1999 14 14 15 Philadelphia PA 2002 15 15 16 New York City NY 2015 16 16 17 Toronto ON 2016 17 17 18 18 18 19 19 19 20 20 20

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South West North West Pacific Arena Location Year Arena Location Year Arena Location Year 1 Dallas TX 1986 1 Seattle (OKC) WA 1974 1 Rochester (SAC) NY 1956 2 Houston TX 1989 2 Denver CO 1984 2 Los Angeles CA 1963 3 San Antonio TX 1996 3 Seattle (OKC) WA 1987 3 Cincinnati (SAC) OH 1966 4 Houston TX 2006 4 Salt Lake City UT 1993 4 Daly City (GSW) CA 1967 5 New Orleans LA 2008 5 Minneapolis MN 1994 5 San Diego (LAC) CA 1971 6 Arlington (DAL) TX 2010 6 Denver CO 2005 6 Inglewood (LAL) CA 1972 7 Houston TX 2013 7 7 Phoenix AZ 1975 8 New Orleans LA 2014 8 8 Inglewood (LAL) CA 1983 9 9 9 Phoenix AZ 1995 10 10 10 Oakland CA 2000 11 11 11 Los Angeles CA 2004 12 12 12 Las Vegas (No Team) NV 2007 13 13 13 Phoenix AZ 2009 14 14 14 Los Angeles CA 2011 15 15 15 16 16 16 17 17 17 18 18 18 19 19 19 20 20 20

While a Central division team hasn"t been host in a while (1997) and it would be "nice" for LeBron James to play host in 2018, I don"t know if the NBA is going to go East four whopping years in a row: New York (2015), Toronto (2016), Charlotte (2017), then Cleveland (2018). The North West division has hosted the game the fewest number of times; though I think the NBA people may feel like the Las Vegas game (they have no team) counts as a "North West game". Worse still, they may elect to either give it to OKC, who has two stars (and a crappy town), or Minny, who have very young guys and by 2018 it"s clear that Andrew Wiggins will be an All-Star. Also, the Twin Cities actually add up to a larger market team (and the largest market in the division) than most of the NBA outside of the Atlantic Division.

Yet I do dream of a Utah All-Star game. Heck, if Utah can host the Olympics, how the heck does Phoenix get two All-Star games since the 90s and New Orleans two in recent memory (2008, 2014)? Okay, we know the New Orleans thing -- Chris Paul is one and post-Katrina local economy surge is the other. There was no Phoenix Arizona Olympics. Get this done, NBA.

Of course, the North West division makes the least amount of money for the NBA, and as a result may not be rewarded with an All-Star game anytime soon. You could argue that Golden State will get one first because they are making a new arena, and the NBA wants to positively reinforce that type of behaviour.

One can make a case for each division. The Atlantic teams have the largest population bases and make the most potential money during the weekend. The Central teams are good, and haven"t held a game since the 90s. The South East teams have nicer weather than the Atlantic and Central teams. The South West has great weather too, and lots of infrastructure in Texas. (No one mention Memphis.) The Pacific is flashy, a great destination, have great weather, and make a lot of money for the NBA, unless it"s Phoenix. The Northwest, well, they are just plain due.

As for Utah over Minny or OKC, well, it"s more Western in location -- which better reflects the conference. Second, it"s a much easier city to deal with in terms of hotels, infrastructure, public transportation downtown, and so forth. Not a lot of "bangin" discotheques" but we all can"t be Las Vegas. There"s no guarantee that Kevin Durant will be a Thunder player by then. And while Minny is a bigger market with a budding star player, Utah is a more establish basketball market and a more solid franchise. The Jazz will be a playoff team in 2018. Minny? Not so much. IF the NBA does give the game to a North West division team in the next five years and they give it to Portland I will fly over there and spill some hipster"s microbrew beer. If it goes to Denver I will . . . actually . . . I can see that happening too. c**p.

But what do you think?

Source: http://www.slcdunk.com/2016/1/15/10775252/nba-all-star-2016-location-location-location-and-why-the-game-needs

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Jeremy Lin on Verge of Making the NBA All-Star 2016; How To Vote, Ballot, Roster, Date, TV Schedule

2016 NBA All-Star: Stephen Curry

January 4, 2016; Oakland, CA, USA; Charlotte Hornets guard Jeremy Lin (7, right) dribbles the basketball against Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry (30, left) during the third quarter at Oracle Arena. The Warriors defeated the Hornets 111-101. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

Jeremy Lin is one place from making the NBA All-Star 2016 roster as he is ranked eighth among the guards in the Eastern Conference teams. If the first Chinese-American NBA player makes the roster, it will be the first time for him to be voted as an NBA All-Star and to play in an NBA All-Star game.

In the third returns of NBA All-Star 2016 voting, Lin has 155,475 votes while Dwayne Wade and Kyrie Irving rank first and second, respectively. Lin is ranked just behind Derrick Rose from Chicago Bulls.

While Lin is thriving as a Sixth Man of the Year candidate for the Charlotte Hornets, meaning he"s doing extremely well as a benched player, he is the only Hornets player on the list for all-star game voting returns.

His votes are ahead of other players such as Tony Parker, Damian Lillard, Isaiah Thomas, Reggie Johnson, DeAndre Jordan, and Dirk Nowitzki.

As for his stats, Lin is averaging 12.3 points per game, 3.2 rebounds per game, and 3.1 assists per game this season for the Hornets. He is shooting 42.6% from the field and 31.9% from the three-point field goal. What"s impressive is that he is doing this in only 26.5 minutes per game.

In October"s charity concert in Beijing, Lin was invited to be a guest speaker, during which he shared how his faith helped him overcomethe curve b***s that life throws at him. At this time last season, his career was drowning as he played with Kobe Bryant and the Lakers" squad.

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"I think this past season, the one thing I took away was I really felt G*d"s love for me," Lin said as the audience erupted in cheers. "G*d has always shown his love for me throughout my whole life. I think if you look at my life, every bad situation, G*d always turns to a good situation.

"Last season was no different. There were so many games where I"d be so upset after, and I just remember- there were so many nights on the plane or in the car or at home where I"d just start praying. Every single time, G*d gave me this tremendous peace.

"I think that"s when I realized - I might not know where I"m headed next in life, but I can trust who I"m following. G*d"s love is bigger than anything life can throw at me. My response to G*d"s love to me is it made me start to love other people," Lin said.

Lin has since then started a Bible Study for his teammates and began spending time with homeless individuals. Moreover, he has recently asked for prayers that G*d would soften the hearts of his non-believing teammates.

NBA fans have until Jan. 18 to cast their votes for their favorite players to be on the 2016 NBA All-Stars roster at vote.nba.com, NBA App, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Google. Those who voted will be entered into a sweepstake for tickets to the 2016 All-Star Weekend in Toronto.

The 65th NBA All-Star game will take place on Sunday, Feb. 14 at Air Canada Centre in Toronto. Fans can watch the NBA All-Star game live on TNT at 8 p.m. ET.

Here is more info from NBA.com on how to vote. Fans are able to vote up to 10 times per day on each platform listed below.

How to vote:

• NBA.com voting pageatNBA.com/vote:Fill out one full ballot per day on NBA.com/vote from a desktop or mobile browser.
• NBA App:Access the ballot and vote through the app, which is available on Android and iOS. Fans can fill out one full ballot per day.
• Twitter: Tweet, retweet or reply with the player"s first and last name or handle, along with the hashtag #NBAVOTE. Each tweet may include only one player"s name. Fans can vote for 10 unique players each day throughout the All-Star voting period.
• Facebook:Use the player"s first and last name along with the hashtag #NBAVOTE in a post on your personal Facebook account, or comment on another"s Facebook post. Fans can post votes for 10 unique players per day, and each vote may contain only one player"s name.
• Instagram: Post an original photo with the hashtag #NBAVOTE and the player"s first and last name in the photo caption. Fans can vote for 10 unique players per day, and each vote may contain only one player"s name.
• SMS: Text the player"slast nameto 6-9-6-2-2 ("MYNBA") on any wireless device. Fans can vote for 10 different players per day per phone number via SMS voting by sending 10 separate SMS messages, each one with a different player"s last name. Message and data rates may apply.
• Google Search:Search "NBA Vote All-Star" or "NBA VoteTeam Name" (ex: NBA Vote Celtics) and use respective team cards to select players. Voters can submit one vote per player per day, with up to 10 total votes per day.

• Sina WeiboandTencent Microblogin China.

The voting program started on December 11 and will continue through January 19. The starting lineup will be revealed on Jan. 21. Coaches will pick bench players, and full rosters will be announced on January 28.

All 2016 balloting results can be found here.

Source: http://www.gospelherald.com/articles/61454/20160115/faithful-jeremy-lin-on-verge-of-making-the-nba-all-star-2016-roster-where-to-vote-ballot-update-three-days-left.htm

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