A Much Better All-Star Game

LeBron James receives his All-Star Game MVP 

MANY NBA fans all over the world are happy over the way this year's All-Star Game in Los Angeles proved to be more competitive compared to previous years.

For one, the final score of 148-145 showed how much the players cared about winning and making sure the game was exciting.

It was a good move by NBA Commissioner Adam Silver to change the All-Star format which saw top vote-getters LeBron James and Stephen Curry choose their players from the list that the fans and coaches voted on.

As a result, both teams' rosters consisted of a mixture of Eastern and Western Conference players. James's squad brought him together again with his former Cleveland Cavaliers teammate Kyrie Irving as well as former Oklahoma City teammates Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook.

James set up Irving for the go-ahead basket then the former joined hands with Durant in preventing Curry from going for a last-second three that would have tied the game and sent it into overtime.

Although the final score was still high for an All-Star Game, it was much different from last year where both teams played almost no defense and the score almost reached 200 points for the winning team.

It also helped that both teams chose charitable institutions where they donated their winnings since it was the players' way of helping their needy brothers especially from the African-American sector.

If there were some sour notes towards the All-Star Game, they included the extremely long intros by Kevin Hart and the poor rendition of the US national anthem by Fergie, the female vocalist of the Black Eyed Peas.

ABS-CBN also gave the All-Star Game a new flavor by sending former volleyball player Gretchen Ho to report for TV Patrol instead of the Boom Gonzales-TJ Manotoc tandem. Viewers were a bit relieved to hear Marv Albert cover the game for S+A considering that the Gonzales-Manotoc duo's coverage has been heavily criticized in past years.

I heard from some friends of mine that ABS-CBN's move to send Ho to the All-Star Game was a cost-cutting measure since the network has already invested a lot of money in its other sports coverages like the NCAA, UAAP, ASEAN Basketball League and the new Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League organized by boxing champ Manny Pacquiao.

This move by ABS-CBN has led to speculations that the network may soon lose its Philippine free TV rights to the NBA when the contract expires next year. Another network like the fledging ESPN5 may come in and join the bidding.

The next NBA All-Star Game will be held in Charlotte, North Carolina and after previously losing the hosting rights, the people there are ready to welcome the NBA stars with open arms following the transgender bathroom controversy there last year.

But for now, it's time for the NBA to go back to reality and focus on the remaining games of the regular season where the race to the playoffs gets tighter. The Houston Rockets and Golden State Warriors are currently leading the West while the Cavaliers are trying to catch up with the Toronto Raptors and Boston Celtics in the East.