The letters "BBNS," which were short for "Basketball Never Stops" graced the backs of the jerseys the players would wear during a night to remember in Philadelphia's Palestra. The date was Sunday, September 25th when some of the NBA's brightest stars came together in Philadelphia, PA, of all places, and balled out…in the midst of an NBA Lockout.
It was 1000 degrees in the Palestra, and the place was packed. The Palestra is designed to hold 8,722 patrons…this night the historic building probably housed what seemed and felt liked double that. As basketball fans, LeBron haters and supporters, young ladies trying to make the next rendition of VH1's
Basketball Wives franchise, media, and all others who were (and most likely, remain) thirsty for basketball during this drought, gathered to watch what some would describe as an All-Star game-esque exhibition.
The game was ultra competitive from the tip-off. Team Philly versus Team Melo. The rosters included:
Team "Melo"Carmelo Anthony (New York Knicks)
LeBron James (Miami Heat)
Chris Paul (New Orleans Hornets)
Josh Selby (Memphis Grizzlies)
Donte Green (Sacramento Kings)
Gary Neal (San Antonio Spurs)
Gary Forbes (Denver Nuggets)
Eric Bledsoe (Los Angeles Clippers)
Team "Philly"Lou Williams (Philadelphia 76ers)
Tyreke Evans (Sacramento Kings)
Hakim Warrick (Phoenix Suns)
Kyle Lowry (Houston Rockets)
Wayne Ellington (Minnesota Timberwolves)
Jason Thompson (Sacramento Kings)
Mark Tyndale
Mary Collins
Dionte Christmas
Ronald "Flip" Murray
Aaron "AO" Owens
I was most impressed with the ball handling ability of Tyreke Evans and Chris Paul. Think yo-yo. They made approaching defenders think twice every possession and practically did what they wanted with basketball in hand. I noticed the lower marquee players such as Mark Tyndale and Dionte Christmas, both formerly of Temple University put in extra effort on the defensive end of the court. And Lou Williams was close to lights out from behind the arc…the City embraced him from the initial starting lineup announcements.
There were rumors that a few other players would either play or be in attendance, Allen Iverson, Kevin Durant, Marcus and Markieff Morris (who apparently both had Saturday - 9.24.2011 - night Kansas University commitments), and John Salmon, just to name a few who were not involved in the festivities… Either way, the players who actually played did a hell of a job putting on a show, for sweating, excited fans. Although not too much defense was played, there was enough of an effort to garner a pretty close game up to the closing two minutes.
Bron led Team Melo in scoring with a game high 43 point performance, while Anthony threw in his 31. Former Villanova University standout Kyle Lowry had a Team Philly high of 34 points and Lou Williams contributed 31 for the hometown squad.
Even after Team Melo battled back from an early 19-point first half slump and finally took their first lead in the fourth quarter, the role players on the Team Philly side contributed in gritty, blue collar fashion…that would eventually lead to a 131 - 122 WIN for the Hakim Warrick engineered Philadelphia squad.
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During halftime, TWO $25,000.00 checks were made out to the Philadelphia, PA and Baltimore, MD area "Better Basketball Camp" foundations…all derived from ticket sale proceeds.
Eagles wideout DeSean Jackson made a brief appearance, was cheered loudly by fans, and escorted out of the facility with just under 5 minutes remaining in the fourth quarter.
One overweight ref was uber extra during the game, and actually had my homie and I questioning his mental, and physical for that matter, capability.
Former Sixer guard Willie Green was in attendance in addition to super agent, Leon Rose.
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CSNSCREAM @ ME!!!
