The 2008 NBA All-Star Game was an exhibition basketball game played on February 17, 2008 at the New Orleans Arena in New Orleans, Louisiana, home of the New Orleans Hornets. The game was the 57th edition of the National Basketball Association (NBA) All-Star Game and was played during the 2007–08 NBA season. This was the first time that New Orleans had hosted the All-Star Game and was the city's first major professional sporting event (outside of regular season games) since the area was devastated by Hurricane Katrina in 2005. The city was awarded in an announcement by commissioner David Stern on May 22, 2006. The other reported contenders for the 2008 contest was Air Canada Centre at Toronto, who withdrew the bid early in 2005.
The Eastern Conference defeated the Western Conference 134–128. The East led early but blew a 16-point lead in the fourth quarter; however, in the end, pulled out the win due to the strength of Ray Allen and LeBron James. Allen scored 28 points in the game, 14 of those points coming in the deciding quarter and James finished with a near triple-double 27 points, nine assists and eight rebounds. Through fan voting James took home the NBA All-Star Game MVP award, the second of his career.
All of this year's All-Star participants joined over 2,500 members of the NBA Family for the NBA Cares All-Star Day of Service. The volunteers participated in a variety of service projects at ten different sites throughout New Orleans.
The inaugural NBA Development League Dream Factory Friday Night is modeled after the popular NBA All-Star Saturday Night. It included perennial NBA fan favorite events such as a Three-Point Shootout and Slam Dunk competition, while introducing H.O.R.S.E. and an interactive game of Hot-Shot with fans. Twelve D-League players, including an NBA-assigned player and five others with NBA experience, took to Center Court to showcase their skills throughout the evening’s competitions.
Read more about 2008 NBA All-Star Game: The All-Star Game, Schedule, Musical Happenings
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“The family environment in which your children are growing up is different from that in which you grew up. The decisions our parents made and the strategies they used were developed in a different context from what we face today, even if the “content” of the problem is the same. It is a mistake to think that our own experience as children and adolescents will give us all we need to help our children. The rules of the game have changed.”
—Lawrence Kutner (20th century)