This is supposed to be a time of basketball celebration, an All-Star Weekend when the best of the best congregate and the very best of the game — well, the very best of the offense, anyway — is on display.
This year in the host city of an established Eastern Conference force (Toronto), it is backdropped by the prospect of one team (Golden State) chasing history and another (San Antonio) seeking to broaden its legacy and a third (Cleveland) hoping to deliver, once and for all, on a city’s desperate need for a championship.
Then there is Los Angeles, bidding farewell to Kobe Bryant while hoping the Clippers can get out of their own way come spring; and Oklahoma City, hoping to squeeze one more run out of their Thunder before the band breaks up; and old reliable Boston, which is bubbling just below the contender surface with oodles of draft picks coming and probably the league’s best young coach firmly in play.