‘Kasib Powell and I share a laugh’ (Joe Murphy - NBAE/Getty Images)

I don’t even know if I have the words to explain how much I enjoyed myself down in New Orleans.

Ever since I found out that I would be a part of All-Star weekend I was really looking forward to the trip. New Orleans is down in my neck of the woods; I went to college in Houston, I’m from Atlanta, and New Orleans is right in the middle. Had my bags packed well in advance.

Below, I’ll just touch on a few highlights of the past weekend. Check me out:

Traveling to the Big Easy
The Jazz were well represented in the events —we had six guys who were participants on all levels, from the D-League All Star game to the NBA All Star Game. Kylyro Fesenko (a Jazz/Flash rookie who was slated to play in the D-League All Star game with me) and I were scheduled to leave the SLC Airport together headed to N.O. Thursday morning. Big Fess goes about 7’1, 285 lbs, so you can only imagine how it is for him to travel on a commercial flight. The night before, we called Carlos Boozer trying to see if we could just catch a ride with him on the plane he had chartered down to New Orleans. We called too late though—Booze said that between him, our other teammates, their family members, and other guests, he didn’t have enough room.

Bummer. Hate it when that happens.

We made it in alright though. I guess me and Fess had been living right, because two ladies who were Jazz season ticket holders happened to be on our same flight and switched their first class seats with our coach ones. Guess that pretty much confirms any debate about which NBA team has the best fans. Thank goodness for season ticket-holders.

The Scene
As soon we pulled up to our hotel—actually, as soon as we stepped off the plane—the ‘Who’s Who’ games began. At All-Star Weekend, you’ll see tons of familiar and famous faces, mixed in with faces that don’t look so familiar. But the grandeur, the bravado, the machismo, the jewelry, the diamonds—that permeates the entire crowd. Everybody looks like a celebrity. Everybody is a star at All Star.

So naturally, everybody’s trying to figure everybody else out. With all the celebrities, personalities, athletes, and employees of the NBA come family members, entourages, and the fans. Put all those groups in one city for a weekend, and that’s All Star Weekend for you. Put everybody in the same room, and you create some of the most memorable moments of the whole weekend has to offer:

The Parties

The Stage
The EA Sports Party. The NBA Partner Reception. The ESPN After Dark Party. The MJ23 Launch Party. The Player’s Association Party. The Jay-Z and LeBron James Two Kings Party.

My goodness. All that in less than 72 hours? Let’s just say that if I don’t go to another social event for the rest of the season, I’ll be more than ok with it.

I don’t really get star struck or anything like that. I’m around athletes all the time, so it really wasn’t anything new to see them down there. I do get a little giddy when I see some of my favorite actresses though—I’ll admit that. I watch a ton of movies, and there’s just something about seeing those actresses in person after having watched them for so long on the big screen. And when I say ‘actresses,’ I’m really referring to Gabrielle Union.

That was my biggest regret of this weekend–she was at every event I was this past weekend, and I couldn’t work up the nerve to buy her a drink, strike up a conversation, or even make eye contact! And she didn’t have a date either. I had my lines all ready and everything—just couldn’t break the ice.

I know Morris Chestnut plays her love interest in lots of her movies (Breaking All The Rules, The Brothers, Two Can Play That Game, and Deliver Us From Eva) but she could put Chestnut on hold and give M. Almond a go. Gabby holla at me!

D-League All Star Game
With all the parties, events, and extracurriculars going on, it was important not forget the main reason we were down there.

I really enjoyed playing with the other All Stars from around the D-League. It was just refreshing to be around such a group of level-headed guys and kick it with everybody on a personal level, especially after battling against them on a game by game basis. Everybody had their own stories and takes on how their seasons had been going so far, and how life was in their respective cities (or rather, towns.) We got some good laughs out of that.

The actual game went well. There was a good crowd, and the atmosphere was perfect for our afternoon event. Best believe everybody was dead serious about the contest. No half court lobs. No easy lay-ups. No walking up and down the floor. None of that. The game was competitive all the way through the end. My guy Jeremy Richardson edged me out for MVP honors (dang I wanted that trophy!), but its all good. We all had a blast, and I’ll keep those memories for a long time.

Meet and Greet
Its crazy the number of new people you meet at an event like All-Star Weekend. The NBA is like a fraternity, in that it seems like everybody knows everybody else, either personally or indirectly. The basketball world is small, so all the players know each other. But there are so many NBA officials, sponsors, and representatives in the mix that you can’t help but meet people who have a huge impact on the final NBA product. I probably collected 20 business cards from some of everybody, people from all over. People from the NBA offices, adidas representatives, ESPN representatives—the list just goes on and on. Networking is the name of the game these days, and there was no better place to do so than down in New Orleans this past weekend.

The Blog
I got several compliments on this blog from more than a few people. One journalist joked with me that I had gained more notoriety as a writer than a shooting guard this season. Forgive me if I forget to laugh with him on that one. It’s cool though. I know it was all in fun, but we’ll see who gets the last laugh.

I’ve got to give a huge shout out to the good folks over there with the Player’s Association. I met several members of the staff this past weekend, and the encouraging words they gave regarding how they read this blog made me want to just go back to my room and start writing something on the spot! The people working with the NBAPA have had such a positive influence on me throughout my first season, and do such good work around the league that I would be remiss if I didn’t acknowledge how much their words meant. Thanks guys.

Rod Who?
Can’t forget another rather memorable encounter of this past weekend. One of my D-League All Star teammates, a guy named Rod Benson (author of the weekly “Ball Don’t Lie” blog series on Yahoo.com and toomuchrodbenson.com) and I got into a friendly debate about who had the better online player blog.

I know, I know—who the heck is Rod Benson and why is this even important. But you see, I take my blog very seriously—it’s like my pride and joy. Half the people who even read this segment of my blog won’t really follow it. But it had to be addressed.

We went back and forth about the validity and quality of each other’s online web logs in the locker-room right before our All Star game; a few teammates took sides, and the NBA TV crew even got some of the debate on tape as things escalated. It died down as we got closer to tip off, but the beef remains.

I told Benson I’d do him a favor and triple the number of visitors to his blog by mentioning him on mine, so here you go Rod. To all of my loyal readers—just for the record, unless you’re under 14, you’ll probably find Benson’s blog shallow, immature, and fairly corny (I know I did). But check the young brotha out anyway, because I guess there are a lot worse things he could be doing with his time then writing a wack blog. Like I told Rod: if your blog ain’t on NBA.com, then it ain’t legit! That goes for Jazzbots too!