After the BBVA Rising Stars Challenge, Bradley Beal was all smiles. He sat in the media area with a grin on his face after playing on the biggest stage in his career and it looked like he was finally getting a moment to soak it in.

He had just stepped off the court after grabbing nine points, four assists, two steals and one board. The best stat line of the night for him, however, came on what probably was the play of the game when Ricky Rubio fed him a no-look, through the legs pass for an easy slam. Here's a gif image of the play courtesy of Hardwood Paroxysm:

He struggled to get started in the first half and didn’t have much of an effect on the second half (going four-of-nine for the game,) but didn’t seem too concerned about it.

“It’s a fun experience. It’s my first All-Star weekend, I’m just here to enjoy it…I just wanted to make shots…I wasn’t making shots, so I was like ‘I gotta make somethin’…I can’t go 0-for-whatever…”

For a first All-Star experience, that definitely wasn’t too shabby for a rookie who was still a toddler when a handful of the current All-Stars were making their debut. And with the look of a kid who had just walked into the gates of Disney World, I think he knew it, too.

After being named a finalist for the Hall of Fame Class, Gary Payton took some time to speak to the media. While Payton addressed the potential move of the Sacramento Kings to Seattle (which he stated he feels pretty confident about), his potential naming to the NBA Hall of Fame, and his wish to participate in anything that involves Seattle basketball, the most interesting comments came when the name John Wall was brought up.

Wall stated a few weeks ago that he had a lot of contact with Payton and had been learning a lot from him, Gary felt the criticisms of Wall not being a franchise player (from David Falk and Stan Van Gundy) were largely unfair. Payton further went on to say that he would be working with Wall during the offseason in order to help him improve the aspects of his game (namely defense).

Payton seemed nothing but optimistic when it came to the kind of player that Wall will turn into. 

“That guy reminds me of myself. He’s very long, he can score, he’s got a good knack for the basketball, he just needs somebody to teach him how to play defense.”

Check out the entire video below (with the Wall remarks starting around the 6:25 mark). 

With the exception of Bradley Beal, who will be participating in the Rising Stars Challenge, the Wizards will have no participation in this year’s NBA All-Star Weekend.  I suppose you can’t expect much else from a team that is bad and lacking recognizable names.

The first All-Star Weekend I remember was from 1990.  Miami was the host city, and the game featured a host of star headliners from the East (Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, Charles Barkley) and the West (Magic Johnson, Hakeem Olajuwon, Clyde Drexler).

My sister and I recorded the three-point shootout and dunk contest on VHS, dubbing over a few Simpsons episodes and Jukebox Network music videos.  As a team, the Heat was in its infant stage, having just become a franchise in 1988.  Their three-point contest participant was John Sundvold, who faced a formidable line-up including players such as Larry Bird, Reggie Miller, and Mark Price.  While cheered boisterously by his home crowd, Sundvold would fail to make the final round, as he was edged out in the semifinals.  But at least he looked cool in defeat.   The music of choice for the competition was the Miami Vice theme song and the Heat’s warm-up suits back then looked like Cobra Kai uniforms.

pistons 96 wizards 85
2/13/2013 - The Palace of Auburn Hills, Detroit, MI
ESPN Boxscore
NBA.com Game Highlights


Allen Einstein/NBAE/Getty Images

                        AT                          

Wednesday, February 13th, 2013
7:30 PM ET
TV: Comcast SportsNet HD
Steve Buckhantz and Phil Chenier  
Radio: 106.7 FM/1500 AM
Dave Johnson and Glenn Consor

The All-Star break is right around the corner, and as usual for Wizards fans, this means nothing. The Wizards  haven't had an All-Star since the 2007-08 season when Caron Butler and Antawn Jamison made it. Only the Kings and the Bucks have a longer drought without a representative in the All-Star Game.

Depressing, I know.

From 2004-2007 the Wizards sent a player to the All-Star game four years in a row and three of those years they sent two players. Yeah, those were the good old days but they're long gone, replaced by a general dismissiveness of the Wizards. These days it’s just one slight after another.

Let's take a stroll through recent history...

SLIGHT #1

To follow up yesterday's post by Abdullah questioning the whereabouts of Jordan Crawford, we've brought on Cory Grubbs (@CoryGrubbs10) of Blog So Hard Sports (@BlogSoHardSport) to share some trade scenarios that could involve Jordan Crawford if the Wizards ever consider moving him. Again, these are speculations derived from our own minds and have no reflection of any official report from the Wizards.

Exactly 23 days ago Steez was up to his normal Steezy shenanigans. You remember right? Well if you don’t, maybe this dagger will remind you. That’s right; three weeks ago Jordan Crawford hit the dagger of the year to bury the TrailBlazers. Two games later he poured in 19 instrumental points in aiding the Wizards to a victory over the TimberWolves.

Fast forward to today and the Wizards are riding a four game winning streak but the Steez has been M.I.A. And by M.I.A. I mean back-to-back ‘DNP – Coach’s Decisions’ to go with 11 combined minutes in the previous two games. That’s right, 11 combined minutes in the last four games, which all happened to be Wizards’ wins against playoff teams.

So where does that leave J-Craw? Well, in our situation, the trade rumor mill. With the only reason that most can think for Crawford’s recent benching, the infamous “Randy Wittman Dog House”, the Wizards community has been speculating about possible trades. So let’s dig right in and look at some of those possibilities.

While everyone is soaking in happiness and rejoice following the Wizards’ fourth straight win and 11^th of their last 18, many have began to forget the existence of one Jordan Crawford.

The love-to-hate swingman has often been touted for his volume scoring and unique wardrobe, but even more often hammered for his recklessness and inept decision-making. Either way, ‘Steez’ has failed to step on the hardwood for two straight games now, after he only clocked an average of 14 minutes and 4.4 points per game the seven games prior.

With no apparent report of injury, there’s really nothing to make of this other than Jordan has replaced Chris Singleton in Randy Wittman’s doghouse. This could be for a variety of reasons.

wizards 102 bucks 90
2/11/2013 - Bradley Center, Milwaukee, WI
ESPN Boxscore
NBA.com Game Highlights


(Photo: Jim Prisching, AP)

                     AT                                

Monday, February 11th, 2013
8:00 PM ET
TV: Comcast SportsNet HD
Steve Buckhantz and Phil Chenier  
Radio: 106.7 FM/1500 AM
Dave Johnson and Glenn Consor