Subplots galore in NBA All-Star Game

It remains the talk of the basketball universe.

The world’s most glorified version of street ball—the NBA All-Star Game—was played at Charlotte, North Carolina’s Spectrum Center on Sunday night (Monday morning) in Manila.

This year’s  game was no different from the past 67 editions. As usual it was “as puffed up a piece of preening as the Westminster Dog Show,” according to the Los Angeles Times.

Never mind that the All-Star was just a Sunday show to heat up the February TV sweeps. The game’s greater purpose was to excite basketball’s faithful from Afghanistan to Zambia.

LeBron James of the LA Lakers played with teammates he had picked during a televised draft. “He got to dress them in black and demanded they not play defense, just defend his honor and consider joining him in LA. ASAP,” the Times said.

The outcome was a self-congratulatory show of explosive, high-scoring action, with Team LeBron racing to a 178-164 comeback victory over Team Giannis (Antetokounmpo of the Milwaukee Bucks).

With the All-Star weekend over, James is ready to get the Lakers back on track. They are currently 10th in the West, three games behind the Clippers for the eighth and final playoff spot.

“Looking forward to get back in this playoff race. That’s my only mind-set,” James told sportswriters.

If the NBA is a stage, it is highlighted by drama with many subplots that took off just as the All-Star Game in Charlotte.

“It’s a soap opera actually, and we’re all actors just trying to play our roles,” said Kevin Durant of the Golden State Warriors.

As it turned out, Durant and his exploits Sunday figured in one of the dramatic moments.

He padded his impressive resumé with his second All-Star Game MVP Award with a 31-point output for Team LeBron.

Durant will be at center stage again this summer in what the Times calls “a loaded class of free agents that’s expected to include All-Stars Kawhi Leonard, Kyrie Irving, Klay Thompson, Khris Middleton and Nikola Jokic.”

No doubt the rigodon of superstars in the offseason also counts up there as a compelling segment of the life in the world’s premier basketball league

What’s up the sleeves of former Gintong Alay chief Michael Marcos Keon?

For one, he is gearing up for battle with incumbent Chevylle Fariñas for mayor of Laoag City.

The Fariñases have politically controlled Laoag, the capital of Ilocandia’s rooftop, for over three decades. Michael, ex-Philippine Olympic Committee president, and also a former Ilocos Norte governor, thought it was time to break their stranglehold.

The matchup befuddles local political tea leaf readers who don’t seem to know the front runner and eventual winner.