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The NBA season is beginning to heat up as the temperatures outside begin cool off considerably.  The 2012-13 season is the first full length season after a strike shortened 2011-12 regular season.  It feels good to get back to a full 82 game season.  Last year just felt weird.  Especially the All-Star game.  In a condensed season the All-Star game almost seemed irrelevant when so few games had been played.  This year we can get back to status quo.  Although things are a little different this year when it comes to the All-Star voting.

2013 NBA All-Star Game -February 24, 2013

The NBA All-Star game will be played in Houston, TX this year.  The All-Star game will make its second appearance at the Toyota Center.  The last All-Star game in Houston was in 2006 and the host city featured 2 Rockets in the starting lineup for the West All-Stars.  Forward Tracy McGrady and center Yao Ming starting on an All-Star roster seems like an ancient memory.  Makes me think of the Little Texas song "What Might Have Been".  Sad memories for Rockets fans.  Sorry Houston.  LeBron James was the MVP of that All-Star game with 29 points and T-Mac lead all scorers with 36.

During the last two weeks there has been a new sensation in the NBA.  Whether you like it or not Jeremy Lin has taken the league by storm with a monumental run since his insertion into the starting lineup.  Injuries to star forwards Amar'e Stoudamire and Carmelo Anthony provided an opportunity for the Harvard grad to get his shot at making his mark in the NBA.  Prior to his recent surge of greatness, Lin was cut by the Warriors, the Rockets, and was fighting just to stay on an NBA roster with New York.  Fast forward to today and you can't watch sports highlights with out being assaulted with "Linsanity". 

Just when it seemed like the NBA season was lost the players and owners came to an agreement on a new CBA.  Both sides of this battle took a stand at several points during the negotiations over the last few months.  In the beginning both sides were asking way too much and by the end of it the owners wound up compromising the most.  In the new deal the players will still receive over half the money.  With many teams struggling financially, something had to be done with the money and salary distribution.  For now everyone is happy but it will take some time to discover whether or not enough changes were made to the old CBA to ensure economic stability in the NBA.

On June 30 the NBA decided to follow suit with the NFL and locked out their players.  Since the NFL is the most lucrative and popular of the four major sports, the media has been all over the NFL Lockout announcing even the most minute details like the color of tie that Roger Goodell wore to each "Secret Meeting".  Note to the media and the NFL:  If everyone knows about the meeting it just slightly rips the meaning of secret right out of the concept.