Over the weekend, Dallas traffic was backed up for miles. Cars were driving on the shoulders of highways to break loose of the gridlock. People had driven in from all over the country. Louisiana, Tennessee, Washington, and other license plates proudly represented their states in the traffic jam. Everyone had traveled to Dallas for the biggest NBA All-Star game in history.
Cowboys Stadium is the largest dome in the world; it’s capable of holding over 100,000 people. Anna Petterson, 19, traveled from the University of Kansas just to attend the game. Petterson had never visited the stadium before and at first sight she was “speechless.” The sheer magnitude of the stadium struck her with awe.
One of the main questions of the night was exactly how many people would attend the game. Dallas Mavericks’ owner Mark Cuban stood center court and yelled, “Does Dallas, Texas, know how to throw a party or what?” Then he announced the numbers in attendance, a Guinness World Record of 108,713 people. It was the largest crowd to ever watch a basketball game. Carey Patterson, 20, a game attendee, said”I’m so excited to be a part of [a] Guinness World Record. Now when I see the book, I can say I was there, and that’s priceless.” Dallas Mavericks’ forward Dirk Nowitzki thanked the crowd for coming out to the game. Nowitzki then stated, “Everything is bigger in Texas.”
However, a big crowd can bring big issues. Cowboys Stadium is designed so that the ticketholders must go in a certain entrance in order to access their seats. This caused a huge jam of people trying to enter into the stadium. The lines did not move for over 20 minutes, and people began cutting in line to ensure they saw the opening acts.
Kate Colwill, 20, traveled straight from her college in South Carolina for the game. She was among the thousands trying to get to their seats on time. She said, “I stood in line for so long. It was ridiculous, cold, and unnecessary.” Colwill continued, “I got in five minutes before starters were announced. Had I not seen [the opening] I would have been upset!”
Security finally sped up the process, and most of the crowd made it to their seats before the tip-off.
Once inside, the spectators, took their seats in front of the biggest television in the world and waited for the events to start. When the lights went dark, Usher emerged from under the stage singing his new single “More” to the cheering crowd. Petterson said, “Usher was my favorite part of the night, and I loved his performance.” He gave way to the All-Stars rising from the floor onto the stage in a blur of fog and lights. Hometown host Dirk Nowitzki received one of the loudest cheers as he made his first appearance in the All-Star game as a starter.
Throughout the night, there was always a performance taking place on the floor that entertained the crowd, from the game itself to acts performed by the Dallas Cowboy cheerleaders. Inflatable mascots of the various teams even came onto the floor with a choreographed routine. They “moved so freely, I didn’t know it was possible to bounce on your head like they did,” Patterson said. At one time it looked like a mascot actually ate a cheerleader, when he picked her up and she disappeared in his mouth.
Brooks Igo, a sophomore at SMU, said her favorite part of the entire night was watching the antics of the mascots. Jumping off the trampolines toward the basketball hoop, the mascots would do some sort of trick and attempt to dunk the basketball.
The halftime show was filled with just as much excitement and special effects as the rest of the acts. Shakira rose up from the ground in a cage surrounded by smoke. A spectator at the game, Cat Shaw, said, “[Shakira’s] synchronized dancing was outstanding. Her voice was great live, and it was definitely my favorite part of the night.” In the final act, Alicia Keys sang “Empire State of Mind,” but changed the words “New York” to “all-star,” which drew loud cheers from the crowd.
The game itself was relatively close the entire time, and at the end it came down to the wire. There were five seconds left, and the Western Conference was down by two points. The crowd was on its feet, yelling for the biggest shot of the game. However, Denver Nuggets’ Carmelo Anthony’s shot fell short, and the West lost by a score of 141-139. Dwayne Wade of the Miami Heat won the MVP. His 28 points and five steals were enough to secure the win against the West. It was truly one for the record books.
