OAKLAND, Calif. -- Phoenix's Jason Kidd, who grew up in Oakland and played his college ball at California in nearby Berkeley, got one of the loudest ovations during pre-game introductions of the All-Star lineups.
A starter for the Western Conference squad, Kidd saved his applause for teammates Karl Malone and John Stockton as the two Utah Jazz players executed one of their trademark pick and roll plays.Kidd was caught by a courtside microphone marveling at the Utah duo.
"You know it's coming, but you can't stop it," Kidd said to West teammates.
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MOST OVERRATED?: Fans chose the starters for the All-Star Game and coaches picked the reserves. The San Jose Mercury News decided to poll the All-Stars themselves about their peers, and got some interesting answers.
In a completely unscientific poll that got responses from only about 20 percent of the players, the newspaper asked several questions that fans often debate.
Such as: "Who is the most overrated player in the league?"
There was a tie for first on that one, with Penny Hardaway of the Phoenix Suns and Washington's Juwan Howard getting five votes apiece. Kobe Bryant of the Lakers and Sacramento's Jason Williams were right behind, with four votes each.
Among other results of the survey:
-- Cedric Ceballos of Dallas and Toni Kukoc of the Bulls tied for the distinction of being the NBA's worst defender.
-- Indiana's Reggie Miller was a runaway winner as the best pure shooter, and Allen Iverson had 36 votes -- compared to four for his nearest challenger -- in the "best 1-on-1 move" category.
--And the most underrated player was Shareef Abdur-Rahim of Vancouver.
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STAR WATCH: Among the non-NBA luminaries sighted at the game: Brandi Chastain, the star of last summer's Women's World Cup; presidential candidate (and former NBA star) Bill Bradley; former heavyweight champion Evander Holyfield, and celebrity lawyer Johnnie Cochran.