We're back NBA fans and better than ever! Your favorite traveling basketball playground, NBA Nation presented by T-Mobile & Kia Motors is hitting the road once again and this time we decided to start things off in the land of the Suns...Phoenix! Our first weekend of action takes place this Saturday and Sunday (May 1-2) at the Cinco de Mayo Phoenix Festival 2010.
This is NBA Nation's first time in Phoenix, and so far it looks like we're the Suns' good luck charm because last night they defeated Portland to advance to the 2nd round of the NBA Playoffs where they now face off against a very familiar opponent, the San Antonio Spurs. With all the excitement surrounding the Suns, this seems like the perfect time to enjoy everything NBA Nation has to offer.
You wanna play some basketball? Ok, we've got plenty of games and contests to test your skills on any of our courts including the Kia Raining 3s Competition and the T-Mobile Fastest to the Basket Contest. Also back this year as part of our programming is the Kia Motors Performance Challenge. If you've seen NBA All-Star Saturday Night then you'll recognize this event since it mirrors the All-Star Skills Competition and gives you the chance to see how well rounded of a player you are. I should probably mention that our Grand Prize winner of the Performance Challenge will be driving away with the All-New 2011 Kia Sorento. That's not too shabby, huh? I bet all you thought you were gonna get was a keychain! So the way this works is in each city the player with the fastest time will win a trip to Dallas at the end of our tour to compete and represent their city in the Kia Motors Performance Challenge Finals. That means eight winners giving it all they got, but unfortunately that means only 1 walks away with a set of keys to a Kia Sorento. I can't wait to see who gets to drive away in it!
Also back this year on NBA Nation is the Sprite Slam Dunk Showdown. Last year, this was one of our most exciting events and the Finals, which took place at NBA All-Star Weekend in Dallas, ended with our winner "The Air Up There" being awarded a check for $10,000 from guest judge LeBron James, who will be taking part again this year. It's pretty simple, we're gonna find the best dunkers in each city and have them compete against each other for $1,000 , a Flip Video Recorder, and the title of "Phoenix's Best Dunker Not Named Amar’e". Our celebrity judges will be scoring all the dunks leading up to the final round. Then it's in your hands, as the fans will vote by text for their favorite dunker and decide who gets the check, the Flip, and possibly a trip to NBA All-Star Weekend 2011 in Los Angeles. If you can't make it to Phoenix, or any of our other tour stops, you'll still have a chance to enter the Sprite Slam Dunk Showdown by uploading a video of your best dunks to the SSDS website. After our tour is complete, LeBron and the other online judges will choose one "online" dunker and that person will get to compete in the Finals against winners from our live events at NBA Nation. So if you think you have what it takes, come out and show us some sick, nasty, smelly, crazy dunks and if we like what we see...we might let you in! Who knows, maybe LeBron will be handing you the $10,000 check this time around?
You know when NBA Nation rolls into town they bring some pretty cool guests. Our first weekend here in Phoenix features visits from Suns' Legends Cedric Ceballos (Saturday) and Eddie Johnson (Sunday). You'll have a chance to meet the guys and get autographs during their appearances. Also appearing this weekend will be The Suns Gorilla, the Suns Dancers, and the Official NBA Nation Ambassador Darryl Dawkins. Check our website for a full schedule of each tour stop's appearances.
I want there to be some mystery left so I'm gonna let you discover everything else at NBA Nation all by yourself.
As an added bonus, the next 5 people that follow me on Twitter (@NBA_Mike_G) will win a special prize but you have to come to NBA Nation to collect it. After you follow me, send a tweet and let me know when you'll be coming out. We start at 2pm on Saturday so we'll see you then!!!
Bookmark this blog and check back often as I'll be updating with pics, videos, and much more all summer long. I'm all about interacting with the fans so feel free to leave comments and messages on my blog. And make sure you say hi when you see me!
BTW, I wrote this blog entry while listening to Whitesnake's "Here I Go Again". It seemed appropriate.
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