MyTenSense.com

The Lakers aren’t the only NBA team that attracts celebrities.
Stars came out in droves Sunday for Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Finals featuring the Magic and Cavaliers in Orlando’s Amway Arena.
Tiger Woods showed up on Amway’s Jumbotron early in the game. Then, right after halftime, Grammy Award winning R&B singer Usher walked to his courtside seat across from the Magic’s team bench. A minute and a half later, hip hop heartthrob-turned-bad boy Chris Brown was escorted to a spot two seats away from Usher followed closely behind by Rush Hour funnyman Chris Tucker and Miami Heat guard Dwyane Wade and a couple friends to fill in the rest of the instant celebrity row. Utah forward Carlos Boozer was already seated earlier in the game and was a section over from the bunch under the basket near the Magic’s bench. Across the floor, Grammy Award winning rapper Lil’ Wayne sat with a female friend underneath the basket near Cleveland’s bench. The crowd gave loud ovations for Boozer, Lil’ Wayne, Woods and Usher when their faces appeared on Amway’s Jumbotron. Beyonce and Jay-Z, my favorite and my teen son’s favorite artists respectively, were rumored to be in the arena, but we didn’t spot them.
Usher, who also sat courtside two days earlier to witness LeBron James’ buzzer-beating game winner in Cleveland, switched seats with one of two guys in between him and Chris, and the throwback Michael Jackson singers chatted shoulder-to-shoulder through most of the third quarter and almost the entire fourth quarter. Since Usher is part owner of the Cavs, I wonder if he got the tickets for Brown, Tucker and Wade? And what were Usher and Chris talking about? Maybe Usher was apologizing for saying the younger singer needed to show more remorse instead of being photographed jet-skiing in Miami Beach in February shortly after being arrested for assaulting his pop star ex-girlfriend Rihanna and a photo leak of her battered face. And why was Usher wearing dark black sunglasses after 10 p.m. on a rainy night?
Usher left in the final 36 seconds with his Cavs down by eight and Cleveland starters Anderson Varejao and Zydrunas Ilgauskas fouled out of the game. Then, Chris Tucker slid over to talk to Brown, and when the final buzzer sounded, they shook hands and walked across the court with Boozer and Wade to exit through the VIP Entrance.
The Magic-Cavs game was Brown’s first public appearance since the jet-skiing photos. He privately celebrated his 20th birthday earlier this month and has been in seclusion for the last three months with the exception of courtroom appearances for the felony charges involving his then-girlfriend Rihanna. Brown’s preliminary hearing is in three days, but he is not expected to appear in court, and his attorney is trying to get the case tossed because of the leaked LAPD photos of Rihanna. But of course, Brown managed to appear on the Magic’s court Sunday in a black hoodie and blue jeans to see Orlando take a 2-1 series lead over Cleveland in the Magic’s first East Finals in 13 years.

By Teneshia LaFaye
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If you’re an NBA fan, you’ve had the debate with your friends.
Who is the best player in the league? LeBron, Kobe or D-Wade?
My answer is King James, and the populous thinks so too because the Cleveland forward received 109 of 121 first-place votes to be crowned the NBA’s Most Valuable Player earlier this week.
Kobe Bryant and Dwyane Wade already have an MVP trophy. Bryant was the league MVP last season, and Wade, the league’s scoring leader this season, was MVP of the 2006 NBA Finals.
Bryant and Wade, who finished second and third in this year’s MVP voting, have another piece of hardware that James lacks – an NBA championship ring. Bryant won his three championship rings on the shoulders of three-time NBA Finals MVP Shaquille O’Neal before the big man left the Lakers to help Wade win Miami’s only NBA championship in 2006.
But LeBron James can distinguish himself by being the catalyst to Cleveland’s first NBA title. So far, the Cavs have cruised through the playoffs with a first-round series sweep of Detroit and a 2-0 Eastern Conference semifinals start over Atlanta. In the process, James has averaged 32 points – more than Wade’s regular-season leading 30 points per game, and he’s averaging 11 rebounds, 6.6 assists and two steals. The NBA Finals could match up James’ team versus Bryant’s Lakers, which Cleveland beat out by one game for the league’s best record this season and the most wins in Cavs’ franchise history.
Wade is out of the picture right now after Miami was eliminated by Atlanta in the first round of the NBA playoffs. In dominating performances against the Hawks and Pistons, James has posted better postseason numbers than Wade and Bryant, and he also has better career averages in points, rebounds and assists.
So if LeBron leads his team to an NBA championship this postseason, it’ll be hard to argue he’s not the best in the league.

By Teneshia LaFaye
Follow me on Twitter: www.twitter.com/teneshialafaye
Add me on Myspace: www.myspace.com/tlafaye