ORLANDO — Some questions and answers from a media interview period for the Eastern Conference and Western Conference All-Stars on Friday.
Q: The players and owners both had incentive to play as many games as possible once the lockout ended: The players are paid per game, and the owners want more revenues. But considering all of the injuries and sloppy games this season, do the players regret agreeing to the 66-game schedule? Is it too many games?
Paul Pierce, Celtics: I don't think all of the players agreed to it. Some of the players asked me, 'why are we cramming this many games into a short season?' I wonder how many people would have voted for it if there was a league-wide vote of the 400 players.
Roy Hibbert, Pacers: No. The lockout happened. We had a lot of time to prepare, and injuries happen. You can't stop those things. During the lockout if you weren't working out, then injuries can happen but there are some injuries you can't prevent.
Andrew Bynum, Lakers: Actually, I kind of like it. I wish it was like this every year, honestly. It's quick: 60 games, short and quick, get to the playoffs. That's what everyone wants to see.
Chris Bosh, Heat: No, absolutely not. Coming off the lockout, if you look at the last [NBA] lockout, or even the NFL lockout, injuries were piling up. Having a long, extended training camp, even though most people don't like it, is needed. You have to get in shape, you have to build up those minutes. Just to jump right into it is tough. But that was to be expected. We kind of knew that was going to happen.
Dwyane Wade, Heat: It's a lot [of games]. No hiding it. Sixty games in 120-odd days, it's a lot. It's not nothing that we want to go through again, for our bodies more so than anything. The healthiest team is probably going to win at the end of the day. Everyone is on eggshells when someone goes down because there's not a lot of recovery time to get back on the floor. It's a lot, but we've got to do what we've got to do, and we've got to give our fans what they come to see and that they signed up for, and that's good basketball.
Dirk Nowitzki, Mavericks: It was everyone's fault. It was the players' fault; it was the NBA's fault. We knew this was coming for two years and we didn't do anything about it, so now we have to deal with this shortened season and just play a lot of games. We've got nine games in 12 games coming out of the break, which is a ridiculous number of games. But we've just got to deal with it and go from there.
Q: What have been your impressions of Knicks guard Jeremy Lin, who came out of nowhere to become the big story in the league?
Dwight Howard, Magic: I think it's one of the best stories. He's all over the place. Every time you turn on the TV, it's something about Lin, which is great. I'm happy for him. He's been playing great basketball. The Knicks are winning, so a lot of people are happy. He hasn't [gone] up against the 'Great Wall of Orlando' yet. We'll see what happens then.
Steve Nash, Suns: It's a fairy tale. His story is a great story. It's phenomenal because it's the media capital of the world. He erupted on a Knicks team that was desperate. [The Knicks] have a desperate fan base, desperate team and the most unlikely of saviors. It's an unbelievable, viral, contagious story. And on top of that he's handled it amazingly.
Rajon Rondo, Celtics: He's worked hard. A lot of people doubt him. I think he's a product of hard work, and now it's paying off. He seems like a pretty humble guy. He seems like a good guy. He's going to be here for a long time.
Kevin Love, Timberwolves: Jeremy Lin has been great. He's a success story. He's worked tremendously hard to get to where he's at, and he's taken full advantage of an opportunity. It's going to be a feel-good story for the NBA. It's good for the New York Knicks and it's great for the NBA, so you've got to be happy for him.
Deron Williams, Nets: I'm not going to use that [overrated] word. I think he's had a solid 10 games. His story is amazing because you can say he would have been out of the league if he didn't play the way he did against us the first time, and his run has been great. He had a rough game [Thursday], as people do. So we'll see. I'm sure he's going to have a long career ahead of him now, and he gets to write his own story.
Q: It’s been 20 years since Lakers legend Magic Johnson returned to the NBA at the Orlando All-Star game after being diagnosed with HIV. What do you think his return meant to the game?
Carmelo Anthony, Knicks: It definitely set a precedent in the NBA as a whole and in our community, as well. It brought a lot of awareness to that situation, to HIV. Whereas a lot of people before that wasn't really sure, people didn't really want to play with him. Some of the players didn't want to get on the court with him, didn't want to guard him. I respect what Dennis Rodman did that game, playing Magic Johnson, the way he played him and not really thinking about that. And then after that how much everybody embraced Magic.
Pierce: Magic at the time was one of the great faces of the NBA, a guy who you always enjoyed him going up and down the court. He motivated a lot of us young kids at the time to want to be NBA players and want to emulate him and do the things that he did out on the court.
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