Tonight Is All About Dick Bavetta

Despite the fact that the NBA won't let Dwight Howard dunk on a 12-foot rim, it still shapes up as a pretty promising All-Star Saturday night. At least three of the dunkers pretend to care about the event (screw you, Tyrus Thomas), Gilbert Arenas will lie, cheat, and steal in order to win the three-point contest, Damon Jones will do anything to make himself famous, and at some point tonight ... Dick Bavetta and Charles Barkley are having a foot race.

The Deadspin Predictions:

Barkley over Bavetta. It's a straight-line, up and back race. There's not much endurance or agility involved. I don't think Charles would've talked that much noise if he didn't know he could do it.

Arenas in the 3-Point Shootout. It just means more to him than it does to anyone else. If he can beat DeShawn Stevenson with one hand, he can beat the other guys with two.

Dwight Howard in the dunk contest. He's going to do something crazy like jump, eat an entire ear of corn off the top of the backboard, dunk it, and then land.

Kobe Bryant in the Skills Challenge. It's his thing, you know?

Boredom in the Shooting Stars thing. I don't know. Whatever team Magic Johnson is on this year.

NBA All-Star 2007 [NBA.com]