Las Vegas, the city where winning is everything, is the perfect contrast for a game in which winning, at least for this weekend, means very little.

"This is the place," Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant says. "Anything you want to do, you can do."

It's all about the show.

The All-Star Game and the entire weekend is about one thing -- showing off the game. It's the perfect setting for the game's most creative stars including Bryant, Dwyane Wade of the Miami Heat, Tracy McGrady of the Houston Rockets, Amare Stoudemire of the Phoenix Suns and LeBron James of the Cleveland Cavaliers, the leading vote-getter in fan balloting.

"Las Vegas is the entertainment capital, and we sort of styled the All-Star weekend as making the city the basketball capital," NBA commissioner David Stern said.

Stern weighed the pros and cons of holding the game in the gambling mecca, but as Mayor Oscar B. Goodman said, "It's the perfect storm between the NBA and Las Vegas. We're the expert, so to speak, on giving the perfect party.

"There was a time when the Final Four and the Super Bowl were the big events, but this All-Star Game has so much electricity to it, so much neon, so much glitz. It's going to be a great weekend."

This year's game, perhaps more so than most, is a perfect blend of rising stars, transitional stars and established stars. There are five first-time All-Stars, with four more playing in their second game and three in their third.

"This might be the richest period we've ever been in," Stern says. "This is where we get to show it all off."

Among those who can show off are the All-Star MVPs from this decade. Each is still active and will be in Sunday's game -- James in 2006, Allen Iverson in 2005 and 2001, Shaquille O'Neal in 2004, Kevin Garnett in 2003, Bryant in 2002 and O'Neal and Tim Duncan, co-MVPs in 2000.

"Having the game in Las Vegas will be fun," James says. "Everyone wants to do something special in the All-Star Game, and it being in Las Vegas might bring that out even more in people. It's just the whole atmosphere."

O'Neal, who has been selected for the All-Star Game for 14 consecutive seasons, tying him with Jerry West and Karl Malone for the record, is the oldest participant at 34. Eight of the players are 25 or younger, including the Orlando Magic's Dwight Howard and James, who are 21, and the Toronto Raptors' Chris Bosh and the Denver Nuggets' Carmelo Anthony, who are 22.

So popular among fans is O'Neal that they selected the Heat center a starter even though he had played only four games by the time voting concluded. "I really haven't played that much, but it shows how much the fans still love me," O'Neal says. "I'm going to go out there and give them a good show. That's what Las Vegas is all about and that's what I'm about -- putting on a show."

Despite the presence of O'Neal, Wade and James, the West is an overwhelming favorite. The conference is so deep and talented that the two leading MVP candidates who play for the two best teams in the league -- Dirk Nowitzki of the Dallas Mavericks and Steve Nash of the Suns -- couldn't even get voted to the starting lineup.

"No one wants to see a 7-footer shoot 17-foot pull-ups," Nowitzki says. "I'm not flashy."

Neither is Duncan. The San Antonio Spur, voted a starter, is a nine-time All-Star. The West's other starting forward, Garnett of the Minnesota Timberwolves, is not of the flashy generation either, but he looks forward to having a good time and entertaining the crowd more than anything else.

"I love All-Star weekend," the 10-time All-Star says. "It's the people's choice. You want to give them a little something extra."

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