It’s hard to belive that NBA All Star Week is finally here. If you’ve never been to Vegas, you should go. If you love hot ballers, you should go. If you love hip-hop, you should go. If you read my column, you should go. And if you really don’t care, then you should. At least for the next week or so because I’m ignoring my usual list of non-NBA hotties till then.

Sin City has been infiltrated by some of the hottest Athlebrities, all of who are hosting parties every night this week leading up to Sunday’s game. (Game? What game?) Aside from the obvious eye-candy, the parties are sure to attract some scandalously behaving hotties, which Debbie and I hope to capture for our sporn collection. I couldn’t possibly list all the must-go-to events…Ya got parties and events by Jamie Foxx, the Black Eyed Peas, My Melo, Akon, Allen Iverson, and personal favorite Prince. During our party hopping, Debbie and I plan to behave like angels during the So-So Derrty Experience featuring Kanye, Nelly, Melo, Lil Wayne and others. For a complete listing of events, please visit: www.vegasallstarweekend.com

There will be plenty of Anheuser-Busch flowing in Vegas. Today, the company announced a multi-year extension with the NBA to keep Budweiser and Bud Light as the league’s official beer sponsor. A commemorative, and appropriately sized 16-ounce aluminum bottle featuring the ’07 NBA All-Star Game logo, will be released at the events this week.

T-Mobile today unveiled the Sidekick 3 D-Wade, designed by Dwyane Wade and his lips. The Sidekick comes in white to reflect Miami’s South Beach, paired with tan and copper accents to emulate the look of high-end cars. (Copper is high-end?) And Wade’s No. 3 appears in gold to refer to the Heat’s ’06 NBA Championship trophy. “My T-Mobile Sidekick is a part of me. I don’t go anywhere without it because it keeps me in touch with the most important people in my life,” said Wade. “I really wanted to design a Sidekick that meant something special to me – one that reflects my own personal style and inspiration.” The phone hits retail February 21 for $299.99. Love the marketing for this Sidekick…I requested the room directly behind Dwayne’s lips on the giant banner which graces the side of the Mandalay Bay. (Wish me luck)….During the NBA All-Star Jam Session, fans will be treated to an interactive walk through “T-Mobile’s Mind of D-Wade.” The two-story exhibit creates a figurative walk through Wade’s world to experience his life and dreams as a basketball player, the inspiration for his Sidekick, and the history of the T-Mobile Sidekick. Wade will also make a special appearance during the Jam Session, which will be held adjacent to the “Mind of D-Wade” exhibit, to host a basketball clinic for fans. I can only wonder if the entrance to Wade’s World is a giant pair of glossy, plump lips? And Hot Points to Marc Cuban, who bitched slapped Dwyane…“Your coach sat players for being fat. I guess you couldn’t lead them away from the buffet” – Mavericks Owner Mark Cuban, in his blog, responding to Heat G Dwyane Wade saying that Mavericks F Dirk Nowitzki’s lack of leadership was the reason his team did not win the NBA Championship last season.

Think It, Belive It, Become It. Indeed.

Carmelo Anthony always finds a way to make my heart beat faster. After Melo finally got a nod for the All Star game, he is now making his C1.5 Extreme Energy drink available for the first time. IMG, the company behind C1.5 Extreme Energy Drink, has signed on with a local Vegas beverage distributor to launch the drink during the week. In addition to the launch, Intervest Media Group has launched a web store www.c15energy.com that sells the drink, as well as some (sorry Melo) boring apparel.

Looks like I may fly to Phoenix for the day because Suns babes Boris Diaw, James Jones and Jumaine Jones, among others, will direct planes, make boarding calls, unload luggage and take boarding passes at Sky Harbor Int’l Airport in Phoenix as part of a Southwest Airlines promotion. But really, I should have gone over the weekend, when hotties hosted the Suns & Stars Gala. Grammy Award-winner Seal was on hand to perform, and received an autographed team ball and jersey from TV analyst Eddie Johnson. Hotties Raja Bell, Kurt Thomas, Marcus Banks, Boris Diaw, Leandro Barbosa, Pat Burke and Sean Marks lined up for a yummy group photo.

And one Suns hottie who is reaching out is Amare Stoudemire. According to the Arizona Republic, AMARE “plans to promote his mentor foundation — ‘EACH ONE, TEACH ONE’ in opposing cities.” He also “plans to star in a documentary about his hardscrabble beginnings, to be used as a inspirational tool for troubled children.” Stoudemire published an eight-paragraph letter in the Denver Post last week before the Suns played the Nuggets, in which he wrote he wanted to “encourage everyone to become mentors to young people, even if it’s for a couple hours a month.” Stoudemire said, “One of my pet peeves is education. It goes back to the days of slavery, when Black people weren’t allowed to read or to educate themselves. Now, we have all these opportunities, and we’re still not educating ourselves.”

All Star Line-Up

Your Eastern Conference All Stars: Chauncey Billups, Chris Bosh, Caron Butler, Vince Carter, Richard Hamilton, Dwight Howard, Lebron James, Jason Kidd, Jermaine O’Neal, Shaq, and Dwyane Wade.

And your Eastern Conference babes are: Josh Howard, Princess Kobe, Tim Duncan, Kevin Garnett, Allen Iverson, Shawn Marion, Tracy McGrady, Steve Nash, Dirk Nowitzki, Tony Parker-Longoria, Amare Stoudemire, and Carmelo Anthony. So who will win? Don’t care! Both have phenomenal rosters but if I had to choose, my moneys on the East…

IN OUR SHOES: COUNTDOWN 2 DAYS
Follow along in our footsteps as D&D take Vegas by storm. Countdown: 2 days. If you are going to be in Vegas for All-Star week, we wanna see what you’re doing. Send us a photo of you and your shoes…take us on your journey, while we take you on ours. We’ll attempt to update the blog daily, giving you up close and personal access to wherever our shoes go. Red carpets? Prince at 3121? Private parties? Perhaps a stroll along some healthy abdominal muscles…who knows…. but we wanna follow along with your stories too! D&D will be just about everywhere, so look for us in Las Vegas beginning on the 14th, we’ll be giving away lots of Athlebrities merchandise, so we hope to see you there.

As always, thanks for reading. Delinda
delinda@athlebrities.com