As expected -- and, in fact, reported in advance by a number of outlets -- the NBA announced prior to Game 2 of the NBA Finals that it had awarded the 2011 NBA All-Star game and related events to Staples Center.
The game -- the fifth to be played in L.A., returning after just seven years -- will be Sunday, Feb. 20, with other events on Friday (rookie game) and Saturday (skills, 3-point and slam dunk competitions).
The relatively short turnaround between all-star games is unusual, but may well be the wave of the future.
"We're likely to shorten the rotation a bit," said commissioner David Stern, "because it's getting hard to find cities with the kind of amenities (necessary) -- the close-in hotel accommodations, the convention center, and the like. And L.A. has been a popular destination. When we started looking at the rotation, this seemed a good time to do it."
That hints at one key point -- the game has to be someplace that players want to go if you want them to participate -- but doesn't really address another: A lot of teams want nothing to do with the all-star game because, by the time the NBA takes its share of the tickets, virtually none are left for the host team's season-ticket holders, which tends to alienate the fan base. The 2011 event is actually awarded to Staples, not to either the Lakers or the Clippers, which bypasses some of those issues.
Tim Leiweke, the CEO of AEG -- the company owning Staples and the surrounding L.A. Live complex -- said the all-star game will be the first major event hosted by Staples with the entire complex -- hotels, theaters and restaurants -- complete.
More from the rather self-congratulatory press conference involving Stern, Leiweke, and mayor Antonio Villaraigosa after the game.

A couple of comments from the coaches' pregame media conferences:
-- Phil Jackson, on what he expects from Orlando:
"We have to look at the fact that it's an uptempo team. They didn't have a whole lot of transition offense in the last game, so probably look for early offense.
"The other aspect of the game is how much will they go to the post? The final thing we have to prevent is penetration through screen-rolls and that liberates a lot of the 3-point shooters. We know they're going to get 3-point shots. We just want to be able to contest them."
-- Stan Van Gundy, asked if the decision to playing Jameer Nelson in Game 1 was largely about preparing him for later in the series:
"It didn't really enter into my thinking. I just thought that he wuld play pretty well, and I thought playing him would give us the best chance to win in Game 1. It didn't work out that way, not because of Jameer obviously, but it didn't work out that way.
"But that's my only thinking. I wasn't thinking to Game 3 or Game 4."

Back about 10:30 or so with a postgame entry.