SCENE IN VEGAS IS ALL STARS GAME AFTERTHOUGHT FOR ATTENDING CELEBS.

Byline: RAMONA SHELBURNE 

Staff Writer

LAS VEGAS -- Oh yeah, the game.

You know, that thing on Sunday. It's in the title, "56th NBA All-Star Game." But in this case, the last word is most definitely the least important.

"The game is the last thing on everybody's mind," comedian Alex Thomas said on his way into a party at Mandalay Bay's Rumjungle nightclub late Thursday night. "Somebody asked me if I was going to the game on Sunday and I'd actually forgot there was one."

The NBA All-Star Game is always a little like this. Really, every All-Star game is to some extent, with the game acting as both an excuse and an afterthought for a weekend of parties. But it's not just the NBA players putting on their dancing shoes.

Hundreds of A-list celebrities and thousands of wannabes have descended on Las Vegas this weekend to be around all the fuss. And while it makes for great nightlife, it's not so good for the average fan.

No tickets to Sunday's game were sold to the general public. A limited amount were made available for this morning's All-Star practice, but now those are being sold for hundreds of dollars on the open market. And unless you "know somebody," you're probably not getting into any of the events on Saturday night.

So for "Joe NBA fan," it's the Jam Session or watch it on TV.

"When I first heard the game was coming here, I was excited. I knew the game would be tough, but I thought I'd be able to attend some of the events like the shootaround or the Slam Dunk contest," said Las Vegas resident Perry Woodward, who brought his daughter Lauren to the 400,000 square-foot Jam Session at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center.

"But this is pretty much all that's in our price range."

Good thing Woodward is a local then, because hotel prices are about three times as much as a regular weekend night.

Tickets to the Jam Session -- a smorgasbord of corporate and NBA-sponsored booths, activities and interactive displays -- cost $20 for adults and $12 for kids. About 50 players and celebrities are scheduled to make appearances there this weekend.

On this night, Earl "The Pearl" Monroe was signing autographs and Blazers rookie Brandon Roy was emceeing a T-Mobile event. The line to get close to either player was at least 30 minutes.

"I thought there'd be more players here," said Cody Chavez, 10, who came to the Jam Session wearing Kobe Bryant's Lakers jersey, along with his father, Ramon. "But there wasn't, so we just played a lot of basketball."

Joe NBA fan would probably have better luck getting to meet the All Stars by buying a ticket to one of the NBA-player hosted parties at the hot nightclubs all over town.

For instance, $100 gets you a ticket to Dwyane Wade's party at Rumjungle on Friday night. It's about the same for Carmelo Anthony's party at Risque on Saturday.

"It's pretty inexpensive when you think about it," said Justin Terwilleger, a VIP host at Rumjungle. "For 100 bucks, you get into a party with Dwyane Wade and you could bump into him at the bar."

Joe NBA fan isn't alone in wanting to rub elbows with Flash.

A-listers such as Courtney Cox, Nick Lachey, Ludacris and Nelly fall all over themselves to hang out with the players this weekend.

"My manager told me that Nick's people called," Terwilleger said.

"But he's probably going to have to pay to get in."

Then there are the almost-celebrities who come for photo ops.

Heather Crawford, also known as "Krazy" from the VH1 reality show, "Flavor of Love," showed up Thursday night and strolled down the red carpet, posing for photographers.

"I'm here for everything," she said. "I'm in town for the Magic fashion shows, promoting my new clothing line. But I love the NBA."

A few minutes later, former Cleveland Browns linebacker Steve Pierce showed up.

"I'm here for the festivities," he said.

"We were at the Pro Bowl last week. The week before that, we were in Miami for the Super Bowl.

"So we're getting ourselves partied out. ... But this is why people go to All-Star games, the parties and to see the stars."

Over at MiX, Shaquille O'Neal was throwing one of his many bashes this weekend. But once you got inside, word was that O'Neal was upstairs in a private lounge.

Still, it was the place to be for up-and-coming hip-hop artist JSparkz, who showed up with his girlfriend, the model Europe.

"I'm a huge Laker fan, I go all the time," he said. "But I'm in town for a lot of reasons. There's some people I need to meet."

This was just the scene on Thursday and Friday.

Expect the celebrities to sit at least three-rows deep at tonight's Slam Dunk contest and 3-point contest. It'll probably be double that on Sunday.

The last time the All-Star game came to such a fashionable location was 2004, when it came to Los Angeles. Among the celebrity highlights then: Starr Jones accepting fiance Al Reynolds' proposal during a timeout; Paris Hilton talking on her cell phone during the game while then-boyfriend Nick Carter looked on; and BFFs Aston Kutcher and Puff Daddy running out onto the court, high-fiving each other after what seemed like every dunk.

At times, it seemed like a broadcast more suited for Access Hollywood than TNT. But if you thought that was something, Palms owner and the man behind the All-Star game in Las Vegas, Joe Maloof, said this year's All-Star Weekend will be unlike anything this town or the NBA has ever experienced.

"I've been here for Muhammad Ali fights, for big concerts, but there's never been anything like this here," Maloof said.

Kolanda Smith, a publicist for Virgen Advertising, said her company started planning for this weekend's events 18 months ago.

"I've never seen anything like this," Smith said. "This whole weekend is incredible. Vegas has never seen an event this big. It's the place to be."

Even if there is a game on Sunday.

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(color) Actors Nick Cannon, left, and Chris Tucker joke after playing in Friday's All-Star celebrity game in Las Vegas.

Photog here/Associated Press

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