To: David Stern
From: The All-Star Hoop-It-Up Committee
Re: Elimination Tournament

Mr. Commissioner:

The members of the committee would like to thank you, in your eminent wisdom, for pulling the plug on the NBA 2ball competition during All-Star Weekend. While it served its purpose for a while -- raising awareness of the WNBA -- the players' association became a little concerned that the men were outshot and outhustled by the women.

This season, the 2ball has morphed into a promotion of the NBA's grassroots "Hoop-It-Up" three-on-three tournaments. This weekend, four teams will represent Houston, Los Angeles, All-Star-Game host Philadelphia and an international team. Each team has a current NBA player representing the area, a current WNBA player, a former NBA player and a guest celebrity -- this year it's comedian Jamie Foxx, pop star Justin Timberlake, TV star Tom "Ed" Cavanagh and R&B star Brian McKnight. At any given point, either the former NBA player or the celebrity has to be on the floor. Personally, I am intrigued to see Timberlake's jump shot.

We think this idea has some "legs," Mr. Commissioner, and we'd like to suggest that we replace the rather staid existing field with eight innovative new teams, turning it into a full-fledged "tournament" sure to please the fans and bring in the TV ratings:

Team	NBAer No. 1	NBAer No. 2	Guest vet	Guest celebrity
"Team Gorgeous"	Sam Cassell	Popeye Jones	Dennis Johnson	Woody Allen
"Team Williams"	Jason Williams	Shammond Williams	John "Hot Plate" Williams	Robin Williams
"Team Suspension"	Maurice Taylor	Lamar Odom	Roy Tarpley	Robert Downey Jr.
"Team Malcontent"	Rod Strickland	Isaiah Rider	Adrian Dantley	Val Kilmer
"Team MJ Made My Career"	Steve Kerr	Scottie Pippen	Jack Haley	Spike Lee
"Team Teen"	Kwame Brown	Eddy Curry	LeBron James	Mandy Moore
"Team Tiny"	Earl Boykins	Damon Stoudamire	Michael Adams	Chris Kattan
"Team One-Dimension"	Shawn Kemp	Danny Fortson	Tim Legler	Kevin Costner

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