Jam Session scores with hoops fans

Part carnival attraction, part trade show and part hip-hop party, the 11th annual NBA All-Star Jam Session aims to put bounce in the step of basketball enthusiasts young and old.

Or at least to give fans who weren’t among the lucky few to get tickets to Sunday’s All-Star Game a chance to stop by the neighborhood.

The Jam Session, which kicks off today at the Los Angeles Convention Center, is expected to draw more than 100,000 people by the end of its five-day run, according to Kathy Schloessman, president of the L.A. Sports & Entertainment Commission.

“It’s the best and most affordable way for fans of all ages to experience the game,” she said.

Since the game was last played in Los Angeles at the Great Western Forum in 1983, NBA All-Star week has taken on a whole new meaning.

“Back in the day it was only a two-day event. Now it’s turned into six, seven days,” Laker Hall of Famer Magic Johnson said. “It’s turned into a carnival or Mardi Gras-type situation.”

Mixing entertainment with hoops has proved successful for the NBA. This year, performers such as Nelly, Method Man and Sean Paul have been booked at “Club NBA” inside the Jam Session.

On Friday, Sean “P. Diddy” Combs, Paris Hilton and Ashton Kutcher will help coach the All-Star Celebrity game.

Hollywood celebrities will appeal to some, but for hard-core basketball fans the real draw is mingling with other fans and rubbing elbows with their favorite NBA players.

Jason Clinton and Nicole Harper have made going to the event a yearly family tradition.

“If you can’t make it to the game, [the Jam Session] is the second-best thing,” said Harper, 23, who along with her four sisters will make the trip from Philadelphia.

“For guys like me who played a little ball when we were younger, the hands-on basketball stuff is the best part,” said Clinton, 31, who will make the trip from Michigan.

Harper and Clinton will be among the more than 1,500 volunteers helping run activities such as the slam-dunk contests, where contestants can try acrobatic dunks on a 7-, 8- or 9-foot basket; the Bungee Run; Dribble Duel; and the NBA Skills Challenge Court.

But if your shooting skills are rusty, you can still dunk like Laker Shaquille O’Neal at one of the various video game booths where fans will compare, compete in and preview games from the largest video game manufacturers.

Laker fans can also take their picture with a life-size display of the team or see how they measure up next to O’Neal.

Retired NBA All-Star Lafayette “Fat” Lever will be among the past and present players signing autographs and will help coach today’s NBA Wheelchair Classic.

As a player and fan, he has witnessed the growth of the hoopla and excitement surrounding the games first-hand.

“It’s obviously more corporate today,” he said. “But adding the Jam Session [in 1993] has made it more family- and community-oriented.”

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NBA All-Star Jam Session

Where: Los Angeles Convention Center, 1201 S. Figueroa St., L.A.

When: Today, 4-10 p.m.; Friday, 9 a.m.-3 p.m.; Saturday, 9 a.m.-10 p.m.; Sunday, 9 a.m.-5 p.m.; Monday, 9 a.m.-5 p.m.

Price: $20; $12 for children 3-12, seniors and military personnel with ID. Jam Session tickets do not include entry to the 2004 NBA All-Star Practice or Celebrity Game. Note: Tickets will be sold on a timed-entry basis with availability for every hour on the hour. Once you are in Jam Session you are welcome to stay as long as you wish. Tickets available through Ticketmaster, at Staples Center box office or by calling (800) 4NBA-TIX.

Info: www.nba.com/jamsession