A hoops and hip-hop hurrah

The deafening bass-heavy beat pounding through the cavernous Avalon Hollywood finally overcame Eriq La Salle.

Without a word, the former “ER” star rose from his seat in a crowded VIP booth, spread his arms and moved in perfect rhythm with the fashionably attired throng crowding the dance floor below him. Just a few feet away in another VIP booth, bopping her head, oblivious to La Salle’s boogie, tennis champion Serena Williams held court with several friends, straining to be heard over the music.

La Salle and Williams were just two of the cavalcade of A-listers caught up in one of the most dizzying onslaughts of parties, concerts and sports events to strike Los Angeles in years. Positioning Sunday’s NBA All-Star Game as a social and cultural intersection, a veritable “Who’s Who” of the entertainment, sports and music arenas merged to form one nation under a hip-hop groove that rolled nonstop from Thursday to the wee hours of Sunday morning.

There was no party central. From raucous performances by OutKast and Lil’ Kim at the Henry Fonda Theatre to a benefit gala at the Beverly Hills Hotel to a series of sold-out performances by Chris Rock at the Universal Amphitheatre to a Snoop Dogg-hosted “players ball” at the Key Club on the Sunset Strip, the scene seemed to erupt everywhere at once. On Friday alone, the OutKast concert competed with an all-star comedy lineup at the Wadsworth Theatre, a party at the Playboy Mansion attended by Shaquille O’Neal and a “Hoops Meets Hollywood” party at Cicada.

The atmosphere at many of the events underscored the growing synergy between the worlds of rap and basketball. Stars and executives in custom-made three-piece suits mingled with cornrowed youths in oversize jerseys, baggy jeans and baseball caps. Parking lots accommodated lowriders and Hummer limousines. And it appeared that no one with any show business juice wanted to be left out. Even Janet Jackson emerged from her self-imposed seclusion following her infamous Super Bowl half-time performance to accept a humanitarian award from the National Basketball Wives Assn.

For many, the pre-game festivities were more important than the game itself. Making her way down the red carpet at Thursday’s “GM All-Car Showdown,” hosted by Laker O’Neal at Raleigh Studios, actress Gabrielle Union (“Deliver Us From Eva,” “Bad Boys II”) said she and her husband, Chris Howard, a former player with the Jacksonville Jaguars, were planning to hit 12 parties over the weekend. It was like Oscar night, she said, but without the pretension.

“For the hip-hop nation, this is our Vanity Fair and Morton’s and all that, but a lot less stuffy,” Union said, gesturing to a crowd sporting everything from sports jerseys to rhinestone chains to fake Dalmatian fur. “You are not going to see a lot of Hummers at the Vanity Fair party. It’s just so much more casual -- you can wear something you actually buy for yourself.”

Laker Byron Russell, who hosted the OutKast concert, noted that the romance between the NBA and the hip-hop communities has been helped considerably by image matchmakers -- sports gear marketing, MTV hoops competitions and the crossover approach by magazines such as ESPN the Magazine and the Source. The personalities of top rappers and hoopsters are not dissimilar either, he said.

“To make it in either you have to be truly talented and you have to work hard and face a lot of competition, a lot of pressure,” Russell said. “And you have to have the skills. On the court or on the stage, it’s all about flow.”

The NBA-propelled scene was also about dollars. Sarah Harris, publisher of Save the Date, a quarterly events magazine that targets African American professionals, said it was a boon to local business owners.

“Money is flowing a little bit freer right about now,” she said at the NBA wives’ benefit. “It’s kind of a fever-pitch atmosphere.” Proof of that came half an hour later when a pair of All-Star Game tickets went for $9,500 during the evening’s live auction.

Logos were as prominent as low-slung jeans. Mercedes-Benz was one of the sponsors of the “Hoops Meets Hollywood” event at Cicada, and brochures on vehicles were placed on tables and chairs. Salespeople representing the manufacturer of an “ultra-sized bed” also handed out leaflets. The bed itself was positioned near the dance floor.

Still, the weekend was mostly about keeping up with the relentless pace of parties. “Chocolate Sundaes,” one of the inaugural parties at the Avalon, was to be hosted by tennis star Williams, who arrived after the jokes stopped and the music began. She had just filmed an episode of Lifetime’s “The Division.”

“Oh, no, I could never get onstage and host something like this,” Williams said, smiling radiantly. “I’m much too shy.” She added that although she was enjoying herself, it was likely to be her only stop on the party circuit. “I’m really concentrating on acting, and I want to get back to tennis.”

The “Touching a Life” gala, hosted by Behind the Bench: the National Basketball Wives Assn., was held Friday night at the Beverly Hills Hotel. Although numerous basketball Hall of Famers were in attendance, the key attraction was Jackson, recipient of the group’s “Touching a Life” Award for her humanitarian and charity work. The award had been arranged before her appearance at the Super Bowl.

Jackson, escorted by producer boyfriend Jermaine Dupri, arrived more than two hours late, dodging the press and slipping into her seat at a front table with little notice.

In her acceptance speech, her only acknowledgment of the Super Bowl controversy came when she thanked the crowd for supporting her, “especially during these last two weeks.”

One of the weekend’s hottest tickets was the OutKast marathon hip-hop bash, scheduled to begin Friday night and shut down sometime after dawn Saturday. The theater started filling up after 10 p.m., and the VIP crowd included hip-hop stars such as Lil’ Kim and Mos Def and pro athletes such as gridiron goliath Warren Sapp and Laker Derek Fisher.

Big Boi, one-half of the newly minted Grammy stars OutKast, hit the stage at 1:45 a.m. with a squad of support rhymers, and the theater’s floorboards immediately began to quake and bounce. He ran through hits such as “The Way You Move,” “Ms. Jackson” and “So Fresh So Clean.” The music was so buoyant, the party seemed like a golden night -- even Paris Hilton, who has become like a cheerless Tinkerbell of the party world, was spotted in the crowd, assuring that this was indeed the place to be.

After Big Boi left the stage, the program paused for a giveaway contest (some shining tire rims that cost more than most cars rolling around Los Angeles) and one of the hosts promised a long night ahead. It was not to be. About 2:45 a.m., a nasty tussle between some female fans inspired the security team to fire off pepper spray and, just like that, a good portion of the crowd was gagging and squinting and fumbling for car keys. Andre 3000, the other half of OutKast, never even got to shake it like a Polaroid picture.

Across town, one of the more impressive assemblages of sports figures was holed up at the Playboy Mansion. Laker stars Rick Fox, Luke Walton and Derrick Fisher mingled with New Jersey Net star Richard Jefferson, San Antonio Spur star Tim Duncan, boxer Laila Ali and recently retired heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis. O’Neal, the guest of honor, showed up late in a black suit and matching black derby, set off by a white tie.

The “Hoops Meets Hollywood” party downtown was still going full force, but there were more hoop earrings than hoopsters in attendance. Latrell Sprewell of the Minnesota Timberwolves displayed some of his characteristic surliness, declining to speak to reporters as he hid in the VIP lounge. The party’s host, controversial singer R. Kelly, never made it.

Halfway through the night, Boris Kodjoe, one of the stars of Showtime’s “Soul Food,” said he was struggling mightily to keep up with his weekend party pace. “I’m going to be sleeping a lot on Monday,” he yawned.

Staff writers Geoff Boucher, Diane Haithman, Gina Piccalo and Gayle Pollard-Terry contributed to this story.