I've always considered the All-Star Weekend celebrity game a largely pointless exercise. But for one Justin Bieber, it apparently turned into a pretty solid career move. Mark Wahlberg was so impressed with the Beeb's MVP performance in that game, he's started development on a "Color of Money meets The Karate Kid" streetball movie that could be Bieber's first dramatic role on the big screen.

Image: Justin Bieber hoops it up at NBA All-Star Weekend. Bieber fans voted MVP of the celebrity game. Getty Images / Noel Vasquez

The Washington Wizards will take a page from their own history and go back to red, white and blue uniforms for next season. CSN Washington reports:

"The updating of the Wizards brand has been a priority we have focused on with our partners at Adidas and the NBA league office for the better part of the past year and we look forward to the introduction of our new look on May 10," said Wizards Executive Vice President of Business Operations Greg Bibb. "We are excited about the finished product and we are eager to share the new designs with our fans on a day where our proud past will meet our exciting future."

The team has been wearing blue, black and gold - and been known as the Wizards - since the 1997-98 season. Before that, they were "The Bullets" in both Washington and their original home of Baltimore. Then-owner Abe Pollin changed the team name, wanting to eliminate any association between his team and gun violence. (It may be a good thing that Pollin didn't live to see the Gilbert Arenas gun controversy unfold.) Can't help wondering if this is just a first step towards a more complete re-branding of the team. The "Wizards" name never really seemed to resonate with the fan base - could a new name be next?

Knicks forward Amar'e Stoudemire is expected to play in Friday's game three against the Boston Celtics despite the fact that he hasn't fully recovered from the back problems that caused him to miss most of game two.

The New York Daily News is reporting that Stoudemire is "only going to be about 70 percent" for the contest.

Of course, 70 percent of Stoudemire is still a better option than 100 percent of Jared Jeffries. Jeffries - generally considered to be one of the worst offensive players in the NBA - was in position to attempt a layup that would have given the Knicks a lead in the final seconds of game two, but attempted a pass that was intercepted by Kevin Garnett, sealing the win for Boston.

Down 0-2 in the series, the Knicks could get a significant lift from Stoudemire's return and a rowdy home crowd at Madison Square Garden - not unlike the jolt the 1970 team got when Willis Reed limped on to the court for game seven of the NBA Finals against the Lakers.

But while Reed gets much of the credit for that win, Clyde Frazier (36 points, 19 assists) really carried the team. One of the other Knicks will have to step up if New York is going to beat Boston for the first time this season.

For the first time in a very long time, the buzz surrounding the NBA's labor negotiations is a bit less bleak. According to a report on HoopsWorld.com, the owners have softened their bargaining position considerably and could be willing to implement the changes they want over time.

The NBA does want to reduce the amount of dollars paid to players, but is now open to a phased reduction in the percentage being given to the players and its believed a number of the salary cap exceptions that are commonplace are to be phased out completely over the course of the next agreement.

That's a major shift from earlier discussions, which seemed to suggest the owners would insist on much more severe cuts in both the salary cap and number of exceptions, and possibly even an NHL-style rollback of existing salaries. Note to the league and the NBAPA. Get this done.