Long-time National Basketball Association commissioner David Stern expects a record-setting crowd of more than 90,000 to attend the 59th All-Star Game at the newly-built Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas on Valentine’s Day (Feb. 15 morning, Manila time).

Stern, who has been the league czar since February 1984, will most likely get his wish for a new all-time attendance record for an official NBA game.

Home of the National Football League’s Dallas Cowboys, the first-year Cowboys Stadium is the same venue for world boxing icon Manny Pacquiao’s upcoming March 13 (March 14, Manila time) bout against Ghana native Joshua Clottey.

The NBA attendance record for a regular season game is 62,046. It was established during a March 27, 1998 contest between the Atlanta Hawks and Chicago Bulls at the Georgia Dome.

The current All-Star Game mark of 44,735 was set on February 12, 1989 at the Astrodome in Houston.

The biggest attendance in NBA playoff history occurred on June 16, 1988 when 41,732 spectators witnessed Game Five of the 1988 NBA Finals between the Detroit Pistons and Los Angeles Lakers at the old Silverdome in Detroit.

While this year’s NBA All-Star Game will be history in the making, it remains unclear whether the on-court product (the composition of the East and West rosters) will turn out to be a lovers’ delight (the game will be held on Valentine’s Day).

A couple of players selected to the game – either by the fans (the starting fives) or the league’s head coaches (the seven reserves in each conference) – have already pulled out of the midseason spectacle due to injuries.

Two more are hurting physically and may just make a token appearance in the All-Star contest. That’s assuming they don’t withdraw their names in the next few days as well.

Then there are at least two players that should not have made to an All-Star roster if not for their fan popularity or past reputation. The inclusion of Philadelphia guard Allen Iverson and Boston forward Kevin Garnett to the East starting lineup is questionable.

The aging Iverson is now only a shell of his old self and owns paltry numbers with the 76ers after a three-game experiment with the Memphis Grizzlies at the start of the 2009-10 regular wars.

Garnett has missed 11 games with the Celtics halfway through the season and has lost much of his explosiveness due to a right knee injury.

Even West reserve forward Pau Gasol of the defending NBA champion Los Angeles Lakers, who also was sidelined for 17 games due to injuries to both hamstrings, may not be deserving of an All-Star spot despite getting the nod of the conference’s head coaches.

The West All-Star team, which will be mentored by Denver Nuggets bench boss George Karl, has been greatly decimated by player injuries or pullouts.

New Orleans Hornets point guard Chris Paul, a West All-Star reserve, is out after undergoing arthroscopic surgery last February 4 to repair a meniscus tear in his left knee. Stern, who has the sole right to choose any All-Star substitute, has picked Chauncey Billups of the Denver Nuggets to replace Paul.

Another West All-Star reserve, Portland Trail Blazers guard Brandon Roy, has pulled out of Karl’s squad because of a sore right hamstring. Chosen by Stern to replace Roy is LA Clippers center Chris Kaman.

Meanwhile, two West All-Star starters – Nuggets forward Carmelo Anthony and Lakers guard Kobe Bryant – are hurting physically. Both have the same injury – left ankle sprain – and probably won’t play much in the All-Star contest.

The player withdrawals and injuries have somehow taken away some of the luster from Sunday’s showcase in Cowboys Stadium.