An inside look at a three-day celebrity event in L.A.

                    

	After 20 years, Magic Johnson handed over the reins to his charity event to Paul Pierce and Baron Davis. Michael Buckner/Getty Images

SI.com's Arash Markazi was in Los Angeles last weekend to chronicle the slate of never-ending parties and events surrounding A Midsummer Night's Dream, a celebrity-infused sports and fashion weekend hosted by NBA All-Stars Baron Davis and Paul Pierce. Here's his diary of the events.

Friday, July 7

Standing between the stars of Ethel Merman and Johnny Carson outside The Avalon club in Hollywood, Paul Pierce is preoccupied with a more pressing matter than the "Magic Night of Poker, Players and Stars" event he's about to host with Baron Davis. One of the girls he rolled in with is about to leave to go back to the hotel and he's holding her hand, telling her to stay. "Where you going?" he asks, stopping in the middle of talking to a reporter on the red carpet to handle the situation. "I have to go back," she says. "I'm coming back." Looking somewhat disappointed, he finally lets her hand go and moves on. I decide to cheer him up by saying, "It looks you got burned big guy."

"Burned, huh?" he says with a smile. "Please."

While Pierce was posing for pictures outside the club, many of his NBA friends had to announce themselves to the PR staff, which mostly does celebrity events, at the front of the red carpet as many of the media did not know who they were. After Emeka Okefor was asked who he was and which team he played for, he decided to skip the red carpet altogether. "You don't want me," he said. "You want the real celebrities. I'm D-list, man."

When Tyson Chandler was asked who he was, he had to catch himself. "I'm Tyson Chandler," he said. "Chi ... I mean, New Orleans Hornets. I almost said Chicago Bulls." Chandler, who went to high school nearby at L.A.'s Dominguez High, was not only happy to back home, but also said he was actually pretty happy to be moving on from Chicago.

"I'm excited to be going to New Orleans and playing with one of the best young point guards in the league in Chris Paul," said Chandler. "It's a great opportunity. I grew up watching coach Byron Scott. I think we'll work well together. I was excited about the trade when I found out. I'm happy to be going to a team and city that really needs me right now."

After most of the players and celebrities, including Davis, Pierce and the guest of honor, Magic Johnson, finally got into The Avalon, the party got going around 10 p.m. Davis and Pierce -- who inherited the Midsummer Night's Weekend from Johnson this year after Magic hosted the event for the past 20 years -- kicked off the party by presenting their idol with an award and a blinged-out watch for all his charitable contributions.

"You guys are my little brothers," Johnson told Davis and Pierce after he hugged them. "I hope you guys can do this event for the next 20 years. At the end of the day we all grew up in the hood and you are two good brothers who haven't changed, you just dress up now. I know I'll be here for another 20 years supporting you guys."

Shaquille O'Neal then showed up on the big screen and praised Magic for "bringing Starbucks coffee to the hood," before opening the Poker Tournament, telling everyone to spend their money. "It's for charity," he said in a pre-taped segment. "So spend, spend, spend."

The first floor of The Avalon, a legendary three-tiered theater that is now a nightclub (think Studio 54), was converted into a Hollywood version of the World Series of Poker as 10 poker tables were set up on the dance floor and five more on stage. Athletes and celebrities mingled at different tables to raise money for the Baron Davis Foundation, Paul Pierce's Truth Foundation and the Magic Johnson Foundation and also win the $10,000 grand prize.