With the NBA trade deadline coming and going in dramatic fashion and the frenzy of the NBA landscape returning to a standstill, the league can take a deep breath and now shift their focus towards the upcoming break and the festivities that come along with the league’s premiere event NBA All-Star Weekend.
Friday, Feb. 16: All Star Celebrity Game and Rising Stars Game
The three-day spectacle will kick off on Friday in Los Angeles with the NBA All-Star Celebrity game followed by the NBA Rising Stars game. This year’s Rising Stars game will continue with the format of recent years and will pit rookie and sophomore stars against one another by splitting them into two teams, Team USA and Team World respectively. Team USA is headlined by the Los Angeles Lakers young core of Lonzo Ball, Brandon Ingram, and Kyle Kuzma. While Team World is led by the Philadelphia 76ers core of Joel Embiid, Ben Simmons, and Dario Saric. Since this year’s activities take place in Los Angeles, Calif., expect the Lakers trio to put on a real show for the home crowd. Them paired with the Celtics’ duo of Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, along with breakout rookie of the year candidate Donovan Mitchell of the Utah Jazz will make for a devastating force on Team USA. Taking into account the fact that Embiid may take it down a notch knowing he is participating in all three days of all-star weekend, along with the strength of Team USA’s roster, I’m giving Team USA the edge on Friday night’s matchup.
Saturday Feb. 27: Skills Challenge, Three Point Contest, Dunk Contest
To begin All-Star Saturday night, the participants will compete in the Taco Bell Skills challenge, followed by the 3-point contest, and then finally the Verizon Slam Dunk contest.
In the last two years, the Skill’s Challenge has been dominated by the big man, such as Kristaps Porzingis in 2016 and Karl Anthony-Towns in 2015. This year’s lineup features big men once again; however, this is the year that the guards make a return and take back the trophy. My pick to win the event is Clippers guard Lou Williams, who is in the midst of a breakout season and who I believe will ride that momentum into the weekend.
This year’s 3-point contest lineup is headlined by reigning champion Eric Gordon, along with 2016 winner Klay Thompson and Thunder star Paul George. This event in recent years has elevated in competition as the league’s elite 3-point shooters have only gotten better as the game has evolved around the shot. Although the contest is about consistency and it may seem like a big stage to perform, I think the winner will be a young sharpshooter in Devin Booker of the Phoenix Suns. Booker, at only 21, has become one of the league’s elite scorers and has shown he is not afraid of big moments. That coupled with the fact that stars such as Thompson, Gordon, and George have little to prove in the contest, paces the way for an unexpected winner to come out of this year’s contest.
All-Star Saturday night ends with a marquee event in the Verizon Slam Dunk contest. This year’s contest is headlined by Jazz rookie Donovan Mitchell, Mavericks rookie Dennis Smith Jr., in addition to Larry Nance Jr., and Victor Oladipo. This is Oladipo’s second contest after falling second to Zach Lavine in 2015, while Mitchell, Smith, and Nance Jr. will be making their debuts. Larry Nance Jr. may have the lineage to take home the trophy, as his father won the inaugural event in 1984, but ultimately, I give experience the edge and think the trophy will go home to Oladipo. He’s been here before and after failing to win the first time, he knows what it will take to come out victorious. After complaints in previous years of the event losing its marvel and captivation, the excitement has grown over the past three seasons with high flying dunkers such as Zach LaVine and Aaron Gordon stealing the show. Expect Oladipo to continue that trend alongside other participants, and deliver some explosive highlights to end the night.
Sunday Feb. 28: 67th NBA All Star Game
Due to the continued dominance of the Western conference along with complaints of the competitiveness and intensity, the traditional East vs. West format has been abandoned. For the first time, teams were selected by captains, with the captains being Stephen Curry and LeBron James, and those captains were able to pick players from either conference.
The starting five for Team Lebron is as follows: Kyrie Irving, Kevin Durant, Anthony Davis, Lebron James and an unnamed starter who will replace injured DeMarcus Cousins. Team Stephen starters are James Harden, Giannis Antetokounmpo, DeMar DeRozan, Joel Embiid, and Stephen Curry. Due to the change in format, expect some more pride and defense to be prevalent within the game. Of course, the intensity still won’t reach Game 7 levels, but it will most certainly be a step up from previous years. In a competition where the brightest stars shine the most, I expect Team LeBron to take the win. Team Stephen is dominated primarily by shooters, and I believe the lineup of Team LeBron provides much more versatility and options. With the two best players in the world on the same team in LeBron James and Kevin Durant, it is hard to pick against them.
Brandon Cintron can be reached at brandon.cintron@student.shu.edu. or on twitter @Brandon_Cintron