NBA All-Star Weekend is here, and the halfway point of the NBA season has been reached. NBA All-Star Weekend is anticipated by many fans, as their favorite players take part in events. There are six events during All-Star Weekend, including the NBA Celebrity All-Star game, the Rising Stars game, Skills Challenge, Three Point Contest, Dunk Contest and the official NBA All Star game. This year’s All-Star weekend took place in Indianapolis, Indiana, the first time it has been in the city since 1985.
To start off NBA All-Star Weekend, the NBA Celebrity All-Star game and Rising Stars games were on Friday. This year, notable celebrities in this game included Tristan Jass, CJ Stroud, Kai Cenat, Natasha Cloud and Micah Parsons. The two coaches were Stephen A. Smith and Shannon Sharpe, of ESPN’s show, “First Take.”
“I feel like the Celebrity All- Star game can be more entertaining than the actual All-Star game. You have all these celebrities that come, and many do not play basketball much, just to have fun, so it can be funny to watch,” senior Seshank Kondapally explained.
The second event on Friday was the NBA Rising Stars competition. This competition usually consists of first and second year players. The format for this competition consists of four total teams: Team Jalen, Team Tamika, Team Detlef, and Team Pau with first and second year players. In the end, Team Jalen easily defeated Team Detlef 26-13 in the championship round. The MVP of the event was Indiana Pacers’ Benedict Mauthurin, winning it in his home stadium.
NBA All-Star Saturday consisted of four events, the Skills Challenge, the Three Point Contest, another three point contest between NBA star Stephen Curry and WNBA star Sabrina Ionescu and finally the Dunk Contest. To start off the night, the Skills Challenge was played. There were three teams, with three players each. The home team consisted of three Indiana Pacers players, team All-Star which was players that made the All-Star team, and team Top Picks, which was three number one picks from past NBA Drafts. Team Pacers ended up winning this event, with their superb passing and shooting earning them the win. Next was the Three Point contest, which many say is the most entertaining event of the night.
“The Three Point contest is my favorite event of NBA All-Star weekend. For me it has definitely surpassed the dunk contest these last few years, since the game is really changing,” senior Arvin Mungara stated.
The Three Point Contest lived up to the hype, as in the first round four players tied, and a tiebreaker was played. In the end reigning champion, Milwaukee Bucks’ Damian Lillard won his second title. The next event was one that the NBA had never seen before. Stephen Curry who many regard as the NBA’s greatest shooter of all time participated in a three point contest against WNBA star Sabrina Ionescu who many say is the greatest shooter in the WNBA. In this event Steph Curry took the title, winning 29-26.
“The Curry vs Sabrina Three Point Contest was interesting, and it was cool to see a NBA player vs a WNBA player,” junior Santhosh Venkateshwaran stated.
This event got positive feedback from many, and it showed NBA fans what the WNBA has to offer. There has been talk about a similar event to this for next year.
The final event of the night was the Dunk Contest. There were four contestants, Mac McClung the reigning champion, Jacob Toppin, Jaylen Brown, and Jaime Jaquez. Mac McClung ended up dominating again, winning his second in a row. There has been much talk about how in these past few years the Dunk Contest was not as great as it once was.
“The Dunk Contest nowadays isn’t what it used to be. I think a solution would be to bring in other dunkers from outside of the NBA that can put on a good show and compete against the NBA players,” Mungara explained.
Many fans have been talking about how a change needs to happen, or more events need to be added to All-Star Weekend, since the same ones happen every season.
The final event for NBA All-Star weekend, on Sunday was the All-Star game. The format for this game returned to the Eastern Conference vs the Western Conference. This was the first time since 2017 that they have used this format.
“I prefer the East vs West format because it is more fair. Sometimes when they did the draft format one team would be a lot better than the other. Also, it shows you which conference is going to be fun to watch come playoff time,” Kondapally explained.
This year’s All-Star game was record breaking. The East team ended up defeating the West with a score of 211-186. 211 is the most points ever scored in an All Star game and the first time a score has been over 200. It was an entertaining game with many flashy plays being executed. However, barely any defense was played.
NBA All-Star weekend in Indiana delivered exciting moments, with many standout performances and records being broken. The excitement and star power during All-Star weekend affirm its status as an important weekend on the NBA calendar.