All-Star Weekend: dunks and threes take over SF
I pretend not to care, but then watch
The NBA’s All-Star weekend is a spectacle, in all the good and bad ways. A rare opportunity to see the league’s biggest stars unified in one place for the fans seems like it would be more fun. Then again, there’s only so many brand new dunks to be dunked, threes to be hoisted, et cetera.
Tonight, we get the skills challenge, the 3-point shootout, and the dunk contest. The Golden State Warriors will be represented in two of the three - fittingly, basketball skills (Draymond Green and Moses Moody) and three-pointers (Ste.. err, Buddy Hield).
Dunks? Not so much
Game Details
WHAT: NBA All-Star Saturday
WHEN: Saturday, February 15th, 2025; 5pm PST
WATCH: TNT
What’s it look like this year? And who’s doing what?
The three-point battle format has not been changed much for decades, but the other two events have seen a fair amount of tinkering. No longer content with just one guy dribbling, passing, and shooting, the NBA has a couple of players from three different teams facing off… against a duo of rookies for some odd reason:
Warriors: Draymond Green and Moses Moody
Cavs: Donovan Mitchell and Evan Mobley
Rookies: Zaccharie Risacher and Alex Sarr
Spurs: Chris Paul and Victor Wembanyama
Exciting times don’t stop there though. For my money, it’s the three-point shootout that holds the most interest. Maybe it’s because of how the Splash Brothers lifted the Warriors franchise, or maybe it’s the dusty old memory of Craig Hodges old school brilliance. Many of the most well-known names aren’t on the list, nor are the most prolific shooters this season, but nonetheless Oakland’s Dame Lillard will be chasing the ghosts of past greats like Craig Hodges as he attempts to be the third player in NBA history to three-peat with threes. The other? Some guy named Larry Bird
Buddy Hield, Golden State Warriors
Jalen Brunson, New York Knicks
Cade Cunningham, Detroit Pistons
Darius Garland, Cleveland Cavaliers
Tyler Herro, Miami Heat
Cameron Johnson, Brooklyn Nets
Damian Lillard, Milwaukee Bucks
Norman Powell, Los Angeles Clippers
Finally, the finisher on the evening: the NBA’s dunk contest. They’re bringing Mac McClung up from the G League to defend his title, and a chance at making history by becoming the first player ever to win three dunk contests in a row.
Matas Buzelis, Chicago Bulls
Stephon Castle, San Antonio Spurs
Andre Jackson Jr., Milwaukee Bucks
Mac McClung, Osceola Magic (G League)
Prediction
I’ll pretend like I’m not going to watch this, but will end up putting it on anyways.
Post-game thread up.
My hard hitting reporting from last post:
Report live from NBA All-Star Open Practice. Kyrie is by far the most entertaining part of what is mostly a shootaround. He got his own side of the court and threw the ball to random fans in the crowd to let them take shots. He also let some little kids shoot layups and then played some one on one.
I haven’t been back in Oracle since 2019 Finals Game 6. Great memories and bittersweet ones.
Steph playing 1 on 2 with two small kids. Could be Cannon and Ryan? Both kids have game and range. Ryan hit a long jumper and then hit Steph with the night night lol
And in the half court shot contest, Steph hits 4 (rest of team had 1). Steph shot most of his from halfway between center and sideline so that was extra long…