NBA All-Star Game
By MATT BARON ‘22
Every year, the NBA’s most talented players face off in a clash of the superstars: the All Star Game. The NBA suspends all games, giving players a six day break, while those selected travel to the All Star Game’s host city, which is Chicago this year. Prior to the big game, there are two other games -- the All-Star Celebrity Game and the Rising Stars Game -- as well as a skills challenge, a 3-point shooting contest, and a slam dunk contest, all three of which will involve NBA players that weren’t selected for the All-Star teams.
On Friday, February 14th at 7 PM, the All-Star Celebrity Game presented by Ruffles will kick off the All-Star weekend. Team Wilbon consists of eleven players including Common (rapper, recording artist), Bad Bunny (recording artist), and Chelsea Gray (WNBA player). Team Stephen A. consists of celebrities such Chance The Rapper (recording artist), Quavo (rapper, recording artist), and Katelyn Ohashi (gymnast). Obviously, most of these celebrities aren’t the best basketball players, but this fact only adds to the fun of the game.
Later that evening at 9 PM, the NBA Rising Stars Game will take place. This game is essentially the All-Star Game for rookies and second year players only, split between Team USA and Team World. Team USA includes young talents like Zion Williamson (New Orleans), Wendell Carter Jr. (Chicago Bulls), and Eric Paschall (Golden State). These players will face off against Team World, which includes Nickeil Alexander-Walker (New Orleans), Deandre Ayton (Phoenix Suns), and RJ Barrett (New York Knicks).
To build up the hype for the All-Star Game, the 2020 Taco Bell Skills Challenge -- a measure of a player’s speed, dribbling, and passing -- will occur on Saturday at 9 PM. This year’s competitors include NBA stars such as Bam Adebayo (Miami Heat) and Jayson Tatum (Boston Celtics). These players will race each other in an obstacle course to determine the skills challenge winner.
After the Skills Challenge comes the 3-Point Contest. Players shoot five shots from five different spots around the three-point arc followed by five shots from two deeper ranged spots. Some of the participants of this event include Davis Bertans (Washington Wizards), Joe Harris (Brooklyn Nets), and Trae Young (Atlanta Hawks). Then comes the legendary Dunk Contest. Contestants -- notably Aaron Gordon (Orlando Magic) and Dwight Howard (LA Lakers) -- will compete by doing trick dunks, scored out of 50 points, in front of judges.
Finally, after two days of related events, the highly anticipated 69th NBA All-Star Game will begin playing at 8 PM on Sunday. Team Lebron consists of Boston’s Jayson Tatum along with stars Anthony Davis (LA Lakers), James Harden (Houston Rockets), Kawhi Leonard (LA Clippers), and many others. Team Giannis consists of Trae Young (Atlanta Hawks), Donovan Mitchell (Utah Jazz), and many other NBA stars. Furthermore, in an unprecedented show of respect for the recently deceased Lakers legend Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gianna, Team LeBron will wear #2 jerseys (Gianna’s jersey number), and Team Giannis will wear #24 jerseys.
The scoring of the game will also be altered to honor the Black Mamba; each quarter will be its own mini-game, with the first three quarters starting with a score of 0-0. The winner of the game will be the first team to reach the final target score, which is the leading team’s cumulative score through the first three quarters plus 24. Regardless of which team gets there first, we can expect a close, intense game between Team Giannis and Team Lebron. Even though there won’t be any regular season NBA games this weekend, fans will have plenty of basketball events to watch.