This past weekend the NBA ascended upon New York for the NBA All Star Game and all the events that go with it for the 1st time in 17 years. Some of the events that happened to take place include the NBRPA Legends Lounge, the Sprint Celebrity Game, the BBVA Compass Rising Stars Challenge, the Degree Shooting Stars, the Taco Bell Skills Challenge, the Foot Locker Three-Point Challenge, and the 64th NBA All Star Game.
The NBRPA Legends Lounge was the centerpiece of the weekend, with numerous events, that spanned from Wednesday through Sunday, that celebrated the greats of the game. Such NBA legends at the events included:
Julius Irving, Bill Russell, Oscar Robertson, Dominique Wilkens, Ralph Sampson, Moses Malone, Nate “Tiny” Archibald, Scottie Pippen, Chris Mullin, Grant Hill, Charles Barkley, Clyde Frazier, Phil Jackson, Bernard King, Earl Monroe, Bill Bradley, Willis Reed, Shaquille O’Neal, Kenny Smith, Allan Houston, Kenny Anderson, Penny Hardaway, and Dell Curry.
If you are a fan of the history of the NBA, being in the same area of all these greats were worth more than the price of admission.
The Sprint Celebrity Game took place on Friday and as usual, was very entertaining to the fans. It had some funny highlights like Mo’ne Davis spin move on Kevin Hart. As every year, the game was more about the enjoyment of watching celebrities try to live their dreams of getting on an NBA court rather than who won the actual game. The “West” team won the game 57-51, but for the 4th straight year, Kevin Hart took the MVP award and finished the game with 15 points.
The BBVA Compass Rising Stars Challenge also took place on Friday and was filled with the typical no defense, high dunks, game to excite the fans. This year was a US vs The World format with NBA players born all over the world taking on NBA players just born in the US. The World team won the game 121-112 and was led by 2014 #1 overall draft pick Andrew Wiggins. The Canadian born young star had 22 points and collected the MVP award, while his teammate from France, Rudy Gobert had 18 points, 12 rebounds, and 3 blocks.
On Saturday night, in what is known as the most exciting fan filled part of the weekend, there were four events that took place. In the Degree Shooting Stars, the team of Dominique Wilkens, Chris Bosh, and Swin Cash won their 3rd straight title as they defeated Anfernee Hardaway, Russell Westbrook, and Tamika Catchings in the finals. The win was clinched by a Wilkens halfcourt shot to complete their final round in 57.6 seconds compared to the 1:30 minutes of Team Westbrook.
The biggest shock of Saturday night was Houston Rockets guard, Patrick Beverly winning the Taco Bell Skills Challenge. After winning a close one against Isaiah Thomas in the quarterfinals, he came from way behind to beat Jeff Teague when Teague couldn’t hit the final jumper and then also came back to beat Brandon Knight in the finals. Instead of an East VS West Individual format, this year was a tournament format which had the players go at the same time, head to head. The change made the competition much more viewer friendly.
In what was expected to be the highlight of the night, if not the highlight of the weekend, the Foot Locker Three-Point Contest had as deep of a field as they have ever had. The Sp;ash brother, Steph Curry and Klay Thompson from the Golden State Warriors, headlined a group that also had sharpshooter Kyle Korver and JJ Redick, along with James Harden, Kyrie Irving, Wes Matthews, and defending champion Marco Belinelli. Steph Curry hit 13 consecutive shots to score a three-point record 27 points in the final round to defeat Kyrie Irving.
The Sprite Slam Dunk Contest has trended down recently with fans seeming to get tired of the same dunks. However, Zach LaVine put on a show with two perfect 50s to go with a 49 and a 45 in the finals to dominate the Slam Dunk competition. From the start when LaVine came out donning a Michael Jordan space jam jersey on his 1st dunk, he had a lot to live up to and he did. It was definitely a top 10 all time slam dunk performance from the 19 year old rookie.
Finally to end the weekend was the 64th NBA All Star Game. The West jumped out to a 20 point lead int he 1st half, but the East came back to make it a one point game at the half. When it was all said and done, the West, led by Russell Westbrook’s 41 points, beat the East 163-158. Westbrook’s 41 was the 2nd most points scored in an all-star game behind Wilt Chamberlain’s 42. Lebron James led the East with 30 points and James Harden finished with 29 points.
There were numerous records set in the game including most combined points scored in the game (321), most points scored by one team (West with 163), most combined points in a first half (165), most three pointers made by one team (West with 25), and most combined three pointers made in a game (48). It was a great way to end the all-star weekend and a great showing of individual skill that all the NBA players in today’s game have. When you sit back and look at the legends this weekend, and the future legends playing in the game, the NBA has a lot to look forward to.
