All-Star weekend took place on Feb 14-16 on TNT national television in the Chase Center in San Francisco.
The Kia Skills challenge was up first with four different teams of pairs of two competing. In the first round Victor Wembanyama and Chris Paul from the San Antonio Spurs got disqualified for not following the rules. Zaccharie Risacher and Alex Sarr on the rooks team also got eliminated.
There were two final teams which were Moses Moody and Draymond Green from the Golden State Warriors and Evan Mobley and Donovan Mitchell from the Cleveland Cavaliers. The Cleveland Cavaliers won against the Golden State Warriors by a minute.
Then soon after that, the 3-point contest started with eight different participants from eight different teams and Tyler Herro from the Miami Heat won.
“I like the format of the three-point contest and I think it does a good job of showing who the best shooters are. One thing I liked about the contest this year is how they did the soda starry deep ball 3-pointer that was worth 3 points,” junior Thomas Hanlon said.
After the 3-point and skills contest was the dunk contest that everyone is always hyped up for. There were four participants competing: Matas Buzelis (Bulls), Stephon Castle (Spurs), Andre Jackson Jr. ( Bucks), and Mac McClung (G League, Osceola Magic). Mac McClung from the G League Magic won in the final round against Stephon Castle by jumping over Evan Mobley from the Cleveland Cavaliers.
“The player with the most creative dunks is Mac Mcclung because he is the bounciest NBA player and he always has a good performance in the dunk contest. I would also like to see Ja Morant in the dunk contest because I think he could do a good job,” senior Josiah Ornelas said.
They were a few injured players who did not play in the All-Star game this year. Lebron James (Los Angeles Lakers) was out due to an ankle injury on his left foot. Anthony Davis (Dallas Mavericks) was out due to an adductor injury. In addition, Anthony Edwards (Minnesota Timberwolves) was also out due to his groin being injured, and Giannis Antetokounmpo (Milwaukee Bucks) was out due to left calf soreness.
“I think Giannis just needs to rest up and get ready for the playoffs because the Bucks are really going to need him healthy this year if they’re going to make a run,” junior Marquis Norris said.
This year instead of just one game there were four, and the team that scored 40 points first won. Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith, and Shaquille O’Neal all drafted teams based on who was voted to be in the All-Star game. Team Chuck defeated Team Kenny by nine points. Soon after team Shaq played team Candace which was made up of the rising stars.
Team Shaq defeated team Candace by seven points to move on to the championship which was team Shaq vs team Chuck. Team Shaq defeated Team Chuck by 16 points and Stephen Curry won the MVP trophy.
“I didn’t like the format of the NBA All-Star tournament this year because the games were too short. I think it didn’t do a good job of showing the fun of the game by shooting half-court shots. One thing I liked about the All-Star game last year was how they just played to a certain number of points and it was only one game,” senior Colin Granberg said.
