NBA all-star weekend was jam-packed, and a lot of fun to watch
The NBA celebrated the 69th All-Star weekend this year in Chicago. However, there were a few notable changes to this year’s All-Star game as the rules were changed to make it more competitive (more on that later) and the All-Star game MVP award was named after the late Kobe Bryant.
Skills Challenge
Miami Heat All-Star Bam Adebayo won the Skills Challenge as he knocked off Indiana Pacers All-Star Domantas Sabonis in the finals. Sabonis tried to complete the Cinderella story as he upset defending Skills Challenge champion Jayson Tatum in the first round, and Milwaukee Bucks All-Star Khris Middleton in the semifinals but fell short. Adebayo’s run to the finals was equally impressive as he beat the 2018 Skills Challenge champion Spencer Dinwiddie in the first round and Toronto Raptors All-Star Pascal Siakam in the semifinals. It feels fitting that Adebayo won the Skills challenge as he is in the middle of a breakout campaign averaging 15.8 points, 10.4 rebounds and 4.9 assists per game.
Three-Point Contest
Sacramento Kings guard Buddy Hield won the Three-Point Contest as he defeated Devin Booker and Davis Bertans in the finals. Bertans put up a score of 22 in the final round and was immediately eliminated by Booker who posted a score of 26 as he knocked down seven of his last 10 shots. Hield ultimately prevailed as he beat Booker’s score by just one as he drained his entire money ball rack to edge past Booker.
Slam Dunk Contest
Miami Heat forward Derrick Jones Jr. took home the slam dunk title after a controversial finish, beating Aaron Gordon in the finals. 2008 dunk champion Dwight Howard and Bucks guard Pat Connaughton were both eliminated in the first round. In the final round, both Jones Jr. and Gordon were going dunk for dunk with each other and were forced to go to a dunk off. Jones Jr. recorded a 48 after a tomahawk jam from just inside the free-throw line. Gordon tried to end it by dunking over 7-5 Tacko Fall. However, the dunk recorded a score of 47 as Gordon lost the title. This is now the second time that Gordon has fallen short due to a controversial finish as he also lost in 2016 to Zach Lavine.
All-Star Game
The NBA knew they had to make some changes to its All-Star game to make it more competitive, and boy did it work. The changes made to the game were that each team would compete to win each of the first three quarters. Those quarters would be the standard 12 minutes, but each quarter would start at 0-0. Each quarter that the team won, money would be donated to the charity of the team captain’s choosing. At the beginning of the 4th quarter, the game clock was turned off and a final target score was set based on the leading team’s cumulative score through the first three quarters. The target score was the leading team’s total score plus 24 points.
Through the first three quarters, it seemed as though it was the same old All-Star Game, minimal effort on defense to go along with a bunch of three-pointers and dunks. However, once the fourth quarter started, the intensity ramped up. It felt like game seven of the NBA Finals as Giannis Antetokounmpo was blocking Lebron James’s shots, players were yelling at the refs and Kyle Lowry(!) was taking charges. The game ended with Anthony Davis knocking down the game-winning free throw to give Team Lebron the win over Team Giannis 157-155. Kawhi Leonard won the first-ever Kobe Bryant All-Star Game MVP award as he posted 30 points on 8/14 shooting from three-point range and seven rebounds.