If you were not privy to this past epic weekend or didn’t catch the action. Good lord did you miss something amazing!

Friday

Friday’s Rising Stars Game saw the youngest and brightest stars on a big stage showcasing their talents representing either the USA or the World. Key standouts were: Multi Timed Rookie of the Month New York Knicks’ Kristap Porzingis who dropped 30 and defending Slam Dunk Champion and Rising Star MVP Zach LaVine who dropped 30 as well (and this was just the beginning of the weekend for him).

Team USA-157

Team World-154

Saturday

-The Skills Challenge featured the inaugural Big Men inclusion saw Karl-Anthony Towns take the title from the little man Isaiah Thomas for the battle of the true underdogs of the event.

-The Three Point Contest (and not the mini one featuring Kevin Hart and Draymond Green):

Featured some of the top and I would say shaky shooters in the NBA. It ended up being the Splash Brothers facing off with each other for the title which went to Klay Thompson 27 to Steph Curry’s 23.

-Here comes the best part of the night. The Slam Dunk Contest. It started with: a poorly planned entrance and hype for Will Barton that saw no regard of jokes from Kevin Hart on commentary, Andre Drummond no showing but a cameo from the one and only Steve Nash, and a new slam dunk rivalry between Zach LaVine and Aaron Gordon. I thought that Gordon was robbed (and should’ve been a sore loser like Cam 🤗), because all of his dunks were original while LaVine’s were rehashed (James “Flight” White did the foul line windmill) and there was a bias for Zach LaVine from the get go. Besides that, beat dunk contest in years! Like since 1988. Watch a Hardwood Classics episode of it on NBA TV.

Sunday

The All Star Game was a tribute to Kobe Bryant and his contributions to the game:

and a showcase of the major talent the NBA has to offer in a glorified epic pick up game. 

Russell Westbrook took home his 2nd straight MVP, while Paul George dropped 41. This game saw records shattered as well:

1. Most points in a half and game: West 92 in half, 196 in game
2. Most combined points in a half: 1st 182, game 369
3. Most 3 points made and attempted: West 31-80
4. Most FGs made and attempted: West 82-149
5. Most 3’s made in a game: Paul George 9

This game was awesome and captioned the specatcle that is NBA All-Star Weekend. It put a punctuation on he weekend and showed how the NBA dominates all major sports when it comes to true entertainment and fun. All leagues should take note.

Now that the All Star game is over, we focus to the other side of the “midpoint” of the season. There’s much more to look forward to such as the trade deadline in 3 days and the playoff pushes. It’s just going to get more and more interesting as the season goes on. And after the All Star game, all eyes are on the NBA right now.

Stats courtesy of turner sports. 

Photo courtesy of sbnation.com