This past weekend the NBA All-Star Weekend took place. The All Star Weekend is a festival held every year in the middle of February for players to exhibit their skills and showcase their talent to the fans.
Friday kicked off with the celebrity all star game. The game features retired NBA players, WNBA players, musicians, actors, and athletes from sports other than basketball. The two teams were USA and Canada, coached by Kevin Hart and Aubrey Drake Graham. Team USA consists of Anthony Anderson, Chauncey Billups, Muggsy Bogues, Nick Cannon, Elena Delle Donne, O’Shea Jackson Jr, Terrence Jenkins, Marc Larsy, Joel David Moore, Jason Sudeikis. Team Canada consists of Eugene Bouchard, Win Butler, Tom Cavanagh, Rick Fox, Stephan James, Tracey McGrady, Milos Raonic, Drew Scott, Johnathan Scott, Tammy Sutton-Brown.
Team Canada took the early lead in the first quarter making the score 15-20. The second quarter was no different and team Canada scored 17 points while team USA was hanging on with 13. The score before half time was 28-37, Canada leading. Hart couldn’t handle his team losing anymore so he came out of retirement to join his team at the start of the third quarter. He was able to spark up the team and take the lead during the third quarter. The fourth and final quarter team Canada outscored team USA by three points 21-18. The final score was 74-64 win for team Canada.
Saturday consisted of the Slam Dunk contest and the Three-Point contest. The Slam Dunk contest consisted of Zach Lavine, Aaron Gordon, Andre Drummond, and Will Barton. The Three-Point contest consisted of Devin Booker, Stephan Curry, James Harden, Kyle Lowry, Khris Middelton, J.J. Redick, Klay Thompson, and C.J. McCollum.
Lavine and Gordon were apart of the final round with impressive dunks done by both men. Gordon had Lavine scared when he took the ball under his legs in a sitting position while in the air and dunking it from the mascots hand. Lavine responded by taking the final win with a perfect score of 50 with an alley-oop dunk from the free throw line.
“That Dunk Contest was crazy! How did Aaron Gordan do that?” Senior, Phillip Tong said.
The Three-Point Contest final match was between Curry and Thompson. Curry shot before Thompson in the final round, making his first seven shots and putting up 23 points which at that point, was the best score of the night. Thompson answered back by making all five of his money balls. Thompson scored a high of 27 and won the 2016 Three-Point Contest.
Sunday was the All-Star Game. The two teams consisted of the West and the East. Coached by Greg Popovich and Tyrron Lue respectively. The West starters are Curry, Russell Westbrook, Kobe Bryant, Kevin Durant, and Kawahi Leonard. The reserves for the West are: Chris Paul, Lamarcus Aldridge, James Harden, Anthony Davis, Demarcus Cousins, Thompson, Draymond Green. The East starters are Dwayne Wade, Kyle Lowry, Lebron James, Paul George, and Carmello Anthony. The reserves are: John Wall, Paul Millsap, DeMar DeRozan, Andre Drummond, Isaiah Thomas, Pau Gasol, and Al Horford.
With the final two minutes in the game Popovich benched Bryant and he received a standing ovation from the Toronto crowd. Bryant who played his last all star game recorded 10 points six rebounds, and seven assists. With this last game Bryant was able to pass on the torch to a new generation of players.
The final score was 196-173, the Western team won due to Westbrooks performance with 31 points, eight rebounds, five assists, an five steals in 22 minutes. Curry added in 26 points, Davis added in 24 points, and Durant added in 23. The East George scored a team high of 41 points.
