NBA ALL-STAR PREVIEW

SportsBeat!

Written by Aaron Cantin

The show must go on. At least that's what NBA commissioner Adam Silver believes. Whether you like the decision or not, there's no question we can all use more entertainment right now. Presenting the NBA All-Star Weekend: The worst weekend in the NBA season for die-hard basketball fans; The best weekend of the season for people who don't watch the sport. Regardless, All-Star weekend is about having fun, so that's exactly what I am going to do.

LeBron James during the 2020 All-Star Game; Source: Front Office Sports | Photo from Terada/USA Today

Firstly, this year will be more of a "one-nighter" rather than an entire weekend of festivities. The league and players agreed to a one-night event in Atlanta that will include both the game and the All-Star Saturday night events, all set for March 7th.

The Skills Challenge and 3-Point Contest will occur before the All-Star Game, while the Slam Dunk Contest is set for halftime. There won't be any fans in attendance on Sunday, which will be very interesting. Still, it should be an entertaining night.

Skills Challenge

Participants: ​Robert Covington​ (Trail Blazers),​ Luka Doncic​ (Mavericks), ​Chris Paul (Suns), ​Julius Randle​ (Knicks), ​Domantas Sabonis​ (Pacers), Nikola Vucevic ​(Magic)

Despite the Skills Challenge being the least exciting event of the weekend, the contestants alone make it worth watching. Chris Paul has legendary handles, and Luka Doncic may be the best point guard in the NBA for the next decade. The big men do surprisingly well in the event as well. I always lean towards the guards in this challenge for the speed and dribbling factor, but Domantas Sabonis particularly can make me look silly. Still, I have to stick to my guns.

- Pick: ​Chris Paul

3-Point Contest

Participants: ​Devin Booker​ (Suns), Jaylen Brown​ (Celtics), ​Stephen Curry (Warriors), Zach LaVine​ (Bulls), ​Donovan Mitchell​ (Jazz), Jayson Tatum​ (Celtics)

The 3-Point Contest has unofficially surpassed the Dunk Contest as the best event during All-Star Weekend. Just look at the list of shooters that will be competing and tell me you're not excited (we'll get to the sad Dunk Competition roster shortly). Picking who will hit more shots out of this group correctly is next to impossible. Of course, Stephen Curry is a safe bet but is he the best shooter when it matters? Stats would say otherwise. If we were going by stats, then the player with the best 3-point percentage should win.

Here's a list of where the contestants rank this season:

• Zach Lavine - .433%

• Steph Curry -.413%

• Jaylen Brown -.389%

• Donovan Mitchell -.380%

• Devin Booker -.367%

• Jayson Tatum -.364%

Despite Lavine leading the contestants in three-point percentage, he's not who I'm putting my money on. Steph Curry will undoubtedly be one of the betting favourites to win, and rightly so. Jayson Tatum, meanwhile, may be the long shot to look out for. If Tatum is a large enough underdog on Sunday, consider a wager on him. Until then, I'm going with the favourite.

- Pick: ​Steph Curry

Dunk Contest

Participants:​ Anfernee Simons (​ Trail Blazers),​ Cassius Stanley (​ Pacers)​, Obi Toppin ​(Knicks)

Who? Simons, Stanley, and Toppin are fine dunkers but is that really the best we got? I know the travel restrictions and limited participants were bound to take their toll, but the Dunk Contest used to be the festivities' crown jewel. Now it's taking place at halftime of the All-Star game. Just saying. We were hoping for a Zion Williamson appearance, but that was shut down earlier this week. I shouldn't be all negative, though. After all, last year's epic duel between Jones and Aaron Gordon went to a dunk-off because the score was tied at 100 through the finals after they traded 50s. Gordon even jumped over the 7'5" Tacko Fall but still came up short, much as he did in a showdown with LaVine in 2016. How the scores are judged may need the most fixing. Nonetheless, let's hope these young hoopers will think of some creative ways to slam the ball through the hoop.

- Pick: Obi Toppin

All-Star Game

The 2021 NBA All-Star Game will have the same competition format as the 2020 NBA All-Star Game. Amazing.

The two All-Star teams will play as usual for the first three quarters. The fourth quarter will be untimed, and the teams will play to a final target score, meaning that the game will end with a made basket or a made free throw instead of with the clock running out. The final target score will be determined by taking the leading team's total score through three quarters and adding 24 points. The 24 is representing the late Kobe Bryant. Well done, NBA. In terms of predicting the All-Star game? I don't go that far. The competitiveness certainly increased last year with the target score but is still far off what we should see with the best players in the world on the court together. Still, the players usually enjoy the time off, especially the players not taking part. Maybe a little bit of fun is exactly what everyone needs.