As the dust settles from another NBA All-Star Weekend in Los Angeles, now comes the time for a performance review of the event and all its changes.
This year’s event was headlined by a change to Sunday’s All-Star Game format, featuring two USA All-Star teams and one team of international stars. The three teams competed against each other in a round-robin tournament of one-quarter mini games, with two teams advancing to the final. The format lended to more competitive play and some actual defense,
especially when Victor Wembanyama and Team World took the floor. The short games also led to multiple exciting finishes in the preliminary matchups. However, the championship was unfortunately a bit of a dud, as Team World failed to qualify — causing the matchup to lose some steam — and then the younger USA All-Star team blew out the old guard of LeBron James and Co.
On Saturday, Portland Trail Blazers star Damian Lillard claimed his third NBA 3-Point Contest title despite not playing in a game this season as he recovers from a torn Achilles (undeniably cool). The Slam Dunk Contest was somewhat ho-hum (although this writer didn’t mind it as much as some appeared to). The league did away with the Skills Challenge this year, replacing it with the return of the Shooting Stars Competition, which was… fine! Friday was headlined by the Rising Stars Challenge. The event featured three teams of NBA rookies and second-year players — plus one team of G League stars — competing in a mini-tournament of shortened games.
The Blazers were well-represented in LA this weekend, with four players participating in the events: Deni Avdija in the All-Star Game, Lillard in the 3-Point Contest, and big men Donovan Clingan and Yang Hansen playing in the Rising Stars Challenge (Yang played with the G League team). Avdija started in both games for Team World as the group lost two heartbreakers to be eliminated. He produced five points and two assists in the first matchup before going scoreless with a rebound and two more assists in the second game. Clingan and Yang both scored the ball well on Friday. Clingan’s team eliminated Yang’s team in the first semifinal, before losing in a close final.
So, how would you review the weekend of festivities? Did you like the big changes to the All-Star Game format, or at least, is the league onto something here? Were the events on Friday and Saturday worth your time? Are there tweaks you’d still like to see be made?
NBA All-Star Weekend seems to be constantly in a state of crisis these days, with people bemoaning about how it needs to be better. Do you think the NBA got to more stable footing with the event this year?
Let us know in the comments below!
