2017 NBA All-Star Saturday Night
On Saturday, February 18th, the second night of the NBA All-Star Weekend kicks off. Headlining this day is the much-anticipated skills challenge, three-point contest, and dunk contest. This main event begins at 8 p.m. Eastern and is the precursor to the All-Star game the following day. Although some injuries have taken some excitement away from the events, the NBA All-Star Weekend should still give the fans what they want with plenty of familiar faces participating.
Taco Bell Skills Challenge:
Last year’s champion Karl-Anthony Towns will not be returning for this year’s Skills Challenge but runner-up Isaiah Thomas will be participating. The competition is split into two groups of four, bigs and smalls. The bigs this year are Anthony Davis, Kristaps Porzingis, Nikola Jokic and DeMarcus Cousins. Cousins was the runner-up for bigs last year, and Jokic is filling in for the injured Joel Embiid. I’m hoping the bigs get split into an international match-up and a Kentucky match-up for the first round.
Porzingis would be the favorite against Jokic, but Jokic will most likely be smiling like a kid in a candy shop regardless of the outcome. Cousins and Davis faced off in the first round last year, and the Kentucky rematch could be one that continues for years to come. It’s likely that Davis or Porzingis get out on top for the bigs and will represent their respective group in the championship face-off.
For the smalls, Isaiah Thomas and Devin Booker will be returning from last year with Gordon Hayward and John Wall being the new additions. Hayward and Booker should be split in the first round as well as Thomas and Wall. This could lead to a great final matchup for the smalls between Thomas and Wall. Both players are the leaders of their respective teams who are battling for the two seed in the East (and maybe the one seed with Kevin Love’s injury). They are arguably both MVP candidates as well and have started a rivalry between their respective teams this season.
Wall should win for the smalls; he’s more skilled than Booker and Hayward and faster than Thomas. After that, he should be able to defeat whoever the bigs’ champion is and be the 2017 Taco Bell Skills Challenge champion.
JBL Three Point Contest:
A couple of things worth noting, only one of the league’s top ten three point shooters will feature in this year’s competition, and that is the returning champion, Klay Thompson. A few other things to add, a big vs. smalls version of this contest would actually be fascinating as well and is something the league should consider. Also, if you airball a three like CJ McCollum did last year, your round should end right there. That’s just unacceptable.
Eric Gordon, Kyrie Irving, Kyle Lowry, Wesley Matthews, Kemba Walker, C.J. McCollum and the legendary Nick Young will participate alongside Thompson. The selling point of this contest is that Walker and Young are both expected to celebrate each shot as if it went in, even if it doesn’t. Realistically, Thompson should run away with this and be a back to back champion. Gordon could give him a run, though, and one can never count out Nick Young who may be the most entertaining aspect of the NBA All-Star Weekend.
Verizon Slam Dunk Contest:
The Verizon Slam Dunk Contest is hit or miss every year. Last year, this showcase was a huge hit. Finalists Zach Lavine and Aaron Gordon had arguably the best one-on-one dunk competition of all time. Gordon’s use of Orlando Magic mascot, Stuff the Magic Dragon, and Lavine’s use of the free throw line made up for all the forgettable dunk contests before this one. These two were building a dunk contest rivalry that is comparable to the Cavaliers-Warriors rivalry. This is clearly going to be the highlight of All-Star Saturday.
Unfortunately, Lavine tore his ACL in a loss to the Detroit Pistons on February 3rd following his announcement that he won’t be participating in this year’s competition. That also means he doesn’t get to go for a three-peat.
Gordon will be in the dunk contest, though. He will be participating alongside Deandre Jordan, Glenn Robinson III, and Derrick Jones Jr.
Jordan would stand a chance if he had Chris Paul setting him up for every dunk but that’s highly unlikely which means his chances of winning are highly unlikely as well.
Robinson III will be interesting to watch as he’s always been known as a good dunker but has never been given the opportunity to show his dunk potential in the game. If he is creative with his dunks, he might be able to give Gordon some competition.
Jones Jr. has barely played 20 minutes of NBA action this season, but he’s shown some serious dunking potential in the D-League.Similar to Robinson III, it will come down to whether or not Jones Jr. is creative enough.
Gordon is the clear favorite for this year’s dunk contest, and while it’s nearly impossible to be as entertaining as last year’s dunk contest, the unknown element of Robinson III and Jones Jr give 2017 NBA All-Star Saturday night some real excitement.
