Kean students prepare for All-Star weekend
By Greg Patuto | Published March 1, 2018
The NBA has reached the midway point of their season and that only means one thing, the most exciting weekend of the year is right around the corner.
NBA All-Star weekend tips off on Friday, February 16 with the Mountain Dew Risings Stars challenge and the NBA All-Star Celebrity Game. It continues Saturday with the Taco Bell Skills Challenge, JBL Three-Point Competition and the Verizon Dunk Contest. The 67th NBA All-Star Game will take place on Sunday at 7 p.m.
“It’s fun to watch the league’s best players do all these crazy competitions,” Jake Weber, junior, said. “Everyone gets pumped up to see who can do the best dunk.”
All-Star Saturday night is the most exciting night of the competition. Fans all tune in to see if the dunk contest will have any new dunks or to see which player can make the most three-pointers.
The actual game itself on Sunday has taken a step back.
“The game has turned into who can score the most points,” Dawn Gergich, junior said. “It doesn’t look like they try too much so Saturday is the best night.”
The Dunk Contest competition will feature many young NBA talents like Jazz guard Donovan Mitchell and Laker’s guard Larry Nance Jr. The Three-Point Competition will include many of the league’s best shooters such as Warrior’s guard Klay Thompson, Raptor’s point guard Kyle Lowry and Thunder guard Paul George.
The league set up a new format this year for selection of the teams for the All-Star game. The fans vote on who will be starters for the games and the leading vote getter in each conference will be elected as a captain. The captains are LeBron James of the Cavaliers and Steph Curry of the Warriors.
“The draft was a cool idea,” Weber said. “I just wish they have put it on TV for everyone to watch. It could have been a nice addition.”
Here is how the teams were drafted:
Team LeBron
Starters: DeMarcus Cousins, Anthony Davis, Kyrie Irving, LeBron James, Kevin Durant
Reserves: LaMarcus Aldridge, Bradley Beal, Goran Dragic, Andre Drummond, Paul George, Kevin Love, Victor Oladipo, Kristaps Porzingis, John Wall, Russell Westbrook
Team Steph
Starters: Giannis Antetokounmpo, Stephen Curry, DeMar DeRozan, Joel Embiid, James Harden
Reserves: Jimmy Butler, Draymond Green, Al Horford, Damian Lillard, Kyle Lowry, Klay Thompson, Karl-Anthony Towns
Team LeBron’s roster was bit by the injury bug and was forced to replace four players (Wall, Porzingis, Love and Cousins). The Warriors had the most selections of any team with four.
The festivities begin Friday, February 16 in Los Angeles.