Column: NBA All-Star Weekend proves to be an exciting event

With everything that has gone on in the past year, there were legitimate questions on if All Star weekend was even going to take place, but it did indeed. Instead of having the 3-point contest, the skills challenge, and the dunk contest on Saturday, it got pushed to Sunday. 

The first event of the day was the skills challenge. The skills challenge is where two participants race against each other on identical courses by first dribbling between five obstacles while running down the court. Next, the player must throw a pass into an upright hoop. Then, the players must dribble back the full length of the court for a lay up. Shortly after, the players must dribble back down the court and hit a three pointer from the top of the basketball key. The match ends when the first player hits the three pointer. 

Phoenix Suns star Chris Paul and Dallas Mavericks star Luka Donic got a first round bye. The first round bye did not benefit either player as they got eliminated in the second round. The championship round involved Indiana Pacer, Domantas Sabonis vs Orlando Magic, Nikola Vucevic. It was very close but a Domantas Sabonis three won him the 2021 “ NBA skills challenge.”

The three-point contest was even more exciting than the skills challenge. The three-point contest is when participants attempt to make as many three-point field goals as possible from five positions behind the three-point arc in one minute. Players begin shooting from one corner of the court, and move from station to station along the three-point arc until they reach the other corner. This was one of if not the closest three-point contests I’ve ever seen. It went down to Utah Jazz star Mike Conley and Golden State Warrior Steph Curry. Conley had 27 points, Curry had 26; with one shot left, he needed 28 to win. The last shot was worth two points, and he hit it for the win! Curry is your 2021 “NBA three-point” contest winner. 

The rules of the dunk contest are as follows:  all three participants will compete in the first round during which each player will attempt two dunks. Dunks will be graded on a scale of 6-10, making for a maximum score of 50. The two highest scoring participants will move on to Round 2, where they will perform one dunk. The dunk contest took place at halftime of the all star game. 

Many people were not thrilled with the event being moved and the contestants that were in the event, and it may have not been the best dunk contest ever, but it was still somewhat entertaining. The championship round was New York Knick Obi Toppin versus Portland Trailblazer Anfernee Simons. Both dunks were very good in the finals, but Simons was just a little bit better.  I mean he almost kissed the rim, so how could he not win?  Anfernee Simons of officially the 2021 “NBA Slam Dunk” contest winner

Last but not least, the actual All Star game took place. The first half was high scoring as usual, but this game seemed to be a little more high scoring than usual. Team LeBron put up 100 points in the first half. Meanwhile team KD put up 80, yet they trailed by 20. Team LeBron shot 46 percent from the three-point line and shot almost 66 percent from the field. The third quarter was roughly the same with team LeBron winning the third quarter by a score of 46-45. Similar to a game of 21, to win the All Star game there is a target score using the winning teams points through three quarters (146) and adding 24 to honor Kobe Bryant. Going into the fourth Team LeBron led 146-125, the target score was at 170. Team KD needed too many points in the fourth quarter to be able to comeback. Team LeBron won the NBA All Star Game 170-150 off a Damian Lillard Logo three pointer.