NBA All-Star Weekend 2024 is officially under wraps, capped off by the Eastern Conference’s 211-186 victory over the Western Conference. Let us relive the best moments from this past weekend in Indianapolis
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Fun fact: Indianapolis was originally selected to host the 2021 NBA All-Star game, but when COVID-19 ravaged American society, they were forced to postpone the event in Indy until 2024, despite their consistent efforts to have an All-Star game during the pandemic. The 2021 All-Star weekend was controversially held in Atlanta with no fans, notwithstanding heavy push back from players and coaches.
All-Star Friday
Friday featured two events in the NBA All-Star Weekend. The first was the Ruffles All-Star Celebrity Game. First Take anchors Stephen A. Smith and Shannon Sharpe served as the coaches for the celebrity teams. Celebrities for this game included Cowboys EDGE rusher Micah Parsons, Rams receiver Puka Nacua and Texans QB C.J. Stroud among others. Just like in 2020, Team Stephen A. took the loss once again thanks to 37 points from Parsons to lead Team Shannon to victory.
The second event of the night was the annual Rising Stars game, which featured the best first and second-year players in the NBA. The format is a four-team knockout with a championship game. German basketball legend Detlef Schrempf led his squad of G League players to a stunning upset over rookie phenom Victor Wembanyama’s team. Unfortunately, the G Leaguers came up just short as Thunder young star Jalen Williams hit the game-winning three to seal the victory for Team Jalen.
All-Star Saturday
The Saturday portion of NBA All-Star Weekend started with the Skills Challenge. Three key players from the Indiana Pacers participated in the Skills Challenge and took home the gold for their home city. As part of this weekend’s NBA All-Star weekend festivities, Tyrese Haliburton, Myles Turner and Bennedict Mathurin won the Skills Challenge on Saturday night at Lucas Oil Stadium by defeating two tiebreakers.
The Starry Three-point Contest was engrossed by a sense of déjà vu. Last year’s contest champion, Damian Lillard, defended his title this year, defeating Trae Young and Karl-Anthony Towns in the final round with a score of 26.
The Dunk Contest featured some familiar outcomes from last year, with G League player Mac McClung defending his crown by taking home back-to-back titles. McClung scored a perfect 50 in his second dunk of the final round by dunking over Shaquille O’Neal. While McClung finished strong, this dunk contest was remembered more for the controversial decisions on the dunks leading up to the final. Despite Jaylen Brown’s unoriginal and lazy dunks, the judges still propelled him into the final round vs McClung, much to NBA fans’ dismay.
NBA All-Star Game
The All-Star game itself featured a record 211 points by a single team, as the Eastern Conference took home the easy victory 211-186. Hometown hero, Tyrese Haliburton, looked to claim the All-Star MVP award early by making five consecutive threes in a row and adding 32 points, but ultimately the two-time 3-point contest champion, Damian Lillard, added to his hardware on the weekend with the MVP trophy. Lillard finished the night with 39 points, while Jaylen Brown added 36 in the East’s victory. Karl-Anthony Towns led all scoring with 50 points, while Shai Gilgeous-Alexander piled on another 31 in the West loss.