It’s finally arrived! The week of the dazzle and the stars! No not The Finals Week, we still have a long way to that. But it’s the All Star Week, where we take a break from the Regular Season and just focus on the stardom of the All Stars.
It’s been a long road of voting and snubs and replacing and more snubs. But all of that is over as the NBA All Star Game teams have been selected by the team captains. But the Game isn’t the only big headline of the weekend as there will be other festivities that will surely entertain fans in Los Angeles and the world alike.
Here’s a breakdown of what’s to come of the NBA All Star Weekend 2018.
FRIDAY 16 FEBRUARY
Celebrity Game
The All Star Weekend can’t be all about the tall athletes and the showstoppers of the Association. This is a way to kick off the weekend with the athletes who are overlooked or forgotten and those are the Celebrities. Now these aren’t your typical, Instagram/Twitter record breaking celebrities, these are the basketball-loving celebrities who have some game in them. This game may not have all the attractiveness of an average NBA game but it surely will be entertaining.
Rising Stars Challenge
As a rookie, you aren’t eligible to compete in the All Star Game, simply because…you’re a rookie. But it doesn’t mean you can’t showcase your talent in front of a dazzled crowd, the Rising Stars Challenge is the perfect stage for the rookies to showcase their outmost talent. But it’s not all about the rookies, it’s also the sophomores (second year players and other young prospects of the league. And in this game, the players will be split into two teams; Team USA and Team World. Obviously, the American players will be united to play against the players from around the world. Expect this year’s game to be explosive as young talents such as Ben Simmons, Lonzo Ball, Donovan Mitchell, Lauri Markkanen and Jayson Tatum will exploit every bit of their talent.
SATURDAY 17 FEBRUARY
SKILLS CHALLENGE
Saturday is a day everybody will attend with a fresh mind and fresh body and the Skills Challenge will surely warm up the crowd and fans for what is to be a pretty fiery Saturday. The Skills Challenge is just an obstacle course for the players to waiver around, pass the ball into a net and to score. Looks simple? But it really isn’t. Players will face each other until there is one winner left and will take home the Skills Challenge trophy. Unfortunately, the Skills Challenge champion Kristaps Porzingis will be unavailable and a replacement for him will be announced. Other than that, the participants of the Skills Challenge are
• Jamal Murray (Denver Nuggets)
• Lauri Markkanen (Chicago Bulls)
• Donovan Mitchell (Utah Jazz)
• Joel Embiid (Philadelphia 76ers)
• Al Horford (Boston Celtics)
• Spencer Dinwiddie (Brooklyn Nets)
• Lou Williams (Los Angeles Clippers)
THREE-POINT CONTEST
Today’s NBA game is dictated by the form of shooting three pointers and why not have a challenge to do determine who is the best three-point shooter of the league? Okay, the answer to do that will be heavily debated but we all deserve a challenge of the best three pointers in one court. Players will be given a short time of a minute and a half to shoot 5 balls in a rack at 5 different spots around the three-point line. A normal orange basketball counts 1 point and the red, blue and white ball (known as the Money Ball) counts 2 points. The players with the most points advance to the next round until there is one winner. The defending champion of the challenge, Eric Gordon (Houston Rockets) will be defending his title against the likes of
• Klay Thompson (Golden State Warriors)
• Paul George (Oklahoma City Thunder)
• Kyle Lowry (Toronto Raptors)
• Bradley Beal (Washington Wizards)
• Devin Booker (Phoenix Suns)
• Tobias Harris (Los Angeles Clippers)
• Wayne Ellington (Miami Heat)
SLAM DUNK CONTEST
The best (and only) way to close off the Saturday night with the leagues best dunkers showcasing their mean dunks to the crowd, fans and judges. The dunkers will be given three chances to perform a dunk. The judges will give a score out of 50 based on the dunk and the player with the least score has to sit down as he will watch the dunk contest until there is one winner left. Mind you, the Dunk Contest doesn’t feature the same old boring dunks we see during the regular season, the players bring out the best creative dunks for the whole world to see. This year will surely crown a new champion as the following participants
• Dennis Smith Jr (Dallas Mavericks)
• Larry Nance Jr (Cleveland Cavaliers)
• Victor Oladipo (Indiana Pacers)
• Donovan Mitchell (Utah Jazz)
SUNDAY 18 FEBRUARY
NBA ALL STAR GAME
Not much has to be said about this one as it will be the main attraction of all weekend. Back in the past, the teams featured were the voted players of the Eastern Conference and the Western Conference but due to the lack of competition in those East vs West games, the NBA decided to shake things up as the two lead vote getters of the respective conferences would be voted as “Team Captains” and they would draft their team based on the pool of the selected voted players. And as you should know by now, LeBron James and Stephen Curry are the Team Captains. Team LeBron have however suffered a setback of injuries of the drafted players by NBA commissioner Adam Silver took it upon himself to select the well-deserved replacements of the injured players. But the teams are looking great and stunning and the All Star Game should surely close the All Star Weekend.
And there you have it, a very short and simple breakdown of the All Star Weekend. The event will take place in the city of Los Angeles. Expect dunks, ridiculous threes, mindlessly beautiful plays and laughs as comedian Kevin Hart will be the team announcer. This year’s All Star should be nothing but spectacular.
Stay tuned for more
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The Baseline 
