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NBA All-Star Weekend Takeaways: Curry stands out among the legends

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By on Sport
NBA All-Star Weekend Takeaways: Curry stands out among the legends

The 71st All-Star weekend has come and gone in Cleveland, and being chosen as part of the All-Star game is always a privilege NBA greats will agree is an honour to remember for the rest of their career.

In the NBA’s 75th season, the best of the best met for various skills competitions, and the weekend ended with the final game of Team LeBron vs. Team Durant — though Durant did not attend after the passing of his grandmother.

Whether it was Jack Harlow backing up his NBA-filled lyrics as a sharpshooter in the celebrity game, or the NBA greats like Magic Johnson in attendance to celebrate the 75th season, All-Star Weekend had plenty of memorable moments.

Legends in the building

One of the most noteworthy moments of the weekend had nothing to do with the game or skills, but rather the honouring of the NBA’s 75 best players of all time.

Current players — and current All-Stars — like LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Stephen Curry, and Giannis Antetokounmpo were all honoured along with legends like Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Kobe Bryant and arguably the greatest of all-time Michael Jordan, who made it in person to Cleveland to receive the honour.

While the jury is still out on whether the 75 players named were correct (looking at the omissions of Tony Parker and Dwight Howard), generations of NBA talents gathered together in Cleveland to commemorate 75 years of the league.

The Kid from Akron returns

Hearing the crowd cheer introductions as the All-Star game starters and reserves were announced in Cleveland, one could assume the loudest cheers may have been for Darius Garland or Jarrett Allen playing in front of a home crowd as key players of a Cleveland Cavaliers team currently sitting third in the Eastern Conference.

Instead, they were for the man who brought Cleveland, the franchise he started his career with, a title in 2016. It was for King James.

On Team LeBron was also Curry, who infamously played four consecutive Finals series with the Golden State Warriors against LeBron and the Cavs, with the Warriors winning three times including a 4-0 sweep in 2018. Funny enough, Curry was also born in Akron.

Curry, one of the best shooters in the NBA, turned video game mode in the second quarter and recorded eight three-pointers by halftime, marking an All-Star record for most three-pointers made in one half, finishing the first with 24 points leading all scorers.

James and his team won the first quarter of the All-Star game, with $100,000 going to Kent State’s I Promise scholars program, benefitting James’ I Promise school. Luka Doncic sealed the quarter win for Team LeBron, though James scored nine points himself.

MVP candidate Joel Embiid also had a solid showing for Team Durant, with the big man shooting from deep and going 3-5 in the first half from three with a total of 17 points.

Devin Booker, the No. 11 scorer in the league, had 16 points by the second quarter, leading Team Durant to a win in the frame and evening the score by halftime. However, even Booker’s hot hand came second to Air Ja Morant‘s highlight-reel dunks in the first half.

Curry’s hot-hand didn’t stop in the third quarter, which became the Stephen Show, with the Warriors guard hitting five three-pointers in the first three minutes of the third quarter.

Despite having one of the worst shooting seasons of his career, Curry set a new NBA All-Star record for three-pointers in a game that was previously nine. Curry finished the game with 16 three-pointers made.

Finishing just shy of the all-time All-Star scoring record, Curry made a record-shattering 16 threes to go with 50 points — earning him the inaugural Kobe Bryant Trophy for All-Star Game MVP.

The third quarter ended in a 45-45 tie, which meant the $100,000 prize for the quarter was split and each team got $50,000 for their respective charities.

The final quarter of the game did not have a time, but rather a target score of 163 points, with Team Durant starting with 139 points and team LeBron starting at 138.

After the intensity picked up in the fourth due to the Elam Ending, none other than James scored the game-winning bucket for Team LeBron, winning for the All-Star Game for a fifth consecutive time.

Karl-Anthony Towns came to play

If there is anyone who deserves something good in their life after the last two years, it’s Karl-Anthony Towns.

Losing eight relatives including his mother to COVID-19, as well as contracting the virus himself, Towns has struggled with guilt and grief surrounding the virus while returning to the NBA to continue playing.

The Timberwolves center, however, had only a positive mindset going into the three-point shooting contest on Saturday night, saying that if anyone was going to beat him that they would have to shoot better than him, because he wasn’t going to beat himself.

Doing just that, Towns advanced to the second round after tying Trae Young’s 22 points in the first round, second to only Luke Kennard’s 28.

Shooting first in the second round, Towns set the mark at 29, which both Kennard and Young could not reach as both scored only 26 points.

Towns had previously said he wanted to be known as the “best big man shooter,” and that he “needed this trophy to prove it” after the win.

As for Fred VanVleet, the first-time All-Star representing the Toronto Raptors, he did about as well as Kyle Lowry previously did in the three-point contest — though VanVleet actually topped both of Lowry’s scores.

Aaron Gordon and Zach LaVine forever changed the dunk contest

The 2016 All-Star Weekend in Toronto changed the way All-Star skills competitions would be played forever due to one of the most infamous dunk contests there has ever been.

While Vince Carter’s “It’s Over!” will forever be an iconic moment from the dunk contest, Aaron Gordon and Zach LaVine put on a show for the ages in 2016 with how they made 50-point dunks look like part of their everyday job, and everyone who followed suit would have to work twice as hard to make it look half as easy.

This year, the four competitors were Cole Anthony, Jalen Green, Juan Toscano-Anderson and Obi Toppin. While Anthony managed to dunk in Timberland boots and Toscano-Anderson paid homage to his Mexican roots with their initial dunks, the crowd also had to endure Green advertising an NFT and then taking Nine Freaking Tries to get his dunk off.

In the end, it was Toppin who would come out as the champion after a 92-point score in the final round, including 47 on his final dunk, becoming the third New York Knick to win the competition.

However, despite Toppin’s final dunk to win the contest, even commentators Dwyane Wade and Reggie Miller gave the contest a “six out of ten,” arguing that it was not as thrilling as prior years.

The youth are the future

The Rookie of the Year race is still very much on, with both Cade Cunningham and Evan Mobley, on his home court, showcasing their skills in the Rising Stars game that kicked off activities on Friday night.

The format for the game changed from a lacklustre game in previous years with no intensity, and was argued to be a waste of time for the young talents. The format has changed many times to try and bring some light to the event that seemed to be a downer for young stars, and this year, they may have found the answer.

Scottie Barnes and Precious Achiuwa represented the Raptors, while other young stars like Josh Giddey, Desmond Bane and Jalen Green all appeared in the games which were made as a mini-tournament divided into Team Barry led by Rick Barry, Team Worthy led by James Worthy, Team Isiah led by Isiah Thomas and Team Payton led by Gary Payton.

Cunningham, the No. 1 overall pick by the Pistons, was named MVP of the game, scored 18 points between the two games while Mobley scored 18 points, 11 rebounds and two assists in the win as teammates for Team Barry.

Though they are rivals in the East and the ROTY race, Cunningham spoke highly of Mobley, saying “he’s big time.”

Other young stars were showcased in the skills challenge, with Mobley joining Team Cavs and Barnes, Giddey and Cunningham making up Team Rooks where the Rooks won the relay competition, earning 200 challenge points, but lost in the final to Team Cavs as Mobley made a half-court shot in just 5.5 seconds.

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