This was one of the best All Star weekends in NBA history.

Scratch that, this was the best All Star weekend in NBA history.

It needs to be said, I was only 6 when MJ and Dominique had their dunk contest showdown, I wasn't alive for, I don't think, any of Dr. J's exploits, I don't have many memories from the early to mid 90's all star weekends and I know that I said the Aaron Gordon and Zach Lavine dunk contests from a few years back was second only to the show Vince Carter put on in the late 90's. But this weekend, this was the absolute greatest I have ever seen. I have become quite disillusioned with recent all star games and weekends. It was becoming a mockery to be quite honest. I am an avid NBA, some would say obsessed, and I was struggling to figure out why I knew the names of the players in the events leading up to the game. As for the games, they were awful. I desperately wanted a team to score 200 points because it would have been amazing, but the games were very boring and took way, way too long. But this year something changed, and it started on Saturday night.

Side note, I did check into the "celebrity" game and the rising stars game on Friday night, but those were not of any real importance, although, the Ja Morant lobs to Zion were beautiful. But, when Saturday night came around we had my folks over, my daughter was still getting over a virus, my dad and I decided to check in on the Saturday night events. My son also was interested in the skills challenge because he is, finally, starting to take some coaching in basketball, and he wanted to see pros do their thing. So we watched the skills competition, not expecting much.

Boy was I wrong to not get excited. It was fun as hell. I loved seeing the big men beat the guards. It was rad that Damontas Sabonis went up against Bam Adebayo for the trophy. And when Bam hit that three to win, I threw my hands up like I bet money on it. It was a total blast. We then decided to stick with it because the skills comp was so fun. The three point contest didn't disappoint either. It started slow, with Trae Young missing a lot. But then Devin Booker, Davis Bertans, Buddy Hield, Duncan Robinson and Joe Harris all went for 20 plus in the first round. In fact, the three guys that made the finals did because they had such high first round scores. And then for Buddy Hield to win it, on the last shot mind you, again, I threw my hands up in excitement. I had no cheering intentions going into this event. I was just looking for a fun, good matchup. what I got was so much more fun, and better. It was great to see it come down to a final shot.

Then I forced my dad to stick around for the dunk contest because, as I told him, the whole night has been awesome, and the dunk contest is the best. He did, and I think he was glad he did. This dunk contest was unreal. I never thought anything would top Vince Carter, or the Lavine-Gordon contest. This one did. This was, hands down, the best dunk contest I have ever seen. Even Dwight Howard and Pat Connaughton were fun. Dwight Howard did a nice thing for Kobe, and even though I didn't want him to perpetuate the stereotype, Connaughton's "White Man Can't Jump" inspired dunk was dope. But this night belonged to Derrick Jones Jr and Aaron Gordon. The things they did were, as my wife put it, balletic. The way they glided through air and did things that I have never seen done before and how hard they hammered the ball through the rim and the flair with which they did it, it was amazing. Aaron Gordon's one handed 360 off the side of the backboard is the best dunk I have ever seen, and may ever see. That was incredible. Derrick Jones Jr proved to me why his nickname is Airplane Mode. The way he glided through the air, put the ball between his legs with ease, looking like he was flying to the rim, it was tremendous. I will say, I agree that Aaron Gordon was robbed, and I get why he won't do the contest again, but what a way to go out. It was incredible. I'm not much for ties, but they should have given both of them a trophy. It was such a spectacular show. It was the perfect way to end the night. It was explosive and fun and entertaining, and simply put, perfect.

I didn't think the actual all star game would be as fun, and for three quarters, I felt justified. Then the fourth quarter happened. I have said it once about the events leading up to the game, and I will say it about the game itself, this was the best all star game I have ever seen. The fourth quarter alone was worth the price of admission. I was so riveted I couldn't take my eyes off the screen. To see the best of the best going toe to toe, playing actual defense, taking charges, denying the ball, forcing bad shots, it was incredible. This showed the true intensity these guys have. It showed fire. It felt like a game 7 playoff game. It was tremendous. The way each team traded blows, it was awesome. Giannis' defense on LeBron, especially that block near the end, was incredible. Kyle Lowry doing his thing was rad. To see him take charges in an all star game was so cool. Joel Embiid playing like the true big man he is was awesome. To watch Team Giannis attack James Harden on defense was like watching a real game. To see the emotion with which LeBron was playing with was so cool. To see him and AD argue with officials, that was what I have been craving. I don't even care that it ended on a made free throw. To see AD hit that second one, with the pressure on, that is how all star games should be played.

This was so tremendous. I hope the NBA keeps up with this. I mean, Kawhi looked like playoff Kawhi last night, and he was a much deserving MVP winner. I also love that they renamed the trophy to the Kobe Bryant All Star game MVP trophy. This whole thing was a great way to honor someone like Kobe, who took these games almost as serious as Jordan did. I loved everything about this all star weekend. This needs to continue to happen. The NBA found a formula that works, and they need to stick to it.

What a great, great, great all star weekend. I will not soon forget it. It was awesome. Well done NBA.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing, the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast, and the greatest basketball writer on the internet. 

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