NBA All-Star Weekend Needs Some Change

The NBA all star game is starting to look more and more like the pro bowl before they went to flag football. Let’s discuss.

This is the first time in a long time that I can remember not even being interested in the all star game. I used to live for the whole weekend. I always wanted to watch the slam dunk competition. I'd tune in for the three point final. I enjoy the skills competition. I used to even watch the celebrity game to see who was actually skilled at basketball. And the way to close out the weekend was seeing the game with the best the NBA had to offer that season. These dudes used to take it semi seriously. They'd give a little bit of effort. They'd show what they could do against one another. Hell, with the addition of the Elam ending a few years back, that made the last couple of points highly competitive and fun to watch. Go back before the pandemic shut down the season. That all star ending was dramatic and fun to see. Watching LeBron and Giannis go toe to toe, that was amazing. It was cool

The NBA All-Star Game today is just a layup lane and a dunk contest. Oh, and they shoot massive amounts of threes from everywhere on the floor. I saw a clip of Damian Lillard pulling up from halfcourt. No defense was in sight and he heaved it. It went in, but it was so anticlimactic for me. This wasn't a buzzer beater. This wasn't a heat check. Lillard pulled up during an exhibition game because he figured, who cares, no one is trying or really going hard at all. I am all for scoring. I like when the games are 140-135. I do find the theater in that to be quite dramatic and engaging. But that happens when both teams are going all out. They want the win. They are trying on both ends, it just so happens that both teams are scorching from the floor. That was not the case with the clips I've seen from last night's game. Karl Anthony Towns scored 50 points, and he was never truly considered for game MVP. Tyrese Haliburton hit five threes in his first five attempts and decided that was all he was going to shoot. Luka Doncic was doing his usual bull shit that some fans love, I cannot stand it. Anthony Edwards and KAT kept throwing the ball back and forth to one another. It felt forced at times, but also incredibly boring. Looking at the stats makes this even more glaring that no one cares. KAT took 35 shots. In an all star game. KD took 12, eight of which were threes. Steph Curry missed 11 of his 17 shots, thirteen of which were from 3. Anthony Edwards only took three shots during the whole game. Lillard took 26 shots, 23 coming from 3. Bam Adebayo only took two shots, and he was a starter. Paolo Banchero and Scottie Barnes combined for 19 shots. I wanted to see more from them. Jalen Brunson took nine of his twelve shots from 3. Tyrese Maxey only got up five shots. And Jaylen Brown inexplicably took 23 shots. Awful.

It doesn't make much sense to me what they are even doing anymore. Why not more from LeBron? Anthony Edwards is an up and coming star, but he barely got any time. Tyrese Haliburton and Shai Gilgeous Alexander are fun when they run up and down the floor. They didn't do that last night. No big men really do much of anything. It is bad, and getting worse. They did away with the Elam ending too, which makes zero sense to me. All in all, this was about as bad as it could get for the professional league that I think is the best in the country. The east scored over 200 points, but I don't even care this morning. The West had 186, and my thought was, that's it? That should not be the case when these types of numbers are being put up.

It wasn't just the game that didn't interest me. Mac McClung won the dunk contest again. So what? He is a G League lifer and sideshow at this point. Lillard won the 3 point contest again. Great. He's an amazing shooter. The celebrity game is dumb. The nonsense they are doing with the rookies versus sophomores game is wildly idiotic. The whole weekend is a waste for the fans. I fully understand that this is a break for these guys, and they deserve it. But to be this nonchalant and flippant is a major turnoff. I think the NBA may be better off just giving the players a week off in the middle of the season than making a select few play in an all star game. A week off may benefit everyone.

Something has got to change though. This all star game was very, very cringey. 

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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Where are the All Star NBA Dunkers

The NBA dunk contest field is set, and it is not great.

I used to live for the dunk contest. It was my favorite part of NBA all star weekend. This was when Vince Carter would show up and wow the fans. His dunk contest is still the GOAT dunk contest ever. But it started to wane when they gave contestants as much time as they needed to complete a dunk. It was pretty unwatchable back then. They decided to put a time limit on dunks, and that made it much better. This was when we got the Zach Lavine and Aaron Gordon contests that were only bested by Vince Carter. Hell, even when Victor Oladipo showed up and did a dunk in the Black Panther mask, it was still pretty dope.

Now the stars are not entering the contest. We are starting to get backup players and G League players. I fully understand why LeBron has never entered. He has nothing to prove. But why don't we have players like Anthony Edwards joining? Where is a guy like Obi Toppin? How come Ja Morant has never been here? Why does Zion Williamson opt out every season? I mean, it is because they don't want to get hurt, but come on. Michael Jordan was in a dunk contest when he was young. Larry Nance wowed the crowd. Julius Erving did some wild dunks. We need some young star players to get in this contest again. That will make it fun.

This season, and no disrespect to these guys, they are better athletes than I could ever dream of being, it is a bunch of no names, minus one guy that I don't think of as a dunker when I watch him play. The biggest name is Jaylen Brown. And he can do some powerful stuff when he decides he wants to. But he is more of a slasher/three point shooter. He has one, maybe 2 highlight dunks in his whole career. He is wildly athletic. He can jump out of the gym. But I don't think he is really going to bring it this season. The Celtics have a real shot to win the finals this year, and he is a very important player for them. They need him to be healthy for the stretch run. I think he will dunk it hard, but I don't expect true fireworks from him. Then we have KJ Martin. He is a fine dunker. He is a fine leaper. He can maybe do some cool stuff. But the guy is a lifelong backup, and he doesn't have the charisma that Nate Robinson had when he was joining dunk contests. I don't think people outside of true NBA fandom really know who KJ Martin is as a player. Hell, I forgot he was in the contest until my 12 year reminded me. Then we have two G League guys. Mac McClung is back to defend his win from last season. McClung at this point is a sideshow. He is never going to be a viable NBA player, but the NBA seems more than happy to roll him out for the dunk contest. He is like those guys that go to driving ranges and wack the ball as far as they can. He is a freakshow. He is someone who comes out to do some dunks and then goes back into his G League hole. And then we have Jacob Toppin. This is, by far, the lesser of the two Toppin's playing professional basketball. I'm sure he is a fine leaper, but who really cares about him being here? I sure as hell don't. I don't even know what team he is currently on and how much run he actually gets game to game.

This is a less than stellar field. I have no real will to watch this season. I hope I'm proven wrong, but probably not. I'm sure the NBA doesn't really care about the contestants, but the fans should. This is a bummer. The whole all star weekend is becoming kind of a drag and kind of pointless. I get that the players need the break, but some changes have got to be made. The NBA is usually pretty great about trying new things out and making it fun and enjoyable. They need to do that with all star weekend sooner rather than later. 

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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Ty Kinda Watches the NBA All Star Weekend

NBA all star weekend was this past weekend. I love the NBA. It is the best professional sports league in my opinion and they do the most for player empowerment. Besides college football, basketball, mainly the NBA, is my next favorite sport to watch.

For the past few years I have been really glued to the TV for all star weekend. I love the camaraderie, the spectacle, the events and, for the most part, the game. The three point contest has become the best event for me to watch, but some of the other stuff is cool too. Even with the dunk contest being kind of blah, there have been one or two that have been solid. And this new skills thing is very cool. I enjoy that very much.

I also think, due to the pandemic, that I am prone to be home more on the weekend. That gives me a reason to sit back and watch. Basketball has also been a stress reliever for me since the pandemic started. I can get lost in the action and not think about COVID or the awfulness that happens every day. But this year has been different for me. I go out a little more than I have since 2020. I have gone back to a few concerts. I have been to a couple NBA games. I have seen some movies in the theaters. I have even gone to a restaurant to have a meal inside occasionally.

Point is, I was not as attentive to all star weekend as I have been in the past. I did watch some of it, but other things and more important people got in the way. And I am happy about that. I did not watch a second of the Friday night stuff. I usually skip this anyway. I'm not interested in the celebrity game or the open practices that they broadcast live. That stuff is boring to me. Even when I am familiar with some of the celebs, that game is not watchable. And I do not know who a lot of the current celebrities even are anymore. I'm officially old. I do like to tune in to the Saturday night festivities. This is when they do the skills challenge, the three point contest and the dunk contest. This year I only saw the final round of the dunk contest. My son had an 8pm game and I coach his team. I also forgot that the skills stuff starts at 7, but we were out the door by 7:15 anyway. So I missed the entirety of the skills and three point contest. I did get a notification that Dame won the 3 point contest, which is dope, but it wasn't until Sunday morning when I saw the Jazz were the skills champs. I didn't even bother to look at highlights of either as well. We missed the first two rounds of the dunk contest and it was mere coincidence that we watched the final round. My son got cleaned up and asked if he could watch the dunk contest before he went to bed. I said yeah and told him I'd watch with him. I don't even remember who Mac McClung went up against, I think it was Trey Murphy, but that final round for McClung was dope. I was highly skeptical of him being in the field, but he showed out and did some cool stuff. That 540, or maybe 720 dunk was incredible. I was in awe just like all the NBA players watching courtside. He earned that dunk title and the mythology around his leaping ability was answered on Saturday night.

Sunday is the game and I usually tune in for at least a half. I love the Elam ending, so I always want to watch that. And my son and I watched the whole draft before the game. I love this new format. I like how they switched it to be like you are on the playground. I have to imagine it is so much fun for these superstars to do something like this. It has to make them feel like a kid again. And you could see how cool Giannis and LeBron thought it was to pick their players live. And to see the guys waiting to be picked was cool too. It was neat to see them get their team jersey and take their picture in that same exact moment. This is one of the many things I love about the NBA, their willingness to try something different. I was all about the draft and figured we'd watch a bit. But it was dinner time right after that. Sunday night we turn off the TV and eat at the table. Last night was no different. My son said something about watching after dinner and we both agreed we would, but we forgot, and I did not mind forgetting. The all star game is devoid of defense anyway until the end and it is a glorified dunk contest. I like how high scoring it gets, but it also does get a bit boring after a few minutes. So after dinner my son went downstairs and my wife and I watched other shows. I basically forgot the game was on. My son watched for a bit but he too came upstairs and said the game was kind of boring. He hung out with us until he went to bed. And I never turned the game on. I went to bed and fell asleep, totally forgetting about the all star game. I woke up and watched highlights and saw that Jayson Tatum put up incredible numbers and was the well deserved MVP, Tatum is so great at basketball, but I have no real urge to go back and watch. My son recorded it and watched a bit this morning before turning it off and playing NBA 2k instead.

I guess it is good that I am getting back out into the world and sports isn't the end all be all it was before, but I am kind of kicking myself for not tuning in too much this weekend. My love for basketball is still alive and well, but maybe my love for all star weekend is fading a bit, and that is okay. But believe me, I will be tuning into the second half of the season because we are down to the nitty gritty and it is going to be a fun push to the playoffs. That I will most definitely be watching. 

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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Ty Watches the 2022 NBA All Star Weekend

Let's talk about the NBA all star weekend now. I

want to get the boring or not so good things out of the way first. The celebrity game was so bad that I tuned out after a few minutes. My son stayed with it a bit longer, but even though he is ten and currently obsessed with basketball, turned it off before halftime. He came upstairs in our house and exclaimed, "what a terrible game that was". Again, he is ten. The one cool thing is my wife knew about the MVP of the game, Alex Toussaint, because she rides a Peloton and does some of his classes. Other than that, it was rough stuff. And then we have the dunk contest. This year was real bad. So was last year. The past two dunk contests have reminded me of the post Vince Carter, pre Zach Lavine and Aaron Gordon dunk contests. There were way too many misses, way too many free attempts, dunks that were amazing, but not as great as some other things I have seen and it took far too long. Go look up the picture of Shaq watching the dunk contest this year and that sums it up perfectly. It was bad. I was also very confused by the skills competition. I usually like this portion of the weekend, but the scoring was weird, the teams were off and it was all around confusing. I did like the passing thing and the obstacle course, but the half court shot was not needed, and the shooting from different areas for different amounts of points, I could have done without that. But it was dope to see Evan Mobley and Darius Garland perform really well.

Let's get to some of the better aspects of the weekend. Even though the top 75 draft was like watching paint dry, it was rad to hear former greats talk about other greats and what made them so great. Dominique Wilkins messed up by not picking Jordan first overall, but that is besides the point. It was neat to hear them all go into great detail about what made these players so great. I also liked the three point contest. The three point contest can drag from time to time, but seeing Karl Anthony Towns go far, and then win it all, that was pretty great. The other competitors did solid, but KAT crushed, and it was dope to see a big man win it for once. I also liked the new format of the rising stars game. It was a neat way to switch it up a bit. Change can be good, and this was a very solid change and I hope they continue to roll with it this way going forward.

Finally we have the actual game. The closer to the whole weekend. The game itself was kind of blah for the entirety of the first half. There was no defense, tons of scoring and dunks galore. I did love the dunks. It was incredible to see these guys do some amazing athletic feats. I especially loved seeing Ja Morant do two 360 dunks. It was also amazing to watch Steph hit eight threes in the first half. Steph usually does not bring it in all star games. But I think the fact that he has been in a minor slump for a bit, and that the Cleveland crowd booed him, he decided he was going to bring it. He hit eight more threes in the second half and made a two pointer and ended the night with 50. Giannis also scored 30. LeBron was in the mid 20's. There were a lot of points being scored by the biggest names in the league right now. It was wild. And then, with the Elam Ending in place, that makes the final quarter so much fun to watch. It was a nail biter, each team traded baskets and the ending was almost too perfect. LeBron hit a fadeaway jumper, in Cleveland, after making comments about how he was not closing the door on returning there to end his career. It was awesome.

The NBA all star weekend has some things they need to work out, namely the dunk contest, but the game, especially with the Elam Ending, has been really fun for the last three seasons.

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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The NBA Actually Put on a Pretty Great All Star Weekend

Even though I don't think they should have done it, and I bet Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons would agree with me, I watched the NBA All Star game, and the skills stuff they did, and I enjoyed it. Sure it wasn't as intense and close and nail biting as last season's, but hey, it was still a good time.

I started on Saturday night by tuning in to the 2 on 2 game featuring four rappers. I'll admit, I do not know who any of them are, but the game was fine. I believe Quavo's team won, and that dude is a solid basketball player. He stole the show. And yesterday, I kind of checked in on all of the festivities. I watched the skills competition, and that was fun. Damontas Sabonis won, but I bet Chris Paul would have if he didn't blow that layup. Also, Luka Doncic looked totally out of sorts doing the skills. I'm sure he was going about 25 percent, but still, he was missing that pass far too much. Sabonis also got lucky that he faced Nikola Vucevic in the finals. Those two were bricking three after three. But still, I found myself enjoying it. Then we had the three point contest. I will tell you right now, this was the best event of the evening, and I am including the game itself. Steph Curry proved, again, that when he wants to be engaged, he is the best shooter in the league. Other guys had solid rounds. Donovan Mitchell and Zach Lavine put up some big numbers. Mike Conley, who was a late addition, gave Curry all he could in the final. But Curry just proved that he is elite. He proved that he is the best of the best. Reggie Miller even pushed him, asking if he told everyone in the contest that they would be coming in second. Curry did not answer, but I bet he said those exact words. And the way he won it, on the last shot, the moneyball, that is how these events should go. I also liked that he dedicated the trophy to Klay Thompson, and said that he was one of the only people who could truly beat him in a three point shooting contest. Steph Curry is a great dude.

The three point contest led into the game, and this was a blowout from the jump. Everyone knew that LeBron picked a better team right after the "draft" was done. He had Steph, himself, Dame, Giannis, Jaylen Brown. Chris Paul, Rudy Gobert, Luka and Nikola Jokic. He had shooting, defense, ball handling, passing and athleticism. Team Durant was great, but not on Team LeBron's level. Durant had Harden and Beal, Kyrie, Kawhi, Jayson Tatum, Zach Lavine, Donovan Mitchell, Julius Randle and Zion. They had a whole lot of shooting, and that is about it. They didn't really have size, due to Embiid being ruled out. Zion barely played, but man did he have some nice dunks. Kawhi seemed to be going about 50 percent. And Tatum, while being probably the second best defender on the team, only tried when he was guarding Jaylen Brown. Everyone expected that Team LeBron would win, and they did, in convincing fashion. As I said, Zion had some nice dunks, but that was about all the highlights Team Durant had. Team LeBron featured Giannis shooting 16 of 16 from the field. Dame and Steph were popping off threes from nearly half court and burying them. LeBron had one of his usual high flying breakaway dunks. CP3 was making great moves and setting up guys for easy looks. Rudy Gobert was throwing down lobs. Jaylen Brown was awesome everywhere. They just had the better squad. And even with the Elam ending, where teams did pick up the play a bit, Team LeBron had it in the bag. It was pretty rad to see Dame end it on a shot that was, maybe, a few steps in from half court. It was a fun game.

There was also the dunk contest at halftime, which I thought was a neat little wrinkle. Obi Toppin, Cassius Stanley and Anfernee Simons didn't light up the place, but it was still fun to watch these dudes do amazing dunks that we know consider average. That Toppin reverse between the legs was dope. The first Cassius Stanley dunk was rad. The stuff Simons did, considering he is "only" 6'3, it was amazing. It wasn't the best dunk contest, but it certainly was not the worst.

In the end, Giannis got the much deserved MVP, he shot 100 percent from the field, and they were able to pull this off and it was still fun. I may not agree with them in playing an All Star game this year, but hey, it was fun and it held my attention. The NBA is the best.

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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Ty Watches the 2020 NBA All Star Weekend

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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Still Pumped After a Great NBA All Star Weekend

On Friday I gave some predictions, and what I was looking forward to, for NBA All Star weekend. Now that it is all wrapped up I want to talk about some observations I had. I was only right about 2 things, that Team US would beat Team World in the Rising Stars game, and that Team LeBron would win the All Star game. Other than that, I was wrong.

First of all, I have to eat some major crow about the three point contest. I figured Steph would win, and win easily. While he did make it to the Finals, and scorched in the first round with 27 points, the guy a lot of other journalists were high on, Joe Harris, took home the crown. I wasn't as high on him, I thought it was all smoke, but the dude can shoot. He filled it up with 25 in one round, the round that mattered. I was wrong, Steph didn't win, and Harris did. I didn't think that he could do it, I thought people were just trying to be NBA hipsters, but they were right and I was wrong.

I also blew it on the skills competition. I figured DeAaron Fox would literally run away with it, but that competition was filled with wild finishes. Fox got beat on a crazy deep three from Kyle Kuzma after racing out to a huge lead. Then, when Trae Young advanced to the finals against Saint Louis' own Jayson Tatum, he raced out to a big lead only to be beaten on a half court shot. It was wild, fun and really neat to see.

Props to Tatum for taking that shot, and even more props to him for making it. In the rising stars game, Team USA jumped to an early lead and ran away with the game. John Collins did some impressive stuff. So did Marvin Bagley. I also liked what Luka Doncic and DeAndre Ayton did for Team World. I really enjoyed this game and it was a good watch. These guys are the future, and they showed out.

The dunk contest was great. I was a bit skeptical because the names weren't household. I knew the guys because I am a dork about the NBA, but I am pretty sure the average fan had no idea who the four guys were. But, they did great. I loved Miles Bridges dunk off the side of the backboard when he wore a throw back Larry Johnson jersey. It was neat. John Collins did some good stuff. He is a powerful dunker, but he can also fly. I saw a picture of him and his forehead was above the rim. It was sweet. But Dennis Smith Jr and Hamidou Diallo put on a god damn show. The stuff DSJ did was super duper athletic. When he jumped over J. Cole and did a windmill while doing it, I wanted to jump out of my seat. He can really fly. I figured he was a shoe in to win. I wanted him to win. But I did say to watch out for Diallo. The kid could jump in college, and he proved that tenfold in the dunk contest. He too had a picture where his head was above the rim, and he looked at ease. It was like he didn't even have to really try to jump that high. It looked effortless. But that dunk he did in the second round, when he dunked over Shaq and did the honey dip, it was akin to what Zach Lavine and Aaron Gordon did a few years back, or dare I say, what Vince Carter did in 2000. I was amazed at all his dunks, but the one over Shaq in particular. It was a phenomenal show of athleticism. This Diallo kid is legit, and I hope he continues to do the dunk contest every year.

All this was just an appetizer to the game. The big game that is. Team LeBron versus Team Giannis. It was a good game. It was a competitive game. There was the slightest bit of defense played. And a ton of shots went up. Seeing Team Giannis jump out to that big lead was great. The alley oop to him from Steph, where he bounce passed it and Giannis seemed to jump 10 feet in the year, was one of the best things I have witnessed in an All Star game. It was awesome. Then, to see Damien Lillard hit 3 straight threes, 2 of which from very, very deep, was incredible. That run that Team LeBron went on in the third was pretty neat. They seemingly couldn't miss. And just when you thought that Team Giannis was about to start making a run, tying it up several times in the second half, Team LeBron, mainly KD, just kept making threes. It was a decent All Star game. I still think Giannis should have won the MVP, he went for 38 on something like 17 of 23 from the field, but I suppose a player from the winning team deserved to be MVP, and KD was the best player on the winning team last night.

All in all this past weekend was a good one for the NBA. All the side games were good, and the All Star game was fun. 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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Time to Get Pumped for the 2019 NBA All Star Weekend

This weekend is All Star weekend for the NBA. I enjoy All Star weekend. I used to love it, but now I just enjoy it. I like the skills competition, the three point and dunk contest, the rising stars game and the actual game. I think the only thing I don’t really care for is the celebrity all star game. Some people go way too hard, Winn Butler, some turn it into a showcase for themselves, Kevin Hart, and the rest just don’t seem to care. It’s dull.

Let’s look at the good events. The dunk contest used to be my absolute favorite part of the weekend. It used to be filled with actual stars, and it was awesome. I will always, always remember Vince Carter. It was amazing. The contest then started to really drop off when the contestants got endless chances. It dragged and the participants weren’t the upper echelon. The one that really upset me, the opposite of the Vince Carter one, was when Chris Andersen spent what seemed like 45 minutes to complete one dunk. But, I do have to say, it’s been better the past couple years. Dennis Smith Jr got robbed last year, but it was still fun. And 2 years ago, the show that Zach Lavine and Aaron Gordon put on, was tremendous. Go back and check that out. So I do have faith. The three point contest is great to see the pure shooting, with no defense. And the rising stars game has become much more fun because they went to US versus World and all the future stars of the league are there. The skills competition is neat too, especially when you have a guard up against a big man. The game itself, while totally devoid of defense and full effort, I find enjoyable. I want to see all the points. I want each team go score 200. I’d love to see a 60 or 70 point quarter. I am one of the very few that find the game slightly enjoyable.

With all this being said, I want to make a few predictions for the festivities this weekend. First off, I guarantee the National Anthem will be so much better than the mess that was Fergie last year. That one is easy. As far as the rising stars game, I have the US. Team World has some studs, namely Luka Doncic, big Team US has guys like Jayson Tatum, Trae Young and Jaren Jackson. I just feel like they’ll be able to build a solid lead and win the game. In the three point contest I have Steph. I’ve seen and heard a bunch of people say that Joe Harris will win? Why? Steph is the best shooter in the league, maybe the best of all time. He may not take it as seriously as the other contestants, but he doesn’t have to. He’s that good. Steph all the way. The skills competition is DeAron Fox’s to lose. He is, by far, the most skilled guy in it. He’s also super fast, but under control. Fox is about to become a big name in the NBA. As for the dunk contest, I have DSJ all the way. He got screwed last year, he’s just been traded and I feel like he has something to prove. I have a feeling he’s going to do something amazing. Also though, don’t sleep on Hamidou Diallo. That dude is super athletic and has amazing hops. As for the actual game, I think Team LeBron wins. They are stacked. He got the best scorers, passers, and if they try, defenders. I don’t buy that all the guys he took he’s going to recruit to LA like everyone keeps saying. I think Team Giannis will make it a game, but I just think Team LeBron is better. That being said, I think Giannis Antentekoumpo will win his first of 2 MVP’s this season. He’s been amazing all year. His team had the best record. He will go hard in the game because that’s what he does. And he’s pretty much unguardable. He is so good, and I think he will prove that tenfold in the All Star game.

I’m excited for the weekend. I love basketball, and to see the best of the best in one arena always amazes me. I hope you all watch too. I know I will. I really enjoy NBA All Star weekend.

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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SeedSing is funded by a group of awesome people. Join them by donating to SeedSing.

The NBA All Star Weekend Was Kind of a Dud

As I promised yesterday, today I will break down all the other things from the NBA All Star weekend. Friday and Saturday, leading up to the game on Sunday, was kind of a bore, if I am being honest.

I, for some unknown reason, watched the celebrity "all star" game on Friday night. I don't know what possessed me to watch. Maybe it was the fact that my trip to Chicago was cancelled, maybe it was because my mom was injured, maybe it was because that was the only thing that was on at my folks house when we went to visit them that night. I will never be able to pinpoint why, but I watched. As it is with most of these celebrity games, it was a mess. The basketball was mediocre at best. When the pros got in, Tracy McGrady and Paul Pierce, they didn't care enough to even try, which is their right. They have played tons of NBA minutes, so they don't need to go all out in a dumbass game. But, when they were announcing who was on the floor, I didn't know who most of these "celebrities" were. Sure, I new Justin Bieber and Jaime Foxx. Those guys are bona fide stars. I also knew Candace Parker because she is probably the best female player right now. But, some names like Quavo, Katie DeMita, the K-pop singer, the little kid from "Black-ish", and many others, I had no idea. I think it is a mixture of 2 things. One, I am getting older, and I honestly do not know who younger kids look up to anymore. Second, the people involved with the celebrity game have a very loose meaning of the word "celebrity". I know that Winn Butler is in a very popular band, but would I call him a celebrity, absolutely not. That is how I felt with pretty much everyone involved except for Foxx, Bieber, Parker and McGrady and Pierce. Everyone else was non existent in my pop culture lexicon. After the game my only take away was that this Quavo fella can play a little ball. Besides the male and female pros, he was the best player on the court. The dude can play. The celebrity game was a complete waste of time. It was boring, bad and a rough watch.

I figured Saturday night would be better, and while it was, it wasn't that much better. I expected great things from the 3 challenges, and they all kind of ended up very blah. The night started off with the skills competition. I kind of like this game. I like seeing the big men weave through stations and make crisp passes and hit three pointers. It is even better when you see the guards do it. Well, the skills competition this year was very ho hum. I think Spencer Dinwiddie, of the Brooklyn Nets won, beating Lauri Markanen. I was not stoked to see those 2 guys in the finals. I would have rather seen Joel Embiid make it. Or Andre Drummond. Or Jamal Murray. Those guys are more widely known than Dinwiddie and Markanen. It was kind of boring.

The three point competition was better, but not by much. There were some big names this year in the three point contest. Guys like Klay Thompson, Paul George, Bradley Beal and Eric Gordon. Three of those 4 guys were all stars, and Gordon won sixth man of the year last year, and the three point contest last year. There were other guys, guys like Tobias Harris and Devin Booker. But, I was all in for watching the all stars. Paul George laid an egg. Eric Gordon didn't even come close to repeating. Brad Beal was ice cold in the last half of the first round. But, Klay did put up some decent numbers. So did Harris and Booker. The final came down to Thompson and Booker, and this was the best part of the contest. Both guys really showed out in the finals. Booker went first and got 28 points, hitting all of his "money ball" rack, and breaking a record. Thompson had his chance to win, and while he put up a great effort, he only got 25. Both of these guys proved why they are elite shooters and great deep threats in the NBA. This final was the one saving grace of the three point contest.

To end the night they had the slam dunk contest. This is the event I look most forward to every year during the all star break. There were four really good competitors this year. We had Victor Oladipo, Dennis Smith Jr, Larry Nance Jr and Donovan Mitchell. These are four young, hyper athletic guys that could easily be the future of the NBA. And, while 3 of them didn't disappoint, the judging was horrendous. First off, Oladipo tried a nearly impossible dunk in the first round and missed all three attempts. Then in the second round, he put on a Black Panther mask, which was cool as hell. But, he did, for him, a very easy dunk after missing his first attempt. He had 5 chances and only made one dunk. Dennis Smith Jr had an okay first round dunk. His second round dunk should have put him in the finals. He did a reverse 360, put the ball through his legs and dunked with his off hand. It was truly amazing. Donovan Mitchell did a very cool first round dunk, where he bounced a ball off a different backboard than he dunked on. His second round dunk was good too, he paid homage to Eddie Griffith, AKA Dr. Dunkenstein, and put down a solid dunk, but Smith Jr's second dunk was better. Larry Nance Jr paid homage to his dad, even donning his old Suns jersey, and that dunk was incredible. Then, he had his dad come out and throw him a pass and proceeded to windmill the shit out of the dunk. His first 2 dunks were better than anyone else's. He made it to the finals, deservedly, and his opponent was Mitchell. While Mitchell had 2 solid dunks, Smith Jr's were better. He should have made it. Then in the finals, both Nance Jr and Mitchell had solid dunks. Mitchell did another throwback, wearing Vince Carter's Raptors jersey from when he won the contest, but it wasn't as impressive as it could have been. Larry Nance Jr did a double tap off the backboard, which is insanely hard, but he didn't get the win that he deserved. That brings me to the judging. The fact that they felt they needed 3 other judges besides Lisa Leslie and Dr. J was astonishing to me. Those 2 were more than enough to judge dunks. But, to put Chris Rock, who I love but is admittedly not an athlete, Marky Mark, which why is he even relevant anymore, and the worst of the bunch, DJ Khaled, who should never, ever judge anyone doing something athletic, was just wrong. Those three had no idea what they were doing. It was kind of embarrassing. Donovan Mitchell ending up winning, even though I think Nance Jr deserved it. The dunk contest, while being the best part of the night, was very ho hum, much like the rest of the stuff leading to the all star game.

I usually look forward to all the stuff leading up to the all star game, but this year was kind of a dud. Hopefully it gets better next year.

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. 

Follow Ty on instagram and twitter.

SeedSing is funded by a group of awesome people. Join them by donating to SeedSing.