With just under a week to go until the NBA All-Star game begins, fans should be aware that there are some changes to the weekend. One of the weekend’s biggest changes is with the Dunk Contest. While there will still be a dunk contest, no individual player will be crowned. The NBA seems to be making an effort to make these events more about team play and pinning the Eastern Conference vs. the Western Conference; this is clear in the Dunk Contest.
The contest will now be a team effort with three players from each conference “dunking” for the title of best conference. Eastern Conference dunkers are Paul George (INd. Pacers), Terrence Ross (Tor. Raptors), and John Wall (Wash. Wizards); the Western Conference dunkers are Harrison Barnes (GS. Warriors), Damian Lillard (Port. Trail Blazers), and Ben McLemore (Sac. Kings). The dunkers will compete in two rounds; the first being a Freestyle round where each team will have 90 seconds for their players to showcase as many dunks as they can. The second round or the Battle Round the dunkers will be pitted in head-to-head matchups; the judges will pick a winner from each matchup and the other player is eliminated. In the battle round the first conference to win three matchups wins the contest.
This style of team play is consistent in the shooting stars competition, the skills challenge, the three-point contest, and the main event the All-Star game. The only event that is not an Eastern Conference vs. Western Conference event is the Rising Stars challenge which pits rookies vs. second year players. For this year’s contest players were drafted by retired players, and coaches for the game, Grant Hill and Chris Webber. The contest should be interesting although it will provide no indication to what conference, eastern or western, has the best young stars.
The contest will now be a team effort with three players from each conference “dunking” for the title of best conference. Eastern Conference dunkers are Paul George (INd. Pacers), Terrence Ross (Tor. Raptors), and John Wall (Wash. Wizards); the Western Conference dunkers are Harrison Barnes (GS. Warriors), Damian Lillard (Port. Trail Blazers), and Ben McLemore (Sac. Kings). The dunkers will compete in two rounds; the first being a Freestyle round where each team will have 90 seconds for their players to showcase as many dunks as they can. The second round or the Battle Round the dunkers will be pitted in head-to-head matchups; the judges will pick a winner from each matchup and the other player is eliminated. In the battle round the first conference to win three matchups wins the contest.
This style of team play is consistent in the shooting stars competition, the skills challenge, the three-point contest, and the main event the All-Star game. The only event that is not an Eastern Conference vs. Western Conference event is the Rising Stars challenge which pits rookies vs. second year players. For this year’s contest players were drafted by retired players, and coaches for the game, Grant Hill and Chris Webber. The contest should be interesting although it will provide no indication to what conference, eastern or western, has the best young stars.