NBA All-Star Weekend: Six key questions ahead of this weekend’s showcase in Cleveland | NBA News – Reuters

The 2022 NBA All-Star begins this weekend in Cleveland and thrills shouldn’t be missing from the Clorox Rising Stars game on Friday at State Farm All-Star Saturday Night and, of course, the 71st NBA All-Star Game on Sunday.

It promises to be a fabulous weekend of action and you can enjoy it every day live on Sky Sports.

Below are six key questions surrounding these events as NBA All-Star Weekend begins Friday night.

Will Team LeBron remain undefeated?

Team LeBron has 4 Kia ​​MVPs, but does Team Durant have the flashiest players?

His Hall of Fame-bound resume will primarily focus on his four NBA championships, 10 Finals appearances and high position on the league’s all-time goalscoring and assists list, but the track record of LeBron James during All-Star Weekend also deserves attention. Team LeBron has gone 4-0 in the All-Star Game since James became captain in the NBA’s new All-Star Game format. He looks set to remain unbeaten with a roster this year including Stephen Curry, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Nikola Jokic.

Certainly, the risk of drafting All-Stars pales considerably towards building an actual NBA roster through the draft, trades, and free agency under a salary cap. Nonetheless, James has struck a good balance each year between size and speed, shooters and defenders as well as veterans and rising stars.

Who will be the All-Star MVP?

There are several possible candidates. James could join Kobe Bryant and Bob Pettit as the only players in NBA history to collect four All-Star MVPs. Giannis Antetokounmpo could join Russell Westbrook as the only player in NBA history to win the All-Star MVP award in consecutive seasons. Or Chris Paul could win his second All-Star MVP nine years after winning his first.

My big favorite is James for several reasons. He has the potential to make All-Star history. He can do it when he returns to Cleveland. And he may enjoy relative success after facing plenty of adversity in the first half of the 2021-22 campaign with the Lakers.

Still, don’t be surprised if Joel Embiid, Ja Morant or DeMar DeRozan win the new Kobe Bryant trophy awarded to the All-Star MVP.

How will Cleveland celebrate NBA 75?

The league will celebrate NBA 75 at halftime on Sunday with a ceremony that will include award-winning singer and part-time Cavaliers owner (Usher), director and avid New York Knicks fan (Spike Lee) and comedians ( Tiffany Haddish, Anthony Anderson). Safe to say that some members of the NBA’s 75th Anniversary team will also attend the ceremony. It’s unclear exactly who of the past and present living NBA players on this list will be there.

I guess most will attend the event, though. When the NBA celebrated its 50th anniversary at the 1997 All-Star Game in Cleveland, 47 of those 50 players were in attendance.

How will the dunk contest bounce back?

Last year’s dunk contest deserves a mulligan. It took place at halftime of the All-Star Game. There were no fans in the arena. And there were only three players who actually entered the contest. The circumstances all stem from security and planning issues surrounding the pandemic.

But even during pre-pandemic times, the NBA struggled to attract talent like it could in the 80s (Michael Jordan, Dominique Wilkins), early 2000s (Vince Carter) and in the last decade (Blake Griffin, Zach LaVine, Aaron Gordon). Can Jalen Green, Obi Toppin, Cole Anthony, and/or Juan Toscano-Anderson come up with creative, high-flying dunks during AT&T Slam Dunk? All candidates have a promise. Green has been solid as a rookie in part because of his flair and athleticism. Toppin competed in last year’s contest which involved two dunks between the legs as well as a pinwheel after jumping over his dad and teammate (Julius Randle). Anthony and Toscano-Anderson also played with confidence and creativity.

Who can make the NBA 3-point contest as enjoyable as last year’s event?

Trae Young, Karl-Anthony Towns and Zach LaVine spotlight the MTN DEW 3-Point Contest entrants for this year’s All-Star State Farm Saturday Night.

It’s hard to top last year’s contest when Stephen Curry once again showed how he became the NBA’s best shooter of all time. Even though this year’s MTN DEW 3-Point Contest champ lacks a favorite and a true fan favorite, the class looks intriguing because of the parity. Maybe LaVine is rectifying last year’s first-round exit; or maybe Trae Young is becoming a showman like he did last year in the Atlanta Hawks’ first-round playoff series against the New York Knicks; or maybe Karl-Anthony Towns serves as a poster boy for big men adapting to the modern game. Don’t overlook CJ McCollum, Desmond Bane, Fred VanVleet, Luke Kennard or Patty Mills, though. All of these players can hit from deep within groups.

How will the new Rising Stars bracket unfold?

The NBA has made a new addition to this year’s Clorox Rising Stars. There are four teams consisting of 12 rookies, 12 sophomores, and four G League Ignite players who will compete in a three-game mini-tournament. In honor of the NBA’s 75th anniversary, the first two games will be played until a team reaches 50 points. The winner of game three is the first team to reach 25 points.

The last two NBA All-Star Games have become more competitive than other All-Star snoozers due to the so-called “Elam Ending”. Under this format, there is no running game clock in the fourth quarter. In honor of Bryant’s number 24 jersey number during the second half of his NBA career, the All-Star Game takes the winning team’s score after three quarters and adds an additional 24 points to set the necessary target score to win the game.

This format created a competitive atmosphere for an All-Star Game that has often been missed in other years. Expect the Rising Stars tournament to play out the same way.