Clash of the Basketball Titans: NBA All-Star Weekend 2020

The players composing Team LeBron (left) and Team Giannis (right) after the All-Star Draft on Feb. 6.

The players composing Team LeBron (left) and Team Giannis (right) after the All-Star Draft on Feb. 6.

The All-Star Weekend of the 2020 NBA Season concluded on Sunday, Feb. 16, with Team LeBron’s epic 157-155 defeat of Team Giannis.  This year’s All-Star Game was the exciting culmination of many format changes which have occurred over the past several years. Beginning this year, the game was divided into four completely separate quarters, with the teams’ scores being totaled before the fourth quarter.  From the higher total between the two teams at this point, 24 points were added to establish a winning score cap. This 24 point addition was in honor of legendary NBA player Kobe Bryant who passed away at the end of January.  

This All-Star Game also marked the second straight year the teams were not selected based on the players’ participation in either the Eastern or Western Conferences.  Instead, captains LeBron James and Giannias Antetokounmpo were selected by fans to draft their own teams. This All-Star Draft occurred on Feb. 6 and saw two All-Star teams still selected almost entirely within the captains’ respective conferences.  Highlights from the 2020 All-Star Game included Giannis Antetokounmpo’s monster 25 point performance, Team LeBron’s fourth quarter comeback, and Kawhi Leonard’s dominant game on his way to winning the Kobe Bryant MVP Award, also known as the All-Star Game MVP Award prior to this year.  

Other notable events from the 2020 All-Star Weekend included the NBA Rising Stars Challenge, the Celebrity All-Star Game, the Taco Bells Skills Challenge, The MTN DEW 3-Point Contest, and the AT&T Dunk Contest.  Kicking off the action on Saturday night was the Taco Bells Skills Challenge, which Bam Adebayo of the Miami Heat won over Domantas Sabonis of the Indiana Pacers. During the contest, Adebayo showcased an elite 3-point shot many believed was not in his arsenal.

Next up was the MTN DEW 3-Point Contest, and with the injuries of Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson the field was wide open.  This event was taken by Buddy Hield of the Sacramento Kings, who defeated Devin Booker of the Phoenix Suns with a moneyball on his final shot. Pennridge Basketball commentator Vincent Sordini claimed “I loved the three point contest, two of my favorite players to watch and it came down to the last shot – can’t ask for a much better finish!”

The most anticipated event of the night was the AT&T Dunk Contest.  The event featured returning dunkers such as Dwight Howard, Derrick Jones Jr., and Aaron Gordon.  Dwight Howard was the only previous dunk contest champion, but he had not participated since the 2009 Dunk Contest.  Patrick Connaughton of the Milwaukee Bucks also competed, but was eliminated early alongside Dwight Howard. The final rounds pitted Aaron Gordon of the Orlando Magic against Derrick Jones Jr. of the Miami Heat.  The two high-fliers showcased numerous amazing dunks, with Aaron Gordon concluding the contest with a dunk over 7’5’’ Celtics Center Tacko Fall. After his dunk over Fall, many fans and players believed he had clinched a win, but the judges thought otherwise, scoring the contest as a 48-47 win for Derrick Jones Jr.  Amidst the confusion which followed people noticed dunk contest judge and Miami Heat Legend Dwayne Wade had given Gordon’s amazing dunk a 9 out of 10 possible points. This led many fans to speculate Wade’s bias towards his former team caused him to favor Derrick Jones Jr of the Heat. Fans quickly took notice of this, and Derrick Jones Jr. raised the 2020 AT&T Dunk Contest trophy to boos rather than thunderous applause.