3 winners, 2 losers from NBA All-Star weekend

SAN FRANCISCO — NBA All-Star weekend has come and gone, and with it, so has one other weekend of the NBA actually hoping gamers take issues significantly earlier than rolling out a subpar product that largely angers its fanbase.

This time, although, it truly wasn’t the gamers’ fault that the headline occasion — the All-Star sport itself — was lackluster. It was the long-winded manufacturing that deprioritized the sport itself.

This 12 months, the league unveiled a brand-new format by which 4 groups confronted off on All-Star Sunday in a winners-advance format — Kenny Smith’s Younger Stars (a crew headlined by gamers like Jalen Brunson and Anthony Edwards), Shaq’s OGs (Steph Curry, Kevin Durant, and co), Chuck’s World Stars (Nikola Jokic, SGA, and different worldwide stars), and the winner of Friday’s Rising Stars problem (the non All-Star crew, comprised of Dalton Knecht, Amen Thompson, and different standout first and second-year gamers).

Within the first of three Sunday video games, the World Stars defeated the Younger Stars. The OGs subsequently eradicated the Rising Stars, earlier than defeating the World Stars to win all of it.

However, the gameplay felt just like the backstory to what ended up being a manufacturing nightmare — in additional 3 hours, solely 42 minutes of basketball have been performed. And, followers of fellows like Jalen Brunson and Cade Cunningham ended up listening to and seeing much more from Kevin Hart than their favourite gamers.

Listed here are the weekend’s winners and losers.

Winner: Steph Curry

Enjoying in entrance of his hometown crowd in San Francisco, Curry was undoubtedly the occasion’s largest winner. The 11-time NBA All-Star walked away with MVP honors and a mountain of reward from his colleagues, who raved about Curry’s character and impression on the sport all weekend.

Curry acquired 12 of 14 All-Star MVP votes after combining for 20 factors on six threes between the 2 video games. He most likely would have received MVP even when he had hit a couple of fewer photographs — simply contemplating how a lot vitality he stuffed the constructing with — however did simply sufficient to solidify the honors along with his on-court play.

All weekend, NBA All-Stars gave Curry his flowers. Jaylen Brown, who went to school at UC Berkeley, mentioned his expertise deepened his understanding of simply how a lot Curry means to the world.

“Even me spending time right here in school and simply seeing his affect and the way it’s grown, he’s a Bay Space icon, Bay Space legend,” Brown mentioned.

Curry gushed in regards to the All-Star expertise postgame.

“The internet hosting expertise was unbelievable,” Curry mentioned. “I’m not going to complain about being drained or exhausted. That is an honor and a blessing to have the ability to have fun and share this stunning Bay Space that’s been part of my life for the final 16 years and the basketball historical past and tradition that’s right here and the wonderful followers which can be right here and the impression that the sport being right here has had on each cities.”

Loser: Kevin Hart

There was merely no purpose why Kevin Hart ought to have been emceeing Saturday evening’s sport. Hart heckled and really visibly irritated Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, inappropriately mentioned that Shaq “dressed like a porn director” on a broadcast that was in any other case seemingly geared towards kids, and clearly agitated the gamers on quite a few events.

His interruptions and constant heckling made taking the sport significantly as a viewer much more tough. As such, followers turned to social media to complain about Hart’s involvement within the sport.

It’s not all Hart’s fault — that is finally what the comic was invited to do on the All-Star sport — however there’s no purpose why the league ought to have had the product focus on a comic moderately than the game of basketball itself. If Adam Silver actually needed the gamers to take the sport significantly, this was not the way in which to do it.

Winner: Town of Oakland

Most of All-Star weekend’s occasions have been held in San Francisco, with All-Star Saturday evening and Sunday’s sport each going down at Chase Heart. Nevertheless, varied occasions have been held in Oakland’s Oracle Area all through the weekend, together with Friday’s movie star sport and Saturday’s media availabilities and All-Star practices.

The vibe at Oracle was unmatched.

The Warriors moved from Oracle Area to Chase Heart in 2019, and the weekend supplied locals a chance to look at the celebs play in individual for the primary time in years.

The environment in Oracle was incomparably extra energetic than at Chase Heart, serving as a reminder of how legendary these Warriors crowds as soon as have been, and centering Oakland within the nationwide dialog.

“Being on this area offers me, like, nightmares,” mentioned Clippers guard James Harden, reflecting on his tenure with the Houston Rockets. “As a result of I needed to go towards (Curry). It was like an actual battle. We actually created groups simply to beat the Warriors. And someway, a way, they all the time … ended up in The Finals.”

Oakland would have been a good greater winner if extra substantial occasions have been held at Oracle Area, like Saturday’s Three-Level and Dunk Contest, and even the All-Star video games themselves. Nonetheless, it was a terrific alternative to begin a dialogue in regards to the metropolis of Oakland

Loser: Individuals who benefit from the sport of basketball

Followers who merely needed to tune in to look at some basketball have been out of luck. The three-hour occasion featured solely 42 minutes of precise basketball — in comparison with 80 minutes of advertisements, a 9-minute Contained in the NBA tribute, and varied different time-fillers that had the gamers themselves scratching their heads.

The expertise was particularly disappointing for followers of gamers who have been named to Crew Kenny — the crew of younger stars who misplaced within the opening sport. Crew Kenny gamers competed for a complete of 12 minutes, with no participant getting greater than 8 minutes of motion. First-time All-Star Tyler Herro, for instance, solely obtained 5 minutes of run the complete evening — so for those who have been a Miami Warmth fan tuning in in hopes of watching your favourite participant compete, you have been just about out of luck.

The prolonged intermission in the midst of the third sport — centered round celebrating Contained in the NBA — was particularly irritating to gamers.

“The hardest half was they stopped the sport to do the presentation,” Celtics ahead Jayson Tatum mentioned. “We sit down for 20 minutes, no matter it was, it’s type of robust to get again into the sport after that.”

It was laborious to even discover, however for a lot of Sunday evening, the basketball was extra aggressive than years prior. Sadly, it felt like an asterisk in an evening marked by live shows and advert breaks.

Winner: Mac McClung

McClung beat Spurs rookie Stephon Fortress within the dunk contest, finishing a historic 3-peat within the occasion and waking up an in any other case quiet Case Heart crowd.

McClung started his evening of dunks by leaping over a automotive — not the hood of 1 — and secured the win with 4 excellent dunks.

The occasion nonetheless lacked star energy, however McClung’s dunking prowess nonetheless energized the group and appeared to doubtlessly encourage different stars to rethink taking part in future years.

Grizzlies star Ja Morant turned to social media on Saturday evening to specific his renewed need to compete: “Mac would possibly make me resolve to dunk.”

Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo mentioned the identical however later joked his cellphone was hacked.

Whether or not or not McClung’s efficiency impacts the competition shifting ahead stays to be seen. In any case, McClung — a G-League star who has but to interrupt by way of within the NBA — reminded the world as soon as once more he’s one of many biggest to ever compete within the dunk contest.

“It’s simply one thing I really like doing,” McClung mentioned. “I believe that’s the place my creativity comes [in]. It’s as a result of I genuinely love this contest and I like to dunk.”