The 2020 NBA All-Star Weekend was a little dramatic, but an overall hit for players and fans across the league. Every year, All-Star Weekend breaks up the 82-game regular season and is a time for players to allow their bodies to recuperate. The weekend showcases 24 of the NBA’s best athletes in the All-Star Game, as well as others in events like the Slam Dunk Contest and the Skills Challenge over three days.
Friday features the NBA All-Star Celebrity Game, which was first held in 2003. Participants include retired NBA players, WNBA players, musicians, actors, and other athletes. As basketball and hip-hop have grown closer in recent years, there has been an increase in rapper or hip-hop artist participation. This year we saw Quavo, Chance the Rapper, Common, and Bad Bunny participate in the event. Following the Celebrity Game, the Rising Stars Challenge, formerly called the “Rookie Game” is played. In 2015, the format of the game was switched to the USA vs. the World setup and young athletes like Ja Morant and Zion Williamson get the opportunity to throw down some nasty dunks while nobody plays defense.
Saturday includes the Slam Dunk Contest, the Three-Point Contest, and the Skills Challenge. This year’s Three-Point Contest winner was Buddy Hield of the Sacramento Kings. The Skills Challenge winner was Bam Adebayo of the Miami Heat, who is having a break-out year. Now, the dramatic part: the winner of the Slam Dunk Contest…Derrick Jones Jr.?!
The rules of the Dunk Contest are subject to change each year, however, it is standard that many of the rules of basketball like traveling and double-dribbling do not apply during competition. With respect to the scoring, competitors are awarded a score out of 10 from five different judges after each dunk. Since other players’ reactions are seen before the scores are awarded, and only five people give scores, the contest might be a little rigged. Regardless, it is always an incredible exhibition of athleticism and creativity from the dunkers. This year’s participants were Pat Connaughton of the Milwaukee Bucks (who wore an awesome shirt from White Men Can’t Jump, a famous basketball movie from 1992), Dwight Howard of the Los Angeles Lakers (famous for his Superman Dunk and 2008 Dunk Contest Win in New Orleans), Derrick Jones Jr. of the Miami Heat, and Aaron Gordon of the Orlando Magic.
The final round of the Dunk Contest featured Gordon and Jones Jr. Aaron Gordon had not competed in the Contest since 2016 which he lost to Zach Lavine in a controversial final round. Gordon was determined to win, though, and in 2020 he put on a show. Gordon dunked over 7’5” center, Tacko Fall, of the Boston Celtics which was thought to secure his win, yet his score of 47 was not enough to beat Jones Jr. The sports world went into a frenzy on social media and when Gordon was asked if he will ever participate in the Dunk Contest again, he said, “Nah, it’s over for that.” Dwyane Wade, the former Miami Heat superstar, was criticized for only giving Gordon a 9 on the last dunk — maybe because he had some bias toward the Miami Heat dunker — although two other judges did as well.
The Sunday night All-Star Game was a massive hit. In 2018, the rules changed to allow two captains from the league to draft their teams, rather than the old format of East and West Coast All-Stars. This year’s captains were Lebron James of the Los Angeles Lakers and Giannis Antetokounmpo of the Milwaukee Bucks. Now, even teammates can play against each other, seen in this year’s matchup between Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid of the Philadelphia 76ers. In years past, the game was thought to be way too high-scoring and uninteresting — it was similar to the Rising Stars Game where nobody plays defense and each team scores 200+ points. This year, the change incentivized better competition. The rules changed to allow the winner of each quarter to donate $100,000 to a Chicago community-based organization or charity of their choice. The new game ending or fourth quarter is untimed and the two teams compete toward a final target score, meaning the game ends on a made basket or free throw instead of the clock running out. Each of the first three quarters begins with a score of 0–0 and is 12 minutes long. The final target score this year was 24 in honor of the late Kobe Bryant, who wore number 24 for the last 10 seasons of his career. This was not the only way Kobe Bryant was honored, though. His number 24 was worn by half of the players in the All-Star Game and his daughter Gigi’s number 2 was worn by the other half. Chicago Rapper, Common, paid tribute to Kobe and his daughter before the game, as well as Jennifer Hudson. The MVP Award, won by Kawhi Leonard of the Los Angeles Clippers, was renamed the Kobe Bryant MVP Award and fans and players are trying and have started a petition to change the current NBA logo of Jerry West to a silhouette of Kobe’s jump shot.
Team Lebron was victorious, with a final score of 157–155. Damian Lillard was unable to play due to a right groin strain. Devin Booker thought to be an All-Star ‘snub,’ was given the chance to play in his spot. The NBA is thought to be more of an entertainment league than other sports but they have done a great job maintaining interest from fans, as seen in this year’s All-Star Weekend.
