Who wants to win?

The NBA All-Star Weekend begins this coming weekend, and fans are very excited to watch! During All-Star Weekend, many events go on, including the Rising Stars and the Ruffles Celebrity Game on Friday night, the Starry 3-point competition, and the AT&T Slam Dunk competition on Saturday night.

The Starry 3-point contest involves the league’s best 3-point shooters competing against each other to see who can score the most 3-point shots. In this event, one 3-pointer made is worth one point, and a “Moneyball” (which is the last ball at each of the five spots on the 3-point line) is worth two points. There is one full rack of  “Moneyballs” in one of the five spots. In addition, there are two Starry balls that are farther than the other racks, both worth three points.

 Historically, there has been one shooter in the NBA who is seen as the best shooter in all of the league’s history: Stephen Curry. His highest number of points scored in a 3-point competition was 31 in 2021. This past year, someone different beat his record, but not who fans thought. Sabrina Ionescu, a WNBA player, scored 37 points in the WNBA’s three-point competition. After seeing this incredible performance, fans of the WNBA and NBA have begun to wonder: is Stephen Curry the best three-point shooter? Both basketball associations responded to the question, and their answer was “let’s test it.”  Both of the elite shooters agreed to compete against each other for the crown in this year’s competition during NBA All-Star Weekend.

Also on Saturday, there is the AT&T Slam Dunk competition, which has been a very exciting event in the past. With some of the greatest players of all time facing off against each other, players will show off their elite athleticism and competition to see who makes the fans and the judges the happiest with their dunks.

Finally, on Sunday, there will be the 73rd annual All-Star Game, which has 24 of the best NBA players competing in a real basketball game. In the past couple of weeks, there has been voting for the all-stars. Voting from the fans makes up half of the votes, while the other half is made up of current players and a small group of media representatives. In the first round, most of the frontcourt picks were fan favorites and returning all-stars like Lebron, Kevin Durant, Nikola Jokic, Anthony Davis, Kawhi Leonard, and Paul George in the West, Giannis, Joel Embiid, Jayson Tatum, Jimmy Butler, Jaylen Brown, and Bam Adebayo in the east. In the west, there are some picks that people were surprised to see, like Alperen Sengun, a 21-year-old leading the Houston Rockets at the center position, averaging 22 points, 9 rebounds, and 5 assists. Victor Wembanyama, who is only a rookie on the San Antonio Spurs, is performing well, averaging 20 points, 10 rebounds, and 3 assists. Another rookie, Chet Holmgren, was ruled unable to play during the 22-23 season, but came back strong, averaging 17 points, 7 rebounds, and 3 assists.

 In the east, Mikal Bridges is averaging 13 points, 4 rebounds, and 2 assists, competing with Kristaps Porzingis, who is averaging 19 points, 6 rebounds, and 2 assists. In the Western Conference’s guard category, there are also very clear favorites, which include Luka Doncic, Steph Curry, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, James Harden, Kyrie Irving, Ja Morant, and Devin Booker. The people who are not exactly favorites, but have great numbers in the voting, are De’aaron Fox, who has only been an All-Star once, and Klay Thompson, who has not put numbers that are nearly as high as they have been when he was an all-star previously, making some people believe he is not all-star caliber. In the Eastern Conference’s guard category, the favorites are Tyrese Haliburton, Trae Young, Damian Lillard, Donovan Mitchell, Lamelo Ball, Jrue Holiday, and Demar Derozan. Three players have never been selected for the All-Star Game in their career: Tyrese Maxey, Jalen Brunson, and Derrick White. Tyrese Maxey is averaging 25 points, 3 rebounds, and 7 assists while playing for the 76ers this year. Jalen Brunson is averaging 29 points, 4 rebounds, and 8 assists leading the New York Knicks this year. Derrick White has been averaging 14 points, 4 rebounds, and 3 assists for the Celtics. In the 2nd return, not many spots changed, only the bottom three or four spots were rearranged, with no new additions. In the 3rd vote return, there was one addition to the western frontcourt, Domantas Sabonis, who is averaging 15 points, 10 rebounds, and 5 assists. No matter who becomes a starter, make sure to tune in to the events this weekend!