All the Stars At All-Star Weekend
David Andrews
David Andrews
Now that we have finally reached the halfway point of the NBA season, we have plenty of things to discuss including the playoffs, the upcoming free agency, and more. There were plenty of great storylines throughout the entire break, but before we can get into any of them we have to talk about All-Star Weekend.
Many of Hillgrove’s biggest basketball fans like, Gary Stewart and Xavier George, went to sleep disappointed because of their picks falling short of the the victory. Majority of them had picked Knicks guard, Dennis Smith Jr., to win the dunk contest and two-time MVP, Steph Curry, to win the three-point contest, but it in fact turned out to be the exact opposite. The actual winners of each event were people that the average NBA fan had probably never even heard of. People like the Thunder’s Hamidou Diallo and the Nets’ Joe Harris were the ones who went home with the trophies, not the people you would expect. In fact, after the his dunk contest victory, Hamidou Diallo had gained a huge following of about a hundred thousand people on Instagram and Twitter because of his dunk. Along with that, Joe Harris surprised the entire crowd with his performance in the three-point contest, so much that it forced them to take the Brooklyn Nets serious. With All-Star guard D’angelo Russell, three-point champion Joe Harris, and tons of cap space, the Brooklyn Nets have turned themselves into a real contender for landing a big free agent this summer.
Although they put the world on notice, they are not the only team who had their name in drama over the break. Some people make the argument that any publicity is good publicity, but in the Celtics’ case it is not. Before the All-Star game, a video had surfaced of Celtics guard Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant talking about what seem to be the Knicks’ “ two max spots” this off-season. This spurred up a lot of conversation about Kyrie’s future in a Celtics’ uniform. Knowing Danny Ainge, the Celtics’ general manager, he is going to do his best to try and keep Kyrie, but, right now, it seems like the only thing that would get him to stay is trading for Anthony Davis. Many teams in the NBA have had their eyes on David for a while, but nobody has been preparing for this moment more than the Celtics. As a result, the question is not whether the Celtics will make the move, but is it really worth it? Both Coach Salam and Coach Morris agree that, by doing so, the Celtics would be giving up their entire future with Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum for two notoriously injury probe superstars like Irving and Davis.
In the midst of all this drama surrounding his name, Jayson Tatum still managed to walk away with the Taco Bell Skills Challenge trophy. After an exciting half court shot to seal his victory, Jayson had become the first player in Celtic history to ever win the event, but he is just as capable of doing the same thing somewhere else. When asked about it he said he was willing to “play for anyone” if Boston does decide to trade him, showing that he is confident he will be a superstar wherever he is. Do the Celtics really want to give a guy like that up?
Well if Danny decides not to pull the trigger and trade for Davis, the Lakers will be more than happy to take him off their hands. We even saw LeBron James use his first pick as the All-Star game captain on Anthony Davis. Some people may say that it was just a friend picking a friend, but others see a lot more. NBA analyst, Stephen A. Smith, saw it as LeBron sending a message to Davis that that will not be the last time they are in the same uniform.
This All-Star Weekend was surely an eventful one, but not just because of the events themselves. We certainly have a lot to look forward to come June 24th.
Many of Hillgrove’s biggest basketball fans like, Gary Stewart and Xavier George, went to sleep disappointed because of their picks falling short of the the victory. Majority of them had picked Knicks guard, Dennis Smith Jr., to win the dunk contest and two-time MVP, Steph Curry, to win the three-point contest, but it in fact turned out to be the exact opposite. The actual winners of each event were people that the average NBA fan had probably never even heard of. People like the Thunder’s Hamidou Diallo and the Nets’ Joe Harris were the ones who went home with the trophies, not the people you would expect. In fact, after the his dunk contest victory, Hamidou Diallo had gained a huge following of about a hundred thousand people on Instagram and Twitter because of his dunk. Along with that, Joe Harris surprised the entire crowd with his performance in the three-point contest, so much that it forced them to take the Brooklyn Nets serious. With All-Star guard D’angelo Russell, three-point champion Joe Harris, and tons of cap space, the Brooklyn Nets have turned themselves into a real contender for landing a big free agent this summer.
Although they put the world on notice, they are not the only team who had their name in drama over the break. Some people make the argument that any publicity is good publicity, but in the Celtics’ case it is not. Before the All-Star game, a video had surfaced of Celtics guard Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant talking about what seem to be the Knicks’ “ two max spots” this off-season. This spurred up a lot of conversation about Kyrie’s future in a Celtics’ uniform. Knowing Danny Ainge, the Celtics’ general manager, he is going to do his best to try and keep Kyrie, but, right now, it seems like the only thing that would get him to stay is trading for Anthony Davis. Many teams in the NBA have had their eyes on David for a while, but nobody has been preparing for this moment more than the Celtics. As a result, the question is not whether the Celtics will make the move, but is it really worth it? Both Coach Salam and Coach Morris agree that, by doing so, the Celtics would be giving up their entire future with Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum for two notoriously injury probe superstars like Irving and Davis.
In the midst of all this drama surrounding his name, Jayson Tatum still managed to walk away with the Taco Bell Skills Challenge trophy. After an exciting half court shot to seal his victory, Jayson had become the first player in Celtic history to ever win the event, but he is just as capable of doing the same thing somewhere else. When asked about it he said he was willing to “play for anyone” if Boston does decide to trade him, showing that he is confident he will be a superstar wherever he is. Do the Celtics really want to give a guy like that up?
Well if Danny decides not to pull the trigger and trade for Davis, the Lakers will be more than happy to take him off their hands. We even saw LeBron James use his first pick as the All-Star game captain on Anthony Davis. Some people may say that it was just a friend picking a friend, but others see a lot more. NBA analyst, Stephen A. Smith, saw it as LeBron sending a message to Davis that that will not be the last time they are in the same uniform.
This All-Star Weekend was surely an eventful one, but not just because of the events themselves. We certainly have a lot to look forward to come June 24th.
