NBA All-Star Game

The NBA season is underway and the All-Star Game is on the horizon. Or is it? At the beginning of the NBA season, the All-Star Game was scheduled for February 21, 2021 in Indianapolis, Indiana. However, due to a scheduling conflict and Coronavirus concerns, it has been postponed and may even be cancelled. The last time the All-Star Game was cancelled was due to a player lockout all the way back in 1999. With the shortened off-season this year- the LA Lakers won the 2020 NBA title in October and started the 2021 season in December- many players are tired and want to take the All-Star break off. Hopefully, the NBA and NBPA can come up with a solution and we can enjoy the All-Star festivities again.

So how does All-Star weekend work? First off, starting in late January, people from all over the world vote for the players they believe should play in the All-Star Game. The top 11 vote getters from the Eastern Conference and top 11 from the Western Conference make it into the player pool. The player who gets the most votes from the East and West are selected as team captains. These captains then pick any one of the selected players for their team. It is very confusing, but quite exciting if you understand how it all works. The NBA decided to have the All-Star game set up this way starting in 2017. Since then, Lebron James has been a team captain every year. This way of doing things is fun because in the past, the game was just East vs West. Now, players from both conferences can play together and this makes for some exciting basketball.

Along with the All-Star Game, there are different events such as a three-point contest, dunk contest, skills challenge, and Celebrity Game. These events sometimes draw more viewers than the All-Star Game. The Celebrity Game and Rising Stars Game take place on Friday, the first night of the big weekend. The Celebrity Game is fun to watch as the people playing in it are usually not the best at basketball. The Rising Star Game is made up of the best rookie and second year players in the NBA. Saturday features the skills challenge, three-point contest, and the slam dunk contest. These competitions are extremely fun to watch because the players competing are the most skilled athletes in the NBA. Players who participate are doing things very few people on this planet can do and that is why it is so fun to watch. Sunday night is the All-Star Game. The best players in the league take the floor in a relaxed game. There is very little defense played until the fourth quarter. The game usually ends with both teams scoring over 160 points, which is extremely high. This setting makes it fun to see cool dunks or shots by the best players the world has to offer. All-Star Weekend offers great entertainment for all fans ranging from very serious to casual.

The Coronavirus wreaked havoc on the usual NBA schedule in 2020 and it is looking like it might continue to cause some trouble for the 2021 All-Star Weekend. Fans are hoping that things can be worked out so this epic basketball weekend can go on. It truly is one of the greatest spectacles in all of sports.