Kendra Andrews: “Michael Porter was not selected to play in the rising stars challenge. Are you kidding me?” — Malone drops the mic as he walks off his post game press conference.
All-Star Rumors
Vinsanity cited that he was going to do a one-step, 180-degree dunk under the basket (which sounds hella impressive by the way) but decided to go on a different route to increase his chances of winning. “It was ‘ooh-ahh’ for a lot of people but it didn’t feel right. It didn’t have the ‘wowing’ factor. That’s not what I was looking for. I just didn’t have that feel so I just scrapped that dunk,” the NBA icon revealed. “The dunks that I originally had planned, I was like this was not going to win. So I scrapped it right there on the spot. I’m just trying to pull things that I’ve done from times past that I felt would win or present the wow factor.”
Vinsanity cited that he was going to do a one-step, 180-degree dunk under the basket (which sounds hella impressive by the way) but decided to go on a different route to increase his chances of winning. “It was ‘ooh-ahh’ for a lot of people but it didn’t feel right. It didn’t have the ‘wowing’ factor. That’s not what I was looking for. I just didn’t have that feel so I just scrapped that dunk,” the NBA icon revealed. “The dunks that I originally had planned, I was like this was not going to win. So I scrapped it right there on the spot. I’m just trying to pull things that I’ve done from times past that I felt would win or present the wow factor.”
Brad Rowland: Collins says he believes he’ll be in All-Star contention next season. He also says he believes that he and Trae Young are the best young duo in the NBA.
Brad Rowland: Collins says he believes he’ll be in All-Star contention next season. He also says he believes that he and Trae Young are the best young duo in the NBA.
Aaron Gordon has put his displeasure with the 2020 Dunk Contest into a “diss” track titled “9 OUT OF 10,” in which he calls out Dwyane Wade for the vote that helped him lose to Miami’s Derrick Jones Jr. In an epic dunk contest back in February, Gordon dunked over Chance the Rapper (twice) and threw down 360-degree, between-the-leg slams. The battle between Gordon and Jones carried on into a “dunk-off” in which each player had to improvise dunks that hadn’t been rehearsed. For Gordon’s final dunk, he cleared 7-foot-6 Tacko Fall.
The WNBA and the Bryant family will announce the inaugural recipient during NBA All-Star 2021 in Indianapolis. Bryant’s wife, Vanessa, will play a large role in determining the honoree and present the award each year at NBA All-Star.
Jason Richardson: Yeah, I think I was a little bit underrated. I feel like I should have made the All-Star team a few times. But the game has changed now; it’s different. Because in my era, even if you averaged 20 points, if you didn’t win, it didn’t matter. I understood that part of it. I had a lot of losing years during those times, so people thought it was just “number chasing.” But if you look at it now, there’s a lot of guys who are averaging a ton of points and their team isn’t doing good, but they still get the accolades and they are on the All-Star teams and stuff like that. I think back in my time, it was more team-oriented and all about, “What are you doing to help your team win games?” And so I see the different eras and I understand how the game has changed in that respect.
Jason Richardson: Well, I think Aaron Gordon has been robbed twice in a row. I might be biased, but I think the dunks he did were unseen and spectacular. He was great. I think he should be a two-time dunk contest winner. I totally believe that. It’s special what he can do. It’s special what most of these guys can do now. I was just talking to a kid yesterday who recognized me when I was working out at the gym. I was telling him how these guys are evolving. It’s just funny how evolved these guys are, how crazy they’re jumping and the tricks they’re coming up with. It’s just amazing.
“If they had kept the voting the way it was years ago when it was like majority fan votes, I definitely would have rejected it,” Fall says. “There is no way I’m going to take the spot of like a Devin Booker, a Bradley Beal, those people that most people feel like should have been an All-Star. And then you have some rookie who barely plays five minutes a game just take a spot. I didn’t want that to happen.”
The Basketball Tournament, the 64-team, $2 million winner-take-all summer tournament entering its seventh season, will change the rules to reduce the chances of a game ending on free throws, tournament officials told ESPN. If a team commits a foul while in the bonus during the Elam Ending — which has teams play to a target score rather than to the end of a clock — the other team will get only one foul shot, rather than two, and retain possession of the ball, said Jonathan Mugar, TBT’s founder and CEO.
The change comes after the NBA used a version of the Elam Ending for the 2020 All-Star Game in Chicago, which ended when Anthony Davis sank a free throw to take Team LeBron to the target score. The main goal of the Elam Ending, created by Ball State professor Nick Elam, was to eliminate intentional fouls by teams trailing down the stretch.
Nichols asked Harden about a comment Antetokounmpo made during the 2020 NBA All-Star Game draft as he selected his team against LeBron James. When the TNT crew pressed Antetokounmpo about choosing Kemba Walker over Harden, he said “I want someone who will pass the ball” with a chuckle. Harden didn’t hold back when Nichols asked him about it.
The NBA All-Star Game coming to Indianapolis in 2021 will honor the lives of two Delphi teens found murdered on a trail. The NBA All-Star 2021 Host Committee announced that its Legacy Projects for the game will include the park being built in honor of Abby Williams and Libby German. A scholarship will also be contributed to a Delphi High School student.
Funds from the host committee will be used to construct a walking trail and install seven fitness training stations. The NBA All-Star 2021 Host Committee’s Legacy Grant provides grants of up $50,000 to non-profit initiatives across the state focusing on youth.
Ethan J. Skolnick: Derrick Jones Jr. on the controversy: “I laugh at it… y’all gonna have to see me again.” @5ReasonsSports youtube.com/channel/UC1HgR…
But has the increased attention stemming from Saturday night’s memorable victory over Aaron Gordon of the Orlando Magic changed Jones Jr.? “Man, he walked in and didn’t say nothing to me this morning,” Jimmy Butler joked. “Nah, he’s the same dude. He’s always going to be like that. And I know him: If he goes to the dunk contest next year, he’ll win it again.”
Jay King: Kemba Walker said he didn’t really have a minutes restriction in the All-Star Game, despite what he initially said.
Adam Himmelsbach: Brad Stevens said he didn’t say anything to the Raptors coaching staff prior to the All-Star game about Kemba being limited. Cs sense was that he was OK.
For whatever reason, Indianapolis is a popular place to trash when a big event comes to town. Yahoo! Sports NBA’s LaJethro Jenkins became the most recent critic. A video was posted Thursday night by Jenkins with a plea to NBA commissioner Adam Silver to move the 2021 All-Star game along with a petition to relocate the game. Yahoo deleted the tweet, which included an expletive, a couple of hours later. The petition included the words: “It’s just a joke. The NBA couldn’t care less. Relax.” The petition has 16 signatures.
Hoosiers took matters into their own hands by creating a petition of their own requesting Jenkins and Yahoo Sports NBA be kept from attending the 2021 NBA All-Star game in Indianapolis. The petition, which has 196 signatures, asks the NBA to revoke their credentials and offers a parting shot of its own. “And if this triggers you, relax Mr. Jenkins & YahooSportsNBA. It’s just a joke”
This past weekend’s viewership of the 2020 NBA All-Star events were up double digits in comparison to last year. In Canada, the simulcast coverage of the 2020 NBA All-Star events were up 28% in average audience compared to last season. Nearly 3.5 million (!) Canadians watched at least some portion of the NBA All-Star events, up 14% from last year. In addition to that, the hours watched for all programming was up 37% compared to last year.
The NBA All-Star Saturday Night events – televised on Sportsnet ONE – was up 64% versus the network’s Saturday coverage two years ago. The 2020 NBA All-Star Game itself – televised on TSN – drew the highest audience for any All-Star Game in Canada, excluding the 2016 All-Star Game when Toronto was the host city.
Much like in 2016 when Gordon was the tough-luck loser to two-time champion Zach LaVine, Gordon has spent the past few days dealing with the fall out of an event he’s always thought he was destined to win at some point in his basketball career. In the subsequent four days since the Dunk Contest ended, Gordon has heard from countless numbers of fans, fellow NBA players and celebrities in the music and movie industries about a result they felt was wrong. That, in a weird and twisted sort of way, has helped to soothe Gordon’s disappointment over the results, he said. “I definitely feel some type of way about it,’’ Gordon said while carefully choosing his words. “I’m definitely kind of irritated a little bit and a little frustrated, as well. “But it’s OK, it’s really OK,’’ he added. “We’ve got to move on because it’s over now. I think it will be talked about for years and years and years, which is really cool. But at the same time, it’s over.’’
Candace Buckner: Of course Scott Brooks, basketball junkie, watched the All-Star game during his mini-vacation even though he didn’t have a rooting interest (i.e. a player in the game) Three times he said he “loved it” when describing the competitive fourth quarter
Target score back for next All-Star Game?
It is a “good assumption” the NBA will use a target score to end next season’s All-Star Game after experimenting with the concept for the first time Sunday, Byron Spruell, the NBA’s president of league operations, told ESPN on Wednesday in New York. That is not set in stone yet, as league higher-ups have not fully debriefed since Sunday, Spruell said. But there is real momentum behind using the concept going forward at the All-Star Game.
Ryan Wolstat: Nick Nurse said the new rules for the all-star game ending made it tough to gauge time and figure out subbing patterns. That’s why he had ending group out for so long for Team Giannis.
Tom Westerholm: Brad Stevens wasn’t worried about Kemba’s minutes in the All-Star game, and he loved the new format. “It looked like a blast. The NBA absolutely nailed the ending.”
Candace Buckner: Moritz Wagner, back from his first All-Star Weekend experience, breaks down the proper participation etiquette of the Rising Stars Game: “If you play too hard you’re the guy that’s weird. So you have the find the right balance between having fun and playing hard.”
Candace Buckner: Wagner: “You don’t want to be the guy if Zion Williamson goes up for an alley oop slam, you don’t want to do that, blocking that shot. But at the same time, I also don’t want to lose or hurt anyone… it’s a weird dynamic. But it’s fun to be out there with those guys.”
For each All-Star weekend, the NBA works with the local teams and government organizations – in this case, the Bulls, Chicago city officials, and Chicago Sports Commission – to plan events, social responsibility initiatives and find ways to leave a lasting impact to the community and fans, Kelly Flatow, NBA executive vice president of global events, said. “Each All-Star Game is designed to highlight the personality and character of the team and city,” Flatow said. “We aim to put fans first and design programming that engages and inspires fans in the local market as well as those who travel to the city to enjoy this global celebration of the game.“
Including the United Center store, Rank and Rally had eight locations across town, representing 17,000 square feet of floor space. Each space was individually designed with merchandise suited for the area around it. “We leaned heavily on creating an experience with a curated approach,” Beck said. “Any fans spending time around the city were not experiencing the same shopping experience.” Each shop had a portion devoted to the official NBA All-Star shop, but there were also brand pop-ups and experiences, Beck said. The stores sold through Monday after the All-Star Game. Within the United Center Madhouse Team Store, Rank and Rally partnered with ‘47 Brand, Mitchell & Ness, Herschel, Stahls, and Sportique for pop-ups.
The team Michael Jordan owns played host to the 2019 All-Star Game in Charlotte, N.C. The team Jordan led to six championships in the 1990s just played host to the 2020 All-Star Game in Chicago. Jordan made the briefest of public appearances last year, when he was essentially considered the All-Star grand marshal, and then stayed completely out of public view this year. Jordan defenders always tell me, when I bring this stuff up, that I cannot possibly understand how hard it is for His Airness to put himself out there. He’s a very private person, they always say, and makes it his mission to avoid the spotlight.
Authorities confiscated weapons and ammunition from a car at the United Center on Sunday before the start of the NBA All-Star Game. A 2019 black Yukon Denali drove into the loading dock checkpoint area of the arena about 6:45 p.m. and stopped to be checked out by a bomb-sniffing dog before dropping off its passengers, Chicago police said.
The K9 “detected a possible hit and warranted further investigation,” police said. Passengers were told to remain inside the car, but they grabbed their things, got out and walked toward the United Center, saying they were part of the half-time show.
18 Feb
Callie Caplan: Luka said he was scanning the courtside seats tonight to see which celebrities were watching. His favorite: Cardi B
Callie Caplan: Luka said he was scanning the courtside seats tonight to see which celebrities were watching. His favorite: Cardi B
We talked to Dr. J — who was in the building for the dunk contest — at Reagan National Airport in Washington D.C. on Monday … and we asked the hoops legend if the Orlando Magic star was robbed by the judges in Chi-town. “I don’t know if robbed is the right term, if it had ended in a tie, I don’t think anybody would’ve been upset. But, a contest like that going into basically 2 overtimes. Third overtime. You hate to have a loser.” BUT, forced to pick a winner, Dr. J — who won the inaugural ABA Dunk Contest in 1976 — says Gordon’s final dunk was justtttttttt a little better than Derrick Jones Jr.’s jam. “I think [Gordon’s] last dunk was cleaner. Neither one of them were 50’s because they had shot their load in terms of their best stuff.”
17 Feb
As NBA teams jockey for playoff positioning, the league’s television networks have rebounded from some of their early-season ratings losses. During NBA All-Star weekend, TNT saw net improvements in Friday’s Rising Stars game (1 percent and most-watched since 2015), Saturdays’ 3-point and slam-dunk contest (one percent and most-watched since 2017) as well as Sunday’s pre-game show (6.3 million, an 19 percent increase) and the All-Star game itself (7.3 million, an eight percent increase). ESPN also experienced a nine percent increase in viewership with Friday’s All-Star celebrity game.
Those numbers correlate with the NBA hosting more competitive events while honoring Kobe Bryant, who died three weeks ago along with his 13-year-old daughter and seven others in a helicopter crash. Although average viewership across ABC, ESPN and TNT have suffered a 13-percent decrease this season, the NBA experienced other relative improvements in recent months. Average viewership on ESPN and TNT increased by a combined six percent in December. Those viewers then increased by an average of 27 percent on ESPN, TNT and NBA TV in January.
Those numbers have not entirely offset the NBA’s declining television rating stemminged from either cord-cutting, downgraded cable packages and extensive injuries to the league’s star players. But those numbers left the NBA feeling validated on downplaying the league’s early-season bumps. “We may be affected by it a little bit more on properties because we have such a young fanbase,” NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said in a press conference during All-Star weekend. “But I am very confident we can work through it.”
His most defining characteristic, though, is forever as a blood-thirsty competitor. If you were a screaming teenager wearing a blue Team LeBron T-shirt throughout the game, Paul is the one player you wanted in your corner. He was in his element, licking his lips when he had to switch onto Giannis Antetokounmpo late in the game, drilling several kick-out threes that helped his team mount their comeback. “Chris Paul is a big reason for the win,” Frank Vogel said after the game. “He told me early in the day that he wasn’t one of those vets that just likes to take a rest in a game like this, that he wants to come in and win a game and help our guys win a game. All the young guys throughout the course of the game, every time they made a mistake or didn’t play defense, he was yelling at them. So he got us — not only got us to the finish line but also provided great leadership and some big plays in that fourth quarter down the stretch.”
In case you missed it, Paul is 34. He also crammed home a lob. This isn’t supposed to happen, but a vegan diet and relatively new off-season training regimen has granted sips from the fountain of youth. “I think I’m my hardest critic,” Paul said afterwards. “I push myself more than anybody in here could ever do. So for me, it’s always about the journey. It’s about working hard, and it’s the analytics and the statistics that say at this age you can do this or you can do that. Look at my brother Bron. Every year they say he’s going to slow down, right? And then what?”
