On February 20th, the NBA hosted their 69th edition of the NBA All-Star Game. This year it was held in Chicago, Illinois in the United Center. The last time it was in Chicago was in 1988. It was televised by TNT across the nation. The teams were captained by Giannis Antetokounmpo and LeBron James.
The draft was on February 6th. LeBron had the first pick and chose fellow Lakers teammate Anthony Davis. Giannis took Joel Embiid with his first pick. LeBron’s picks in order were as follows: Anthony Davis, Kawhi Leonard, Luka Doncic, James Harden, Damian Lillard, Ben Simmons, Nikola Jokic, Jayson Tatum, Chris Paul, Russell Westbrook, and Domantas Sabonis. Devin Booker ended up replacing Damian Lillard because of injury.
Giannis’ picks were as follows: Joel Embiid, Pascal Siakam, Kemba Walker, Trae Young, Khris Middleton, Bam Adebayo, Rudy Gobert, Jimmy Butler, Kyle Lowry, Brandon Ingram, and Donovan Mitchell.
The game this year used a new format. The first three quarters were scored separately like different games. The scoreboard would reset between quarters. The team that won each quarter was awarded $100,000 for their team’s charity. After the third quarter, the combined score was put on the scoreboard. They used the Elam Ending, which put a target score of 24 points more than the leading teams score. They chose 24 to honor the passing of Kobe Bryant. To honor Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gianna, the teams wore #24 and #2.
Team LeBron won the first quarter, Team Giannis won the second quarter, and the third quarter was tied. Anthony Davis made a free throw to hit the target of 157, getting the win for Team LeBron 157-155.
Kawhi Leonard was awarded the NBA All-Star Game Kobe Bryant Most Valuable Player award.
The NBA also hosted a few other competitions like the Celebrity Game, the Rising Stars Challenge, the Skills Challenge, the Three Point Contest, and the Slam Dunk Contest. Buddy Hield won the Three Point Contest and Derrick Jones Jr. controversially won the Slam Dunk Contest.
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