By. Hailey Salvian
All-Star Weekend is here!
From celebrities to Olympians (hello, Andre DeGrasse) to dazzling dunks and, of course, the clash of Team Curry and Team LeBron, there is plenty for hoops fans to enjoy this weekend.
The three-day celebration in Los Angeles of basketball will be huge for Canadians, too.
Check out how our home and native land will be represented in our special edition of The Canadian Report.
Celebrity game
Before the All-Stars take the hardwood, the celebrities will get their shot in the NBA All-Star Celebrity Game, which tips off Friday at 7 p.m. (all times Eastern).
De Grasse, the Olympic medal-winning sprinter, will make his Celebrity Game debut representing the star-studded Team Clippers, which features Jamie Foxx, Paul Pierce and Common (to name a few).
Canadian artist Justin Bieber will make his return to the All-Star Game for the first time since 2011, facing off against his fellow Canuck on Team Lakers, which boasts Candace Parker, Tracy McGrady and Nate Robinson.
De Grasse won three Olympic medals at the 2016 Rio Olympics, and is coming off an injury that pulled him out of competition from the IAAF World Championships last year. The 23-year-old from Toronto made headlines in Rio when he gave the legendary Usain Bolt a run for the gold medal in the 200-metre finals.
If only Bolt was returning to the Celebrity Game this year – he played in 2013 – then maybe they could have recreated their epic bromance photo from the Rio.
Bieber, 23, is a former Celebrity Game MVP, having won in 2011 after an eight-point, four-assist performance.
As @justinbieber returns to the #RufflesCelebGame… we throw it back to his MVP performance in 2011! pic.twitter.com/x9OSRwBm3z
— 2018 NBA All-Star (@NBAAllStar) February 15, 2018
Rising Stars
Once the celebrities are finished, the Rising Stars game, featuring top first and second-year players in the league, will get underway at 9 p.m. Friday. Canadians Jamal Murray and Dillon Brooks were both named to the 10-man “World” team that will take on the U.S. team Friday night.
Come out and see the #KickstartRisingStars practice FRIDAY morning at the @ConventionLA!
🎫: https://t.co/fBVnc4TvM7 pic.twitter.com/WdafVcSWK4
— #NBAAllStar (@NBAAllStar) February 9, 2018
Murray, the 20-year-old from Kitchener, Ont., was named MVP of the Rising Stars game last year after dropping 36 points in the World Team’s loss to the Americans.
He is currently averaging 16.5 points-per-game for the Denver Nuggets.
Brooks, the No. 45 pick in last year’s draft, has surprised the Memphis Grizzlies and fans alike with his solid play in his rookie season. The 22-year-old is averaging 9.0 points a game and has started 48 of 56 games.
Brooks’ teammate Andrew Harrison is ready to wager that the young Canuck will be the MVP of this year’s game.
All-Star Saturday Night
The All-Star Saturday night features some of the most popular events – the Skills Challenge, Three-Point Contest and Dunk Competition.
After attempting to defend his Rising Star MVP status, Murray will take part in the Taco Bell Skills Challenge Saturday night, which begins at 8 p.m.
The skills challenge will be split among guards and bigs, with four on each side.
The three-round, obstacle-course competition, which tests dribbling, passing, agility and three-point-shooting skills, will feature a head-to-head, bracket-style tournament format. The four big men will be on one side of the bracket and the four guards will be on the other side of the bracket.
Murray will face off against fellow guards, former Raptor Lou Williams (Clippers), Spencer Dinwiddie (Nets), and Donovan Mitchell (Jazz). Joel Embiid (76ers), Al Horford (Celtics) and Lauri Markkanen (Bulls) are among the bigs squaring off.
This is Murray’s first time competing in one of the Saturday Night challenges.
Three-Point Contest
Furthering the Northern representation on Saturday, Toronto Raptors guard Kyle Lowry will take part in his third consecutive Three-Point Contest. This season, Lowry is averaging 16.4 points, 6.6 assists and a career-high 6.0 rebounds. He is shooting .386 (133-345) from beyond the arc and ranks eighth in the NBA in three-pointers.
He has made multiple three-pointers in 35 games, including a career-high eight Nov. 29 versus Charlotte.
The Philadelphia native will go up against defending champion Eric Gordon (Rockets), Bradley Beal (Wizards), Paul George (OKC), Klay Thompson (GSW), Devin Booker (Suns), Wayne Ellington (Heat) and Tobias Harris (Clippers).
In 2016, on home court at Toronto hosted the All-Star Weekend, Lowry was eliminated in Round 1. In 2017 he finished in last place.
All-Star Game
Last, but not least, on Sunday, the NBA’s best will hit the court in the annual All-Star Game.
No Canadians were voted into the All-Star Game this year, and thus not chosen in the draft. However, Canada will be represented by a handful of Toronto Raptors.
DeMar DeRozan was voted as a starter while his teammate Lowry was selected as a reserve by NBA coaches.
This year, LeBron James and Steph Curry held a mock draft – not televised much to our chagrin – instead of the traditional East versus West format that usually saw the East come out on the short end of the score.
As drafted by #NBAAllStar team captains #LeBronJames and #StephenCurry….
The 2018 @NBAAllStar Rosters! pic.twitter.com/TbZtvitP4f
— NBA (@NBA) January 26, 2018
DeRozan and Lowry will remain teammates this weekend, as they were both drafted by Curry.
On the other side of the bench, Raptors’ head coach Dwane Casey was chosen as an All-Star coach, and will coach against his pair of all-stars as the bench boss of Team LeBron.
Casey is the first head coach named to the All-Star Game in Raptors’ history. However, this will be Casey’s third All-Star game, as he was a member of Seattle Super Sonics head coach George Karl’s staff at the game in 1996 and 1998.
The Raptors currently sit first in the Eastern Conference with the trio of All-Stars at the helm.
