This Friday will start NBA All Star weekend where all the teams get to enjoy a small break after having a hard working first half of the season. They get to relax and watch their friends, teammates, and fellow NBA players put on a show for the fans and charity. Friday is the Celebrity game and Young Stars showcase as the best young international players play the best young U.S players in the NBA. All Star Saturday night involves the Skills c=Challenge, Three Point Contest, and the Slam Dunk Contest. Then to close out NBA All Star Weekend is the All Star Game where Team LeBron will take on Team Giannis. We will be going through who each of us has winning this weekend!!!!
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Team USA vs. Team World (Nicolo Melli replacing Deandre Ayton)
Phil's Pick: Team World for the UPSET!!!! You wanna know why? Two words..... LUKA DONCIC. In my opinion he is the best player in this game and he will prove why. He will not only lead an underdog team to a W but he will win MVP of the game too!!!!
Akeem's Pick: I'm picking Team USA for the win. I feel like they have a more well balanced lineup of players. They have a lot of star power that I feel can propel them to getting the win. Plus I feel like because there is so much hype over most of their players, that extra added pressure may force them to put on a show and show up for all the people rooting for them to win.
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Skills Challenge (Shai Gigileous Alexander Replaced D-Rose)
Akeem's Pick: As a fellow Bucks fan, I'm obviously going to root for Khris Middleton. While all the competition is stiff this year so it's anyone's game, I feel like he has the most well rounded game that can help with this. He can shoot the 3, pass, and has the range for the half court shot.
Phil's Pick: Without being a completely biased Celtics fan my pick is Jayson Tatum. He is a defending champ so he knows what it takes to win this competition. There is no doubt he has the skill set to succeed in this challenge but having the added experience of being the defending champ only helps him more and giving him an advantage over the rest.
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Three Point Contest (Damian Lillard replaced by Devin Booker due to groin injury)
Phil's Pick: I am picking another defending champ in this contest. My pick is Joe Harris. Once again he knows what it takes to win this contest. Even though he is the defending champ he is flying under the radar as big names like Trae Young, Damian Lillard, Zach Lavine, and Buddy Hield are also in the contest so there might not be as much pressure.
Akeem's Pick: I feel like this is honestly anyone's event to win. But if I had to pick a winner, I'd have to go with the young bull Trae Young. I really like his style of play. And he's one of the leaders out of the eight contestants in 3pt percentage. I also feel like Damian Lillard has a real shot. He's been hitting a lot of shots from a great distance as of late. But I'm going to stick with Trae as my winner!!!
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Dunk Contest
Phil's Pick: If you thought I would be choosing another former champ to win this competition you are absolutely right. Also a ton of bias is in this pick as this man is my favorite player. Dwight Howard will become a Dunk Champion once more. Being the oldest one in the competition a lot of people are overlooking him so that gives him a slight advantage to shock the judges and crowd. Plus giving who he is going up against he will need to bring his A Game especially if it's him and Aaron Gordon in the Finals. Expect SuperMan to make an appearance and remind the world he still has it.
Akeem's Pick: You'd assume that with me being a Bucks fan, I'd pick Connaughton to walk away with the title. But I'm going to go against him and pick Aaron Gordon. This man tied with Zach Lavine one year which I think was his year to win. But I digress. I just like to see what he can do. I'm excited to see what each person brings but he's something special.
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All Star Game (Damian Lillard replaced by Devin Booker due to groin injury)
Phil's Pick: Team Lebron is the team I chose because I believed Lebron drafted better and I gotta stay with the team that I drafted for. That's loyalty for ya. Lebron has too many weapons and it would be a shock for him to lose.
Akeem's Pick: I'm going with Giannis for obvious reasons. I have to go with the team I drafted under and my favorite player. He has some people that can really surprise you. So I'll pick his team to win it all.
In conclusion, we're really excited to see what this years All Star Weekend brings us!!! We can't wait to see if our predictions will be right. And also all the highlights that will come from this spectacular weekend of basketball. Stay tuned everybody!!!
