The Stars Are Out

By: Vasilios Dzelves, Sports Reporter

The NBA All-Star Weekend is here starting February 16th. Each day has many different planned events.

The main event on Friday will be the celebrity game. Saturday night’s main events will include the three point contest and the slam dunk contest. Finally, Sunday’s main event will be the All-Star game.

This year, All-Star players have been elected by a mixed voting system. Fan voting from the NBA website accounts for 50% of the vote, and the other 50% of the votes are split between NBA players, coaches, and the media. 12 finalists are chosen from each conference to become All-Stars.

The Eastern conference All-Stars will include Giannis Antetokounmpo, Scottie Barnes, Tyrese Haliburton, Damian Lillard, Jayson Tatum, Bam Adebayo, Paolo Banchero, Jaylen Brown, Jalen Brunson, Tyrese Maxey, Donovan Mitchell, and Trae Young. 

The Western Conference All-Stars will include LeBron James, Luka Doncic, Kevin Durant, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Nikola Jokic, Devin Booker, Stephen Curry, Anthony Edwards, Anthony Davis, Paul George, Kawhi Leonard, and Karl-Anthony Towns.

Initially Julius Randle and Joel Embiid were nominated to participate in the All-Star game, but due to injury they weren’t able to participate . Their replacements will be Scottie Barnes and Trae Young, both of whom were runner-ups to become All-Stars.

All of these stars will get a chance to show off some of their talent in the competition held annually for over 70 years.

WJPS 12th grader Oliver Gonzalez said, “The All-Star weekend is a positive for the NBA because it rewards and showcases the best players in the league.”

WJPS 9th grader Lambreeni Dzelves said, “The All-Star weekend is a good thing for the NBA because it adds something new to see. It also gives players who aren’t a part of it to take a break and practice.”

“Jack Harlow at the 2022 NBA All-Star Celebrity Game” by Erik Drost is licensed under CC BY 2.0.