NBA All Star Weekend 2022

 NBA All Star Weekend is next week, and it will be another exciting weekend this year. With the reserve list being revealed for the actual all-star game last week for each conference and the draft coming up this week, which team will take the win this year. The reserves for the west consists of Chris Paul, Devin Booker, Karl-Anthony Towns, Donovan Mitchell, Luka Doncic, Draymond Green and Rudy Gobert. For the East reserves, there's Jimmy Bulter, Darius Garland, James Harden, Zach LaVine, Khris Middleton, Jayson Tatum, and Fred VanVleet. Also, the starters were announced for the conferences as well. First, for the East we have the team captain Kevin Durant who will be replaced by LaMelo Ball due to injury. Next, we have the Giannis Antetokounmpo, Joel Embiid, Trae Young, and DeMar DeRozan. In the west, the starters are Andrew Wiggins, Stephen Curry, Ja Morant, Nikola Jokic, and the captain Lebron James. It will be fun on how both KD and LBJ choose their squads this year for the NBAs yearly ultimate pickup game. 

To kick things off the Rising Stars game is set to have a new tournament style format this year and it will have four teams. The teams are Team Isiah, Team Payton, Team Barry, and Team Worthy. There will be three games played, two games to 50 and another up to 75 to celebrate the NBAs 75th anniversary. this is a new fresh take on the rising stars game this year, so we'll see what it brings to the table. Also, it's going to be fun seeing the future of NBA go at it and it might be some be a few surprises in store. Regardless, it's going to be exciting for sure.

Finally, All-Star Saturday Night is a special night because it's the most highlighted nights during the whole weekend. There's the Skills Challenge, 3pt Shootout, and Dunk Contest all in one. First, we have the skills challenge featuring the Antetokounmpo brothers Giannis, Alex, and Thanasis, and the Cavs with Jarrett Allen, Darius Garland, and Evan Mobley. Then, the Rooks with Cade Cunningham, Scottie Barnes, and Josh Giddy. So, who will take the W for the challenge? Will it be the Antetokounmpo brothers taking it home? Will it be the Cavs taking it for the city, or will it be the up-and-coming rooks by saying that they're here and seeing what the future looks like? 

Next, we have the 3pt shootout featuring Trae Young, CJ McCollum, Zach LaVine, Desmond Bane, Fred VanVleet, Karl-Anthony Towns, Luke Kennard, and Patty Mills. This will be a good one because we get to see some names that we haven't seen in previous years. So, it will be interesting to see how this 3pt contest goes this year. Now, it's time for the main event which is the Dunk Contest. This years contest consists of Obi Toppin, Jalen Green, Cole Anthony, and Juan Toscano-Anderson. we have four dunkers to put on a show to close the night out and it should be a good one and we'll see what their creativity brings. 

All in all, All-Star weekend gives a fun and relaxed vibe to the season for everybody with being competitive without being competitive and the experience of an NBA All-Star Weekend is just good time.