by San Francisco -Another NBA All-Star weekend is in the books and, depending on who you ask, it was either a step in the right direction or the worst that has ever been taken on television. In this way it was exactly like any other All-Star weekend.
However, this was completely different in many other ways. The competition has adopted a mini-tournament format for the All-Star Game, which broke out the 24 All-Stars in three teams of eight, with the fourth team consisting of the Rising Stars competition on Friday. The event, won by the OGS and MVP Stephen Curry, received mixed reviews.
Although it certainly had very high highlights and very low lows, most of them agreed that the competitive level in the actual All-Star game had improved much compared to the past years. Hey, it’s a start. Here are some winners and losers from NBA All-Star Weekend 2025.
If you will remember something about this weekend in 10 years, it will be Kevin Hart Mac McClung. The only triple NBA Dunk Contest champion exceeded our highest expectations and put together four of the most creative and athletic amazing Dunks that we have ever seen.
McClung said he thinks this will be his last game, but the NBA must hit his door (and offering his bank account) to get him back next year.
Okay, I know what you think … This guy cheated in the skills challengeSo how can he be a winner?
Well, two reasons: 1) He wanted to win this meaningless competition so much that he was trying to live in submission and 2) He was 100% honest about the list after the game.
While everyone assumed that the schedule was hatched by experienced line-Bender Chris Paul, Wembanyama easily admitted that it was his idea to throw the basketballs of the rack instead of trying real shots-a rare representation of Honnêteté in the sports world.
Mark my words, during Wemby’s first play -off run, at least one commentator will state how his attempt to cheat in the skills challenge shows how fiery his competitive mind is burning.
It was appropriate that this was the 25 -year anniversary of the unforgettable Dunk competition performance of Vince Carter in the Bay, because we saw almost exactly the same scenario playing on Saturday.
Mac McClung was so breathtaking perfect that fans are likely to forget that Stephon Castle had some pretty incredible dunks.
This is exactly what happened in 2000 to Steve Francis and Tracy McGrady, whose Dunks would in fact have won every other year where Carter did not participate. Sometimes you just come across greatness, and greatness always wins.
It is a fuck for Castle, who has won MVP Honors on Friday evening in rising stars, which will probably be forgotten the history thanks to McClung.
Losers: Wounded All-Stars
LeBron James, which bends from the All-Star game due to single and foot injuries, came as a surprise and left fans on unknown territory. This was the first year since 2004 that James did not play in the game.
Lakers’ LeBron James misses the first NBA all-star game in 21 years with ‘ankle and foot discomfort’
Sam Quinn
If that wasn’t enough, once the pickup style tournament started, it became clear that Anthony Edwards did not check in at all in the game. He later revealed that he was dealing with a groin injury that eventually kept him outside.
Honest enough – everyone has bumps and bruises in this phase of the year, and you would never want them to sacrifice the rest of the season to play in an exhibition game. But if you feel that you have an injury serious enough to keep you out of the game, you must exclude yourself before the day of the game. That would make a worthy replacement (such as Los Angeles Clippers monitoring Norman Powell) to appear.
James and Edwards certainly wanted to wait until the last second to make every effort to play, but in the end it left a sour taste because it was too late to be replaced by another earning player.
It is not often that Curry falls into the “loser” category under all circumstances, but he was well on the way before the last game of Sunday evening. Curry should have been the absolute central figure of this weekend’s festivities in his own backyard. Instead, he was absent in the 3-point competition, and The entire Steph vs. Sabrina -followed by a year of pleated, was completely crushed. He needed a real Curry-like performance in the championship game to save the weekend … and of course he delivered himself.
After a relatively quiet first match, Curry broke out with a pull-up 3-pointer from Half Court who generated the loudest cheers of what was largely a quiet audience.
He followed that with a few more 3s, including a characteristic lookout boss of the left wing.
His flurry to finish things yielded him All-Star Game MVP subjessions for the second time in his illustrious career. The weekend may have started quietly for the chosen son of the Bay Area, but it ended the only way it was possible.
Winner: years
None of the All-Stars included the biggest comeback story of the weekend. It came from a child named years, who was equipped against Sharpshooter Extraordinaire Damian Lillard during a seemingly bizarre competition during one of the (many) breaks in the game Sunday evening.
The rules of the competition, run by Social Media Sensation Mr. Beast, were that a 3-Pointer of the Half-Court logo for years before Lillard could make three. If he did, he would take $ 100,000 home – if not, the same amount would be given to a charity. Given that Lillard takes those photos such as Lay -Outs, it was certainly a tough battle for years.
For years came close to a few attempts, but when Lillard made his second, things looked particularly gloomy. Then, out of nowhere, the young person brought in to take home a cool $ 100k, much to the delight of the Chase Center.
If the moment was not sweet enough, years said he would use the money to help and save his family for the university.
Who would have thought that one of the most memorable moments of All-Star would come from a young man that nobody had heard before Sunday?
