7 funniest moments from All-Star weekend
Pre-game gambling, the ultimate Dunk Contest catfish, and more
All-Star Weekend is over. On Thursday, we talked about the four things to look for during the festivities. How did we do?
✅ Myles Garrett being way too damn athletic for the Celebrity Game
✅ The new Rising Stars format was absolutely incredible
❌ From Thursday: “I know that KAT is immediately out.” Yikes.
✅ The closing group for Team LeBron was himself, DeRozan, Curry, Giannis, and Jarrett Allen.
I’ll take it. This was one of the best years of All-Star in recent memory (outside of the horrid Dunk Contest). Let’s laugh about it!
The Bachelor’s Matt James forgetting he has women on his team
Watch his hand, and her face:
Nah, I don’t think we can let that slide, Matt. What’s going on here? You were such a standup guy on Season 25. Wait, our producer is telling us that the matter is resolved?
Cole Anthony, doing whatever it takes
This is just that simple, stupid humor that makes All-Star worth watching.
The scene opens up on our subject, who we quickly learn is at free throw line with his team about to lose the game. At :05, his pants are down. It doesn’t matter. The shot falls. It was a meaningless moon.
Scottie Barnes and Tyrese Maxey, joyful
The NBA introduced the Clorox Clutch Challenge as a part of Rising Stars. It’s basically a hot-shot competition in which players have to make five shots on the court faster than their opponents. A super smart person at the NBA paired Tyrese Maxey and Scottie Barnes together and kept them mic’d up.
The result is glorious:
Scottie went 0-6 from five feet away. The full performance was almost as cringe as Ayesha Curry’s HBO-sponsored segment (we’re not linking that).
The amazing friendship of Luka Doncic and Nikola Jokic
These two have been linked together for a couple years now, making the most out of their time together in the Bubble and various All-Star appearances.
The fun didn’t stop in Cleveland, and no, Luka, you can’t sue your friend for hitting you with a miniature basketball:
It keeps going:
I’m dreaming of a scenario in which these two international all-timers play together. When asked about being teammates with each other, Jokic replied:
“Off the court, I think we're doing really good job. But we're going to see on the court. I don't know how we're going to do it because he's not athletic, I'm not athletic, so I don't know how we're going to match.”
Jalen Green, Dunk Contest catfish
Any reasonable person would have told you that Jalen Green was made for the Dunk Contest. Incredible bounce, swagger, and a social media following to cater to. That is, until he actually did it.
Wait for Shaq’s face:
Team Durant gambling in the locker room
The stuff of legends: Embiid dealing a card game with hundreds on the line. Trae, Book, LaVine, and DeRozan around the table. What game are they playing? All signs point to Go Fish.
I have more questions. Why isn’t anyone else playing? Is this proof that nobody likes Rudy Gobert? Why did Embiid deal himself first?
Most importantly, who would win? Lucky for us, TNT snuck the answer into the broadcast!
Michael Jordan is not joking
It was unclear if MJ was going to make it to All-Star — he hadn’t confirmed or denied it, and it was paramount that he was there as the most important piece of the NBA’s 75 Greatest Players ceremony.
(Once I saw the clip of Embiid dealing, I knew he’d be there.)
In this clip, we see MJ chopping it up with an incredible group: James Harden, Jason Kidd, Ray Allen, Dwyane Wade, Gary Payton, and Magic Johnson — who Jordan immediately calls old and challenges to a one-on-one.
“Where your shoes at? We can go play one-on-one, me and you, right now.”
“DAMN!”
By the end of the clip, it’s clear: Michael Jordan was not frickin’ joking:
