One of the most awaited events in NBA's annual calendar, All Star weekend is set to enthral audiences all over the world. Rather than the All Star Game on Sunday, it is the action during Saturday night, which is keenly awaited, primarily the slam dunk and the three points shooting contest.
But before the slam dunkers and the sharp shooters of the NBA show their respective skills, the NBA would be treated to two other events – Degree Shooting Stars and Taco Bell Skills Challenge.
Degree Shooting Stars challenge
The Degree Shooting Stars challenge would witness four teams battling for the first prize. The teams are Team Bosh, Team Curry, Team Millsap and Team WestBrook.
Each of these teams would feature one legend, one female player and a current player. Legends such as Dominique Wilkins, Dell Curry, Scottie Pippen and Anfernee "Penny" Hardaway would come up with their shooting skills as well on the night.
Taco Bell Skills Challenge
The Taco Bell Skills Challenge would witness eight players competing for the title.
The competition would involve a lot of skills, such as passing, shooting, ball handling etc, so it is primarily the guards, who have been lined up for the event, which also has a lot to do with the speed.
The participants of this competition are Patrick Beverley from Houston Rockets, Dennis Schroder (Atlanta Hawks), Elfrid Payton (Orlando Magic)Trey Burke (Utah Jazz) amongst a number of other stars.
Both these events may just be a teaser before the three points and the dunk contest, which has been amazing for fans all around the world in previous editions.
Foot Locker Three Points Contest
There is great sense of expectations from the three points shooting contest, which includes top shooters of the NBA during the season.
With Stephen Curry, James Harden, Kyrie Irving, Kyle Korver and others in the fray, the competition beyond the three point arc is expected to be even better than the slam dunk contest.
All the participants have showed their shooting skills during the regular season, hence a mouth watering clash awaits. One can expect some records to be shattered with such quality shooters in the offing.
Sprite Slam Dunk Contest
The final event of the day would see the high flying dunkers in action. Though, the competition may not feature the best dunkers of the league, there is plenty of promise in the list of players who would be participating in the competition.
The four participants are Giannis Antetokounmpofrom the Bucks, Zach La Vine (Wolves), Victor Oladipo (Magic) and Mason Plumlee (Nets).
The past editions of the Slam Dunk contests have always revealed some spectacular dunks with creativity at its peak along with originality.
Will any four of these dunkers make us remind of Vince Carter, one of the best dunkers of all time? Only time will tell.
Where to Watch Live
The All Star Saturday Night kicks-off at 8:30 pm EST(7am IST, 1:30 am GMT) with Degree Shooting Stars (first event), Taco Bell Skills Challenge(second event), Foot Locker Three Points Contest (third event) and Sprite Slam Dunk Contest, where TNT would be showing it all Live in the US.
While viewers in the UK can watch it live on BT Sports 1 and India viewers on Sony Six.
Viewers in Australia can catch all the action Live on ESPN with live streaming on Sportal.com
Viewers around the world can catch the action live streaming on NBA.com
