I was planning on taking it easy this weekend with Boyz-N-The-Hood by Eazy-E for today’s No Football Friday. Then I sat down and started dissecting the lyrics… I realized I was not about that life. Tomorrow’s Saturday Sports was going to be Go Easy by Matt Maeson, but that was rather bleak too. We still have an Eagles tune for the weekend and some Zach Bryan with War & Treaty. Today’s Tune is ten by Fred again… & Jozzy. It’s a nice easy-going EDM song that came out this past fall.
This song has stopped me in my tracks once you play it more than twice, it’s addicting, so I’m sorry for foisting it on you. The lyrics out of context are a bit strange. It’s got kind of a weird feeling to it that’s sorta mysterious but most importantly makes you want to dance.
On to the sports…
NBA All-Star Weekend
Friday Night
Rising Star Tournament
Tonight the NBA having their annual Rising Stars Game. For the 3rd year in a row, it is now a tournament that features both young NBA stars in their rookie or sophomore season along with G-League Stars. The NBA teams were drafted by Laker legend Paul Gasol, WNBA great Tamika Catchings, and Fab Five member Jalen Rose. Detlef Schrempf will coach the G-Leaguers. Here is a guy to know from each team…
Victor Wembanyama
Wemby was the 1st Pick of this year’s NBA Draft and the obvious choice for the 1st selection in the Rising Stars Tournament. Despite the Spurs’ atrocious record, the 7’4” (224 cm for the Euros) 20-year-old is probably still growing and has already run away with the Rookie of the Year. He’s averaging 20.4 points, 10.1 rebounds, and a league-best 3.2 block shots per game. His stats as for a rookie are up there with the all-time greats such as Shaq (23.4 points, 13.9 rebounds, 3.5 blocks as a rookie), David Robinson (24.3 points, 12 rebounds, 3.9 blocks), and Larry Bird (21.3 points, 10.4 rebounds). Although he may not be averaging what some of the all-time best rookie seasons were: Elvin Hayes (28.4 points, 17.1 rebounds), Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as Lew Alcindor (28.8 pints, 14.5 rebounds), Walt Bellamy (31.6 points, 19 rebounds), Oscar Robertson (30.5 points, 10.1 rebounds, 9.7 assists), and this one is just bananas - Wilt Chamberlain (37.6 points, 27 rebounds); Wemby is younger now than all of these guys were mentioned above. With the Spurs likely to end up with another high lottery pick, the future in San Antonio is bright.
Keegan Murray
Following up Wemby is an impossible act to follow, but Keegan Murray is a very solid contributor for Sacramento. The Kings are in the middle of a tight Western Conference playoff race as he has been averaging 15.2 points and 5.3 rebounds per game. The 4th pick of last year’s draft has had a rough February from beyond the arc, but showed a ton of potential in the month of December when he shot 44% from 3. This included a game where he made 12 3-pointers for a 47-point performance on December 16.
Chet Holmgren
After missing all of last season, Chet Holmgren is having a great rookie season for the OKC Thunder. The 7’1” lanky big man is averaging 16.8 points with 7.5 rebounds and 2.6 blocks per game. The one-and-done from Gonzaga is also shooting 39.4% from 3 as he is a modern-day big that can defend guards on the perimeter while also being a guy who spot up offensively.
Ron Holland
Ron Holland is a forward for the G League Ignite. Rather than attending a year of college, Holland chose to play in the G League to prepare for the NBA. He was the consensus #2 recruit from last year’s high school class. In the G League is averaging 20.6 points and 6.6 rebounds per game. It’ll be interesting to see how NBA scouts view his decision to skip out of school as he’s put up solid numbers against young professionals.
Saturday Night
Skills Challenge
The Skills Challenge is an obstacle course competition where 3 teams of 3 players do timed basketball events such as dribbling, passing, and shooting. Since Indiana is hosting the All-Star Weekend, they will be represented by Tyrese Haliburton, Bennedict Mathurin, and Myles Turner. Team Top Picks consist of Anthony Edwards, Paolo Banchero, and Wembanyama, who were all the #1 Overall Pick of the past 3 NBA Drafts. The Team All-Stars seem to be the All-Stars with the least amount of veteran experience who were thrown into this event because the older vets passed. I’d go with Team Top Picks.
3 Point Contest
Damian Lillard is back to defend his ‘23 3-Point Shooting Championship. Lillard and Karl Anthony-Towns have won the last two years. Of this bunch, Malik Beasley has the best 3-point shooting % thus far this season as he is hitting 3s at a 45% clip for the Milwaukee Bucks. I feel like Lauri Markkanan and Donovan Mitchell have been participating in this for the past 5 years and have never made it out of the 1st Round. Jalen Brunson and Tyrese Haliburton are both excellent basketball players with great playmaking ability and a great shot, but neither feels like a 3-point contest winner to me. For some reason, I’ll go with Trae Young, with the caveat that he’s extremely streaky. He could either catch fire and run away with this or get knocked out of the 1st Round only making a handful.
Slam Dunk
This year’s slam dunk contest only features 1 NBA All-Star and that would be Jaylen Brown of the Boston Celtics. Former Knick, Obi Toppin, has a younger brother Jacob Toppin who plays for the Westchester Knicks in the G-League, he’ll be participating. He played at Ossining High School so pretty cool he gets to play for the Westchester Knicks at the County Center in White Plains. The reigning dunk contest champion is Mac McClung. He was pretty electric last year and was almost born for this competition as he was a Dunk YouTube Star in high school. Heat Rookie Jaime Jaquez Jr. rounds out the competition. While he may have the least amount of hops compared to the rest of the contestants, his thunderous tomahawk style might offer something if he can get creative.
Sunday Night NBA All-Star Game
To check out the starring 5s of the NBA All-Star Game, the profiles were written in Saturday Sports 1/27 ‘24. Today here are 5 guys that are coming off the bench for each conference.
Ant-Man was the #1 Overall Pick of the ‘20 NBA Draft. This will be his 2nd NBA All-Star appearance, not bad for a 22-year-old. So far this year his 25.9 points and 5.2 assists per game, along with his 39.3% shooting from 3 are all career-best. He is largely responsible for why Minnesota is at the top of the Western Conference standings. Edwards is also extremely exciting to watch, I would expect him to throw a few passes off the backboard to himself. He might be a dark horse for All-Star Game MVP if he wants it.
Book is averaging a career-high 28 points per game while playing Robin to Kevin Durant. This season Booker has transitioned to the team’s point guard and is also averaging a career-high 7.1 assists per game. After missing out on the All-Star last year, this will be Book’s 4 All-Star appearance. The Suns are currently just safe from having to play in the play-in game, but it’ll be a tight finish in the West. Much like Durant, all that matters for Booker at this point in his career is how he plays in the playoffs. I’m burying the THIS LEAGUE lead here, Devin Booker was spotted in the same Super Bowl suite as Kendall Jenner (his ex)… Suns fan Emma is going to be pissed!
The point guard from Davidson will be playing in his 10th All-Star Game and still Steph Curry with the shot boy. Curry this season is averaging 28 points while shooting his typical ultra-efficient 42% from 3. His 10 All-Star Games puts him in a category with Ray Allen, Carmelo Anthony, Clyde Drexler, James Harden, Jason Kidd, Paul Pierce, David Robertson, and John Stockton. The only difference between him and all those mentioned is he is a 2-time MVP.
After a few seasons where the LA’s #2 team decided to not try much during the regular season, Kawhi and the Clippers aren’t taking this one for granted. Leonard has played in 48 of the team’s 52 games this season and at that rate would play in 75 games this year - something he has never done in his 12-year career. Kawhi will be playing in his 6th All-Star Game and thinks LA may have what it takes to make a deep run. “We’re right there. We’ve been winning games, as everybody has seen. There’s ways for us to get better. That’s what’s scary… Now is the time to turn it around”, the 2-time NBA Champion told reporters following LA’s loss to Minnesota this week.
KAT is a local who grew up in Edison, New Jersey. The 7’ center will be playing in his 4th NBA All-Star Game and this season is shooting a career-best 44% from 3. Towns has taken on more of the role of sidekick to Anthony Edwards, something that has been a struggle in the past. That said, he still has his fair share of games where he is the lead scorer, including in January when he put up a career-high 62 points.
Jalen Brunson deservedly so will make his 1st All-Star Game appearance. The kid from New Brunswick, New Jersey is living out his dreams. When he was getting drafted out of Villanova, he fell to the 2nd Round of the ‘18 NBA Draft because he’s 6’2” and not as crazy of an athlete as some of his peers. After moving on up the Dallas Mavs totem pole, Brunson became the team’s #2 behind Luka Doncic. He signed with the Knicks in June of ‘22, right when Week to Week Notes was starting. Here was what was written on July 4th Weekend ‘22, Scouting Report: Won two NCAA Championships at ‘Nova. Plays like a men’s slow-break stud. Left-handed so he is automatically crafty. Has elite basketball footwork and instinct. Knows how to nonchalantly throw his hip or elbow a certain way to create space when looking to score. Precision beats power and timing beats speed. Shit, even a broken clock is right twice a day, but even I had no idea he’d be this good! He is already turning into one of the best free-agent signings in Knicks history.
Paolo Banchero is only 21 years old and already made his first NBA All-Star Game. The ‘23 Rookie of the Year and #1 Overall Pick of the ‘22 NBA Draft is checking off all the boxes as one of the league’s next future stars. Currently, Banchero has Orlando as the 8-seed in the Eastern Conference which is no small feat considering the Magic haven’t made the playoff since ‘20 and haven’t made it out of the 1st Round of the Eastern Conference since Prime Dwight Howard in ‘11. We’ll see if the former #1 overall pick can follow suit with other Magic #1 Picks (Shaq & Dwight) and one day lead the team to the NBA Finals.
Scottie Barnes is in his 3rd year in the NBA and won the Rookie of the Year in ‘22. He’ll be an injury replacement, but that still counts as his 1st NBA All-Star Game. Barnes at only 22 years old is already used by the Toronto Raptors as a star. What I mean by that is his Usage Rate is at a 25.1% clip, which ranks him #24 amongst NBA players. The NBA’s Usage Rate is simply the estimate of the percentage of team plays used by a player while he is on the floor. Essentially, a quarter of the time that Barnes is playing, the Raptors are calling a play specifically dialed up for him to score. (Usage Rate Stat found on BasketballMonster)
When the 76ers dealt James Harden, they must not have been all that too concerned because they knew that meant more Tyrese Maxey. The 4th year pro out of Kentucky is a first-time All-Star. After last season when he averaged 20 points per game for the 1st time in his career, Maxey has taken another leap to 25 a game. The 21st overall pick of the ‘20 NBA Draft was the 10th guard taken in his draft class. One main reason he fell was that he only shot 29% from beyond the college arc in his 1 year with Coach Calipari. As a pro, Maxey has been a career 40.2% 3-point shooter and when he gets a head of steam, he is a very crafty finisher around the rim. He and Embiid have Philadelphia in the midst of contending for another playoff run out of the East.
Unfortunately, Julius Randle has a shoulder and the knock will keep him out of playing in his 3rd NBA All-Star Game as a member of the New York Knicks. The timeline for his return to the hardwood is still a bit uncertain but the team is hopeful that he is trending in the right direction. The #7 overall pick of the ‘14 NBA Draft has certainly had his ups and downs in the league but has turned into a very good Knick. This season he made a point of emphasis to attack the rim more and is attempting 5.3 3-pointers per game, the least amount he’s shot since his 1st year with the Knicks in ‘20. Randle’s 3 Knick’s All-Star selections have him surpassing Knick legends such as Earl “The Pearl” Monroe, Bernard King, and Allan Houston, tying him 11th all-time in Knick history for All-Star Game selections. While he’ll never reach Patrick Ewing’s 11 All-Star games, he is just 29 years old and may have a realistic shot at tying Willis Reed, Walt Frazier, & Carmelo Anthony’s 7. This is pending he sticks around with the team while the Knicks stay good past ‘26.