2018 NBA All-Star Event Locked and Loaded for This Weekend

By Emmanuel Panti, Christian Post Contributor Thursday, February 15, 2018

The stage is set for the NBA All-Star 2018 weekend in Los Angeles, California. Here are the events to look forward to this weekend.

All-Star kicks off with the Mountain Dew Kickstart Rising Stars Practice on Friday (Feb. 16) at 12:30 p.m. EST. Up next is the anticipated NBA All-Star Celebrity Game at 7 p.m. EST. Big names from sports, film, television, and music are going head-to-head in a star-studded basketball game. "Stranger Things" star Caleb McLaughlin, rapper Common, and television star Nick Cannon are just some of the celebrities to participate in the game. Many people are looking forward to comedic rock star Kevin Hart hitting the hard floor, but the movie star will not be part of the game.

Next will be Rising Stars match between the World Team and U.S. Team. Rookies like Lonzo Ball, Ben Simmons, Jayson Tatum, Jamal Murray, and more going to show the world what they got.

Saturday will be the day of the Hall of Fame Announcement, NBA All-Star Practice & Media Day, Commissioner Adam Silver media availability, and of course, the State Farm All-Saturday Night. First up is the Taco Bell Skills Challenge. Spencer Dinwiddie, Joel Embiid, Al Horford, Lauri Markkanen, Buddy Hield, Jamal Murray, Andre Drummond, and Lou Williams are the names lined up for first event.

Next up will be Eric Gordon, Devin Booker, Klay Thompson, Bradley Beal, Wayne Ellington, Kyle Lowry, Tobias Harris, and Paul George going at it from downtown for the JBL Three-Point contest. Save the best for last of course. For the Verizon Slam Dunk event, high flyers Victor Oladipo, Donovan Mitchell, Larry Nance Jr., and Dennis Smith Jr. are competing. These four players are now in the middle of brainstorming ideas on how they will stand out.

On the last day of All-Star, things will commence at 1 p.m. EST with the NBA Legends Brunch followed by the NBA G League International Challenge by Kumho Tire at 4:30 p.m. EST.

Finally, the main event, the 67^{th NBA All-Star Game at 8 p.m. EST. Instead of the West and the East battling it out, it will be Team Lebron versus Team Curry. Both Lebron James and Stephen Curry recruited some of their rivals in the league in their respective team. James and former teammate Kyrie Irving will enter the floor as teammates once more. The King also recruited Kevin Durant of the Golden State Warriors to defeat Curry. Chef Curry, on the other hand, got explosive players like Giannis Antetokounmpo and Joel Embiid in his team.}