NBA All Star Weekend Slam Dunk Competition: Paul George, John Wall Headline Event
NBA All-Star Weekend 2014 is underway and the festivities couldn't be any greater. The weekend is chock full of media coverage and commentary, appearances by NBA legends of yesteryear, and of course great basketball.
The biggest star of this year's All-Star Weekend is undoubtedly the Miami Heat's LeBron James. However, "the King" has disappointed his court by not participating in the weekend's most hyped event, Saturday's Sprite Slam Dunk contest. Instead, the event will consist of the following high-flying competitors: Portland's Damian Lillard, Indiana's Paul George, Washington's John Wall, Toronto's Terrence Ross and Sacramento rookie Ben McLemore.
Win or lose, Lillard has already made All-Star Weekend history. He'll become the first man to participate in all five All-Star Weekend events. That means Lillard will suit up for the West team in the All-Star game itself, as well as compete in the Skill Challenge, the Three-Point Contest and the Rising Stars Game in addition to the aforementioned Dunk contest.
The All-Star game itself will be an entertaining affair. Despite the Western Conference absolutely dominating Eastern Conference squads this year (with the Indiana Pacers and Miami Heat being two notable exceptions of course), the rosters are pretty evenly matched. Besides James, what players should you be following? Indiana's Paul George is a monster in the paint and he'll draw a lot of double teams. That will allow the East's other players like Dwyane Wade to drain big-time 3-point shots. The NBA's second best player, Kevin Durant of the Oklahoma City Thunder, highlights the Western Conference's squad. James Harden of the Houston Rockets will take some of the pressure off his lanky former teammate.
Other notable Eastern Conference players include: Roy Hibbert, Joakim Noah and Paul Pierce.
Other notable Western Blake Conference players include: Griffin, Stephen Curry and Ricky Rubio.
Western Conference starter Kobe Bryant will not be playing in the game due to injury. Harden was promoted to the starting point guard spot in lieu of Bryant's absence.
Will you be tuning into TNT to watch any of the five main All-Star Weekend events? Let me know in the comments section below.