NBA All-Star Saturday takeaways: Dunk contest has lost prestige

Watch as Raptors guard Danny Green posts a 23-point performance in the first round of the 3-point contest.

All-Star Saturday Night has reached the point where the skills challenge and the three-point contest are more exciting than the slam dunk contest that took place in Charlotte’s Spectrum Center. NBA All-Star weekend is for big names but role player Joe Harris and Hamidou Diallo stole the show.

Here are my takeaways from a full day of NBA action.

Green shows well and shoots quick

Danny Green elected to wear the Raptors OVO jersey in the competition. He put a 23 in the first round. His release was so quick throughout that he had four seconds left after he shot his final ball at the last rack.

Tampering Teammates

The photo of the day that sent Twitter ablaze was LeBron James greeting a couple all-star teammates that have been rumoured to be joining him with the Los Angeles Lakers this off-season. Much ado about nothing or tampering confirmation? Either way, the drama based off of simple things like still photography is what makes the NBA the best soap opera on TV.

Big guys represent in the Skills Challenge

The most unintentionally funny matchup was battle of the big men named Nikola which went to Jokic.

Tatum shows off his skills

Jayson Tatum showed that in a competition where everyone is going through the motions you can always come from behind. After coming from behind to win in the first round the Boston Celtics forward hit a half-court shot to defeat Trae Young in the final is likely the last time Tatum is at the All-Star weekend and not playing in the actual game.

Curry 6 throwbacks

Stephen Curry has seen the NBA three-point contest up close before. It inspired the best shoes of the night that were inspired by NBA all-star nostalgia.

Dad Dell can still shoot it

Before the Curry brothers competed in the three-point competition, Dell Curry took a try. The eldest Curry was the Hornets franchise leader in three-point makes and points when he retired and was received with a warm ovation from the crowd. Curry brought out some of his legendary teammates Mark Price, Glen Rice and Ray Allen to help him with the racks. Surprisingly, Allen, the most recent of the quartet to stop playing, struggled the most and missed all of his shots. It was all for a good cause as the Curry Brothers donated $1,000 dollars for every shot made.

Former G league sniper beats three-point GOAT

Joe Harris is a second-round pick but followed up his 25 in the first round with a score of 26 in the finals against Steph Curry.

Curry made his last 10 in the first round including all five of his money balls on the last rack to put up 27. After the two-time MVP had three perfect racks to take over first place the crowd gave him a standing ovation.

Curry made his first nine in the finals but then slowed down. He had to hit all five of his money balls on his last rack to tie but missed his second last one and fell just short.

Harris becomes the first Brooklyn Nets player to win the three-point contest after hitting 12 straight shots. It’s quite the rags to riches story for Harris, who averaged 2.5 points in his first two seasons and was assigned to the G League 17 times but is now averaging 13.9 points and shooting 47.1 per cent from three — good for second in the NBA on the playoff-bound Nets.

Steph did beat his brother Seth, who scored 16 in the first round, and won the brotherly bet where the loser had to pay for family tickets for their games against each other for the rest of their careers.

The dunk contest isn’t dead, but it’s close

This much is certain, the dunk contest has lost its prestige. It is no longer the premier competition of the night, that now belongs to the three-point competition. Miss after miss after miss made this year’s dunk contest an eye-sore, none more than Miles Bridges‘ four straight misses.

Even the makes with some thought and creativity were found wanting like this effort from John Collins.

Hamidou Diallo, who is 6-foot-5, offered some relief when he brought Shaq out as a prop and dunked it over the 7-foot-2 Hall-of-Famer. The dunk was an homage to Vince Carter as not only did he clear O’Neal he put his entire forearm in the rim after he dunked it and hung on the rim by his elbow the way Carter did to seal his Slam Dunk championship win.

With the proliferation of the three-point shot, the three-ball is basketball’s equivalent to the home run. Dunks, however, have plateaued. Despite the crazy athleticism, we’ve run out of new things these guys can attempt and none of the big stars want to get in the competition out of fear of losing.

I’m not willing to say the competition is dead, though.

With R.J. Barrett and Zion Williamson likely in the league next year, the competition could be saved or at least put on life support.

The 2019 edition was another reminder just how special Zach LaVine, Aaron Gordon and Vince Carter are. Michael Jordan turns 56 on all-star Sunday and I’m pretty sure his airness could have acquitted himself better in the dunk competition than what we witnessed on Saturday night.

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