NBA All-Star Saturday primer: Everything you need to know

After a whirlwind trade deadline that blew minds across the basketball world and altered the landscape of the NBA for years to come, it’s time to wind down from the hysteria and take a break. An All-Star break.  

Although the game itself may be drastically different this year — overhauled in an attempt to captivate fans — Saturday night’s iconic festivities remain the same: some of the league's most exceptional talent will be on display in the Skills Challenge, 3-Point Contest and Slam-Dunk Contest. 

This year’s showcase features two-time defending champions in both the 3-Point and Dunk Contests, each looking to make All-Star weekend history. Former Raptors wing Norman Powell is also set to participate in the shooting competition amidst a career year.  

Here is everything you need to know about the events: 

SKILLS CHALLENGE  

The league has made one minor adjustment to this year’s Skills Challenge after three years of keeping things the same. It will feature four teams of two, rather than three teams of three. 

No rules have officially been announced yet, but there has been no indication that the event will stray from the obstacle course, passing challenge, shooting challenge and half-court shooting finale format used for the last three installments. 

Last year’s host team of Tyrese Haliburton, Myles Turner and Bennedict Mathurin of the Indiana Pacers won the competition over Team Top Picks (Anthony Edwards, Victor Wembanyama and Paolo Banchero) and Team All-Stars (Scottie Barnes, Trae Young and Tyrese Maxey).  

The league will continue the tradition of the host city fielding a team in the event, as the mercurial Draymond Green and 22-year-old Moses Moody make up Team Warriors. Team Rooks — a squad seen in both 2022 and ‘23 — will also return, with first-overall pick Zaccharie Risacher of the Atlanta Hawks and second-overall pick Alex Sarr of the Washington Wizards. The participants are rounded out by All-Stars Evan Mobley and Donovan Mitchell representing the best in the East on Team Cavs and burgeoning mega-star Wembanyama and wily vet Chris Paul making up Team Spurs.  

Team Cavs and Team Spurs are the favourites. Each includes a versatile young big with a mix of mobility and shooting in Mobley and Wembanyama, and a multi-talented premier guard in Mitchell and Paul. We’ll see if the otherworldly talent of "the Alien" will create any remarkable moments.  

Wembanyama, Mobley, Mitchell and Green are all second-time participants in the challenge, while Paul is competing for a record sixth time. 

3-POINT CONTEST 

One of the most often-heard complaints about the modern NBA is that it has become just one big three-point contest. 

The contest’s popularity amongst the players — it’s the event that draws the most All-Star participation — can certainly be seen as analogous to the rise of the three-ball in standard competition.  

A pioneer of the league-wide distance-shooting movement, Damian Lillard, reigns as the two-time defending champion. With a win, he would join Larry Bird and Craig Hodges as the only players to win three consecutive 3-Point Contests.

Lillard headlines a deep eight-man group featuring former Toronto fan-favourite Powell, three-time participant and 2020 champ Buddy Hield, and All-Stars Jalen Brunson, Cade Cunningham, Darius Garland and Tyler Herro (all four are Eastern Conference All-Stars, and all four were drafted by Kenny Smith for the All-Star game). 

Garland boasts the best three-point percentage of the contestants at 43.1 per cent, closely followed by Powell at 42.6 per cent. Yet, three-point percentage hasn’t necessarily correlated with 3-Point Contest success in the past. Lillard’s percentages of 37.2 and 34.1 going into All-Star weekend the last two seasons, respectively, fell well below opponents such as Hield, Haliburton, Brunson, Herro, Mitchell, Lauri Markkanen, Karl-Anthony Towns and Trae Young. In fact, last year the defending champ had the lowest percentage of any participant.  

It is important to consider that three-point percentage doesn’t paint the entire picture, as some players have more difficult shot diets than others. Also, shooting in the 3-Point Contest is undoubtably very different than shooting during a game.

Lillard’s penchant for logo triples may come in handy with the two long-range shots that are worth three points each.  

The 13-year veteran and nine-time All-Star will be making his fifth appearance in the contest. The other former champ, Hield, will be making his fourth, while both Brunson and Herro will be getting their second crack at the trophy. That leaves four first-time participants: Powell, Garland, Cunningham and Cam Johnson.    

On Thursday, it was confirmed that the Steph vs. Sabrina 3-point shooting competition that highlighted All-Star Saturday last year will not be taking place.

SLAM DUNK CONTEST 

The Slam Dunk Contest continues to take a backseat to the 3-Point Contest in terms of star power, however, it is still All-Star Saturday's grand finale.  

The contest features another two-time defending champion: Mac McClung of the G League’s Osceola Magic. The uber-athletic six-foot-two guard looks to become the second player to win the dunk contest three times, after Nate Robinson, and the first player to three-peat.  

Standing between McClung and dunk contest history are two NBA rookies — San Antonio Spurs’ Stephon Castle and Chicago Bulls' Matas Buzelis — and one sophomore — Milwaukee Bucks’ Andre Jackson Jr. — all of whom are first-timers.  

Thanks to the new dunk scores on NBA.com, we are able to quantify the contestants' in-season dunks for the first time. The scores are determined using a combination of scoring the player’s jump, power and style, along with the level of defensive contest, total vertical jump, hang time, takeoff distance, ball speed through rim, maximum ball height and reach back — yeah, pretty comprehensive.  

Castle has both the highest dunk score recorded (96.6) and the most total dunks (42) this season of any participant (at the NBA level), and figures to be McClung’s primary competition. The rookie also has the most dunks of any NBA guard this season.  

Buzelis’s dunk score tops out at 82.2, and the Chicago-born wing has thrown down 32 slams this season. Jackson recorded a slightly better 82.9, but is last in total dunks among the trio at 17, despite receiving more playing time than Buzelis.  

While dunk scores are not available at the G League level, McClung and his Osceola teammates were experimenting with some impressive 360 windmill dunks during their warmup at Paramount Fine Foods Centre in Mississauga, Ont., before taking on the Raptors 905 on Feb. 7.

After making a name for himself with some immense hang time and sensational creativity, what else could McClung have left in his bag for the third go-around? He certainly can’t jump over Shaq again.