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The 2023 NBA All Star Weekend in Salt Lake City is officially over (Thank God).
In my opinion, the All Star Game and the weekend as a whole has turned into garbage. I went to the 2018 All Star Game in Los Angeles and thought that was legit the last time All Star weekend was fun. I may have some bias because it was in LA, but it was an awesome game and I got to see Fergie perform the national anthem live with 50% of the arena laughing their a**es off.
The thing I don't understand about the All Star Game is why they got rid of East vs West. I guess the West is a lot more dominant now, but the whole draft idea is a total disaster especially when they did it directly before the game last night. It was a bit uncomfortable to watch especially when Giannis didn't realize Ja was an All-Star starter or when Jokic drafted himself so he wouldn't be the last pick. It also took so much time and I could see a collective sigh across Twitter saying "When is this game actually gonna start?"
Another major L is the NBA Skills Challenge that happens during the Saturday night events. Whoever made the competition this year should probably be fired. Most of the players seemed uninterested and weren't really even trying. The shooting was some of the worst I've seen during the challenge. I think the NBA has either gotta get rid of this challenge as a whole and find something else to fill that broadcast slot, or go back to the old skills challenge.
However, there were some exciting things that happened this weekend. The biggest winner of the weekend was no doubt Mac McClung. We all watched Mac McClung's high school dunk highlights in awe, so it was actually awesome to see him win the Dunk Contest. It was also awesome considering that he was able to bounce back after an underwhelming college career and NBA career. McClung signed a two way with the 76ers last week and won the dunk contest Saturday. Not a bad week for Mac McClung.
Another W was Jayson Tatum. Tatum put up 55 points in the All Star Game which is the most points in an All Star game ever. He was unreal last night and was crowned the ASG MVP. He was milking matchups with LeBron and blowing kisses to the crowd. He was by far one of the most entertaining players last night considering most of them don't try at all.
NBA All Star Weekend was once again pretty forgettable. It is really time to start wondering if this weekend needs to be revamped as a whole or maybe just cancelled...