NBA All-Star weekend's premier event can be hit or miss.
State Farm Saturday Night once was all about the AT&T slam dunk contest but in recent years, the 3-point contest has taken the majority of excitement. Not every year can have a shootout between Zach LaVine and Aaron Gordon to decide the winner.
The NBA is channeling that same mindset by putting four young stars into the contest to try and bring prominence back to the event. The participants are the Orlando Magic's Cole Anthony, Houston Rockets' Jalen Green, New York Knicks' Obi Toppin, and Golden State Warriors' Juan Toscano-Anderson.
They'll each look to change it up from previous years with their own ideas of creativity. It's often, however, participants look to the past for inspiration which gives us an idea of what to expect.
Here are three things to look out for in NBA All-Star weekend's most-anticipated contest:
Will a Cleveland athlete get involved for a dunk?
Perhaps someone wants to jump over Myles Garrett? It's possible. It was as recent as the NHL All-Star Game that fans saw the hometown athlete in Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Derek Carr assist with one of the shootout shots in the breakaway challenge. There are a number of athletes who may be at the events come Saturday night that could be invited to take part in the contest.
What crazy props will be used this year?
Blake Griffin once dunked over a car. JaVale McGee dunked two balls into two hoops for one of his attempts. Then there's the classic of a participant dunking over another human being. The contest often is filled with crazy props that lead to big scores and sometimes bigger fails. It's always good to look out for the props being used as each participant will need to be creative once again if they want to win.
Which judge will pull a Dwyane Wade in the contest?
It's pretty well-documented that Dwyane Wade was the main reason Gordon did not win the slam dunk contest in 2020. Many believe he voted a nine instead of a 10 due to Gordon facing off with Derrick Jones Jr., Wade's former teammate from Miami. Wade has said he simply did not feel the dunk was worthy of a perfect score. No matter what you believe, it's likely there will be a questionable score or two this year by a judge. If so, expect social media to go crazy as it did in 2020.
NBA All-Star Saturday Night begins at 8 p.m. EST on TNT.
