Now that an incredibly busy trade deadline period has come to a close, it’s time to turn our attention to the next big item on the basketball calendar: 2025 NBA All-Star Weekend. This year’s edition is already underway in San Francisco, with the Golden State Warriors playing host for the first time since 2000.
In an attempt to generate more interest in the annual showcase, the league has completely revamped the actual All-Star Game into a mini tournament featuring four teams — three made up of pre-drafted NBA All-Stars and Team Chris Mullin, which won the Rising Stars Challenge on Friday.
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All-Star Saturday Night, however, has not changed. We’ll once again have the Skills Challenge, 3-Point Contest and Slam Dunk Contest, which have been the staple events for years. However, fans will not be treated to a second edition of Stephen Curry vs. Sabrina Ionsecu, the league announced Thursday.
Let’s take a look at the participants for this year’s events.
Skills Challenge
The league has regularly tinkered with the format of the Skills Challenge, and it appears that trend will continue this year. While no rules have been announced yet, the amount of teams has been increased from three to four, and the number of players on each team has been decreased from three to two.
Here’s a look at the four teams that will compete for the Skills Challenge title:
3-Point Contest
The 3-Point Contest has remained largely unchanged since its introduction back in 1986. While the league hasn’t revealed the official format yet, there’s no reason to expect it to be different than last year.
Five racks will be spread out around the arc (corner, wing, top of the key, opposite wing, opposite corner) with five balls each. Four of the racks will have four regular basketballs worth one point and one “money ball” worth two points. The fifth rack will have five money balls worth two points. Each player can place their money ball rack at the spot of their choosing.
In addition, there will be two long-range spots, roughly 30 feet away from the basket, with one ball each. Those shots will be worth three points.
Each player will have 70 seconds to complete their shots. The three players with the highest score in the first round will advance to the championship round, and the player with the highest score in the championship round will be named the winner.
Damian Lillard will look to join Larry Bird and Craig Hodges as the only players to win three 3-Point Contests in a row. Here are the eight participants:
Slam Dunk Contest
The Slam Dunk Contest, which has come under fire in recent years, will again be the main event. Again, the league has not announced the official format or rules, but it should be the same as the last few years.
The four competitors will get two dunks each in the first round, which will be scored by a panel of judges. The two dunkers with the highest combined score in the first round will advance to the championship round. There, they will again have two dunks each, and the dunker with the highest combined score in the championship round will be named the winner.
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Mac McClung is back again this year and will attempt to become the first player ever to win three Slam Dunk Contest titles in a row. Here is the full field:
This year’s judges will be Baron Davis, Kevin Garnett, Tracy McGrady, Jason Richardson and Jesser. The latter is a basketball creator who will represent the fans. For the first time, fans will submit their scores for each dunk. The average of all fan submissions will count as one official score, which Jesser will reveal.
