NBA All Star Weekend - All Star Game

NBA All Star Weekend - All Star Game

The NBA All Star Break includes a number of events with the NBA All Star Game, held on Sunday, being the main event of the weekend. Starting in 1951 the starting players for the game were selected by the fans prior to 2017 when the NBA moved to a fan vote accounting for 50% while player and media voting account for 25% each. NBA coaches vote for the reserves for their respective conferences to fill out a 12 man rooster. Currently the top vote getter from each conference drafts a team from this group of players. Prior to that teams played for their respective conferences..

In addition to the All Star game there is also the Rising Stars Challenge: From 1994 until 1999, the event was called the "Rookie Game," and composed entirely of first-year players. From 2000 through 2011, the game, renamed the "Rookie Challenge", featured a team of first-year players ('Rookies') against a team of second-year players ('Sophomores'). The 2012 game debuted a new name, the "Rising Stars Challenge", and a new format. While the game continued to feature first- and second-year players, the participants were assigned to teams in a draft by two honorary captains. In 2015, the Rising Stars Challenge format was switched to a USA vs the World format.

The Slam Dunk Contest showcases the creativity and athletic ability of some of the league's best dunkers. The specific rules of the contest are decided each year, but the competition is always judged subjectively. After each dunk, or attempted dunk, competitors are awarded a mark out of 10 from five judges, giving a possible high score of 50.

The Three-Point Contest pits the best against each other. Each shooter shoots five basketballs from five different spots around the three-point line. Each shot is worth one point with the last ball of each rack being worth two points. In 2014 the revision of one of the racks changed to all 2 point balls made the perfect score 34.. In 2020, two shots from further away, worth three points each, were added, bringing the maximum score to 40. The shooters have 70 seconds to shoot the basketballs.

The Skills Challenge made its debut in 2003 Pitting selected players in a timed obstacle course of dribbling, shooting and passing, agility, quickness and accuracy all come into play.

NBA All Star Weekend - All Star Game