Jan 11, 2013; Toronto, ON, Canada; Toronto Raptors guard Terrence Ross (31) against the Charlotte Bobcats at the Air Canada Centre. The Raptors beat the Bobcats 99-78. Mandatory Credit: Tom Szczerbowski-USA TODAY Sports

Closing out the show at All-Star Saturday, as always, is the Slam Dunk Contest. The most iconic event of All-Star weekend has produced many memorable moments during its 27 year run. Hopefully tonight, the 28^th edition will provide just as much excitement as the previous years. Last year’s champion, Jeremy Evans of the Utah Jazz is back this year to defend his title.

Continuing with this year’s new format of Eastern Conference vs. Western Conference, the contest will be set up as followed, according to NBA.com,

“The 2013 Sprite Slam Dunk contest will consist of the three Eastern Conference players competing against the three from the Western Conference in a two-round competition. The highest scoring East competitor and the highest scoring West competitor from the Team Round will compete head-to-head to determine the champion.”

The Participants:

Gerald Green – Indiana Pacers

Terrence Ross – Toronto Raptors

James White – New York Knicks

Kenneth Faried – Denver Nuggets

Eric Bledsoe – Los Angeles Clippers

Jeremy Evans – Utah Jazz

Prediction:

Just like the Three-Point contest, the Slam Dunk contest features a stacked field this year. There’s no wonder why hopes are high for this group to revive the event. Every one of these competitors has proved their dunking abilities on numerous occasions throughout their careers.

And while many are picking the James “Flight” White to win, my pick for tonight is Raptors’ rookie Terrence Ross. Ross has proved time and again this season that he is one of the best dunkers in the league. With the crazy dunks Ross has pulled off during games, I have no doubt he can do even better with no defense around.

Feb 22, 2013; New York, NY, USA; New York Knicks small forward Steve Novak (16) gestures after scoring a basket during the second quarter against the Sacramento Kings at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Anthony Gruppuso-USA TODAY Sports

The third event in the lineup for All-Star Saturday is the Three-Point Contest. This will be the 27^th year that sharpshooters have competed for the honor of being crowned best three-point shooter. Last year’s event was won by the Minnesota Timberwolves’ Kevin Love, who is absent this year.

The Three-Point contest is pretty straight forward, as described by NBA.com here,

“Five shooting stations will be set up around the three-point line, with four Official Spalding NBA game balls worth one point each and one Spalding NBA All-Star 2013 commemorative red, white and blue “money ball” worth two points at each location. Each player will have one minute to shoot as many balls as he can.”

The Participants:

Paul George – Indiana Pacers

Kyrie Irving – Cleveland Cavaliers

Steve Novak – New York Knicks

Ryan Anderson – New Orleans Hornets

Matt Bonner – San Antonio Spurs

Stephen Curry – Golden State Warriors

Prediction:

This is a loaded field this year, with Novak, Curry, and Bonner, three of the top 5 three-point shooters by percentage in the league. With all the talent, multiple guys are capable of winning, but my pick tonight is the Knicks’ Steve Novak. The three-point contest is all about shooting standing still, and that is Novak’s forte.

Feb 13, 2013; New Orleans, LA, USA; Portland Trail Blazers point guard Damian Lillard (0) drives with the ball against the New Orleans Hornets during the second half of a game at the New Orleans Arena. The Hornets defeated the Trail Blazer 99-63. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports

For the second event of All-Star Saturday, six point guards will square off in the Skills Challenge. This is the 11^th year that this event has taken place. The title was taken home last year by San Antonio Spurs’ guard Tony Parker, who is returning to defend his crown this year.

The competition is essentially an obstacle course, and involves many different traits of a point guard’s game.

NBA.com describes it as so,

“The Taco Bell Skills Challenge was introduced at NBA All-Star 2003 in Atlanta and features players competing in a two-round timed “obstacle course” consisting of dribbling, passing and shooting stations. All players must observe basic NBA ball-handling rules while completing the course.”

The Participants:

Jrue Holliday – Philadelphia 76ers

Brandon Knight – Detroit Pistons

Jeff Teague – Atlanta Hawks

Tony Parker – San Antonio Spurs

Jeremy Lin – Houston Rockets

Damian Lillard – Portland Trail Blazers

Prediction:

While last year’s champion, Tony Parker is back to defend his title; I like Portland’s rookie sensation Damian Lillard to take home the crown. Lillard has had a fantastic rookie campaign, averaging about 18 points and 6 assists a game. He has shown he possesses all the traits required to win this event, and I think he’ll come out with something to prove.

Apr 6, 2012; Newark, NJ, USA; Washington Wizards assistant coach Sam Cassell before a game against the New Jersey Nets the Prudential Center. Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports

NBA All-Star Saturday kicks off tonight at 8:30 PM Eastern time with the Shooting Stars competition. This year at All-Star Weekend, for the first time, the Western Conference will be competing against the Eastern Conference.

This will be the seventh year that this event has been a part of All-Star weekend. Last year’s event was won by Team New York, featuring Landry Fields, Allan Houston, and Cappie Pondexter.

Here, NBA.com provides a breakdown of the rules:

“The Sears Shooting Stars contest features one current NBA player, one current WNBA player and one NBA legend on each team. There are six numbered shooting locations of increasing difficulty, with each team attempting to make all shots in numeric order in the fastest time.”

The Participants:

Team Harden – James Harden, Sam Cassell, and Tina Thompson

Team Westbrook – Russell Westbrook, Robert Horry, Maya Moore

Team Bosh – Chris Bosh, Dominique Wilkins, Swin Cash

Team Lopez – Brook Lopez, Muggsy Bogues, Tamika Catchings

Prediction:

For the opening act, I’m going with Team Harden. Having two guards (Harden and Cassell) is a big advantage in shooting contests, and Tina Thompson is one of the best WNBA players ever. Look for Team Harden to use their home court advantage to take home the crown.

On the passing side, however, nothing stood out quite like Ricky Rubio’s assist to Bradley Beal in the waning seconds of the 1^st half.

As Rubio drove the baseline, he looked toward the crowd as he threw a bounce pass between his legs to a cutting Beal, who slammed it home for two.

Rubio finished with 10 assists, tied for the most on the night, while Beal added 12 points to help Team Chuck knock off Team Shaq 163-135.

Feb 8, 2013; Houston, TX, USA; Houston Rockets former center Yao Ming waves to the crowd against the Portland Trail Blazers in the third quarter at the Toyota Center. The Rockets defeated the Trail Blazers 118-103. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports

The most iconic of the All-Star weekend events, the dunk contest, has been disappointing over the last few years. The increased use of props and stunts has turned some fans off. Some also believe that there are just no new dunks to be done.

This year however, there is renewed hope about the dunk contest. Terrence Ross, James White and Gerald Green will be dunking for the East and Kenneth Faried, Eric Bledsoe and Jeremy Evans will be dunking for the West. All of them have shown in the past that they are capable of pulling off ridiculous dunks, whether it was in a game or a dunk contest.

Yesterday, the men who will be judging just how impressive the dunks are, were announced. Seeing as All-Star weekend is in Houston, it makes sense that the 4 judges are all Houston Rockets legends.

Yao Ming says he’ll join Hakeem Olajuwon, Clyde Drexler & Dikembe Mutombo n judging the Slam Dunk Contest. Yao says he’ll bring down avg age

— Mark Berman (@MarkBermanFox26) February 14, 2013

Bringing in Yao, Olajuwon, Drexler and Mutombo is a cool move by the NBA. Hopefully they will be in for an exciting and memorable night.

Dec. 13, 2012; New York, NY, USA; Los Angeles Lakers shooting guard Kobe Bryant (24) speaks at a press conference after the game against the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden. Knicks won 116-107. Mandatory Credit: Debby Wong-USA TODAY Sports

Later this afternoon, the NBA will be holding its All-Star media day.

For the first time ever, this event will be streamed online for fans to watch. To check it out, head over to this link: http://www.nba.com/amexallstar/.

Fans will even be able to ask questions, either on the site, or via Twitter. The event will begin at 1:30 PM Eastern time.

Jan 11, 2013; New York, NY, USA; New York Knicks shooting guard James White (4) advances the ball during the third quarter against the Chicago Bulls at Madison Square Garden. Chicago won 108-101. Mandatory Credit: Anthony Gruppuso-USA TODAY Sports

The Slam Dunk Contest used to be one of All-Star Weekend’s most enthralling showcases, but lost its charm somewhere along the way. It was infiltrated by gimmicks, the dunks were watered down and the stars began to desert the contest that once wrote legends. After watching Jeremy Evans of the Utah Jazz win the 2012 Dunk Contest with a mediocre leap over Kevin Hart, the eulogies were written. The Dunk Contest was dead. Speculation grew that it could be scrapped in 2013, or at least that is should be. But of course, it’s back. And for the first time in years, maybe we should be excited.

The list, as announced by the NBA last Thursday reads as follows:

• Jeremy Evans (Utah Jazz)
• James White (New York Knicks)
• Gerald Green (Indiana Pacers)
• Kenneth Faried (Denver Nuggets)
• Terrence Ross (Toronto Raptors)
• Eric Bledsoe (Los Angeles Clippers)

Although the list lacks the star power of old (notable omissions including Blake Griffin, Russell Westbrook and LeBron James) this is by far the best line-up the contest has seen in years. Evans returns for his customary title defense, and will have to up his game from last year if he wants to retain the crown. Kenneth Faried and Eric Bledsoe are both surprising picks, but it’ll be interesting to see what they can pull out.

The three to take note of and get excited about all belong to the Eastern Conference – James White, Terrence Ross and Gerald Green. All three are men with a devastating ability to throw down a dunk and should provide ample entertainment in Houston.

Gerald Green, the 2007 champion, returns this time for the Pacers. He won in 2007 wearing Celtic green, hammering home an alley-oop off of the glass in the final round to take out the crown before following up in 2008 as a Timberwolf only to fall short to Dwight Howard in the final round. His experience in the dunk contest and the theatrics that go along with it, coupled with his still deadly bounce should make him one of the most feared competitors in the contest this year.

Green’s conference mate Terrence Ross of the Toronto Raptors is only a rookie, but he’s already proving to be electric in transition. The former Huskie is the first Toronto Dunk Contest participant since DeMar DeRozan’s back-to-back attempts in the Contest and he aims to be the first Raptor to win since Vince Carter’s memorable performance in 2000; a year that the Raptors took out the top three places with Carter beating out teammates Steve Francis and Tracy McGrady in the Finals. In his short time in the league, Ross has already taken the time to let Jason Smith know just how hard he puts it down and he’s ready to follow in the footsteps of Josh Smith, Nate Robinson, Blake Griffin and Kobe Bryant as rookies who have won the Dunk Contest.

And finally the main draw of the Dunk Contest, James “Flight” White. Back in the NBA for his third stint after fleeting appearances with the Spurs in 2006 and Houston and Denver in 2009, White is in the middle of a one year deal with Knicks. It’s his first time appearing the NBA Dunk Contest, but his resumé contains the most experience out of all his peers, if not the entire league. In 2010, White triumphed over the same Gerald Green in the Russian Cup Dunk Contest. ‘Flight’ also came runner-up in the 2001 McDonald’s High School Slam Dunk Contest against future Warrior David Lee and against David Noel of NC in 2006 NCAA Dunk Contest. He has showcased his skills in the 2012 All Star Serie A Italian Dunk Contest, 2009 NBA D-League Dunk Contest, 2010 Nike Dunk Contest, among others. With a dazzling array of dunks and a wealth of experience, watching this Flight take off will be essential viewing.

The NBA Slam Dunk Contest, in recent installments, has been the most uninspired and underwhelming All-Star event in American sports since the NFL Pro Bowl. It needs a strong year to silence the doubters. That means inventive dunks, ditching the props and losing the gimmicks. The league can’t control what the players choose to do, and they can’t make the reluctant stars want to dunk; but at least they’ve finally picked the right men for the job. The ball’s in your court, dunkers. Show us what you’ve got.

Jan 30, 2013; Minneapolis, MN, USA; Los Angeles Clippers point guard Eric Bledsoe (12) dunks the ball past Minnesota Timberwolves power forward Dante Cunningham (33) in the second half at Target Center. The Clippers won 96-90. Mandatory Credit: Jesse Johnson-USA TODAY Sports

Last night on TNT, the players who will be taking part in the Taco Bell Skills Challenge, Foot Locker 3-Point Contest, and Sprite Slam Dunk Contest were all announced. Each field of players is split into East and West sides because whichever conference wins the most challenges gets to donate money to their favorite charities. Without further ado, here are the participants.

Taco Bell Skills Challenge:

East

• Jrue Holiday, Sixers
• Brandon Knight, Pistons
• Jeff Teague, Hawks

West

• Damian Lillard, Trail Blazers
• Jeremy Lin, Rockets
• Tony Parker, Spurs

Foot Locker 3-Point Contest:

East

• Paul George, Pacers
• Kyrie Irving, Cavaliers
• Steve Novak, Knicks

West

• Ryan Anderson, Hornets
• Matt Bonner, Spurs
• Stephen Curry, Warriors

Sprite Slam Dunk Contest:

East

• Gerald Green, Pacers
• Terrence Ross, Raptors
• James White, Knicks

West

• Eric Bledsoe, Clippers
• Jeremy Evans, Jazz
• Kenneth Faried, Nuggets

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