All-Star Weekend Is Here

The arrival of Presidents' Day Weekend brings the annual NBA All-Star festivities. Fans are eager to watch top marksmen square off in the Three Point Contest, see the high flyers in the Dunk Contest (although the selection of players fails to summon much excitement), and get a look at the league's new All-Star Game format. The players will then enjoy some much-needed rest over the following week — some were pleasantly surprised by the amount of time off 😂

• The main event is, of course, the All-Star game, which will now resemble a pick-up game more than ever before. This year, Giannis Antetotounmpo and LeBron James will be picking squads only moments before tip-off 🍿

LeBron, who is captaining his sixth straight All-Star Game squad, has never lost with the new format in place. It turns out all of the "LeGM" jokes weren't too far off — the King certainly knows how to pick a team. Can Team LeBron keep the five-year winning streak alive with the slightly updated format? 👀

Team LeBron vs. Team Giannis Betting Preview (subject to change...more than usual)

• Spread: Team LeBron -2

• Moneyline: Team LeBron -154 (bet $154, win $100), Team Giannis +130 (bet $100, win $130)

• Over/Under: 323.5

The Main Events

While All-Star weekend will include other events like the Celebrity Game and Rising Stars Challenge, let's focus on the Big Three. The field for the Three Point Contest is loaded this year, with Buddy Hield being the only former winner. The competitors include both ball-dominant superstars like Jayson Tatum and Damian Lillard, and catch-and-shoot marksmen like Tyler Herro and Kevin Huerter (full list here) 🎯

• Anfernee Simons dropped out after suffering an ankle injury earlier this week, and was surprisingly replaced by Julius Randle — Randle is shooting 33.8% from three

• The selections were strange in general this year, as many have been calling out 👇

The Dunk Contest has clearly fallen off in recent years, as the league's biggest names seem to show no interest in competing. This event would likely be the the most exciting of the weekend if we could get stars like Ja Morant or Zion Williamson to compete. We might not be seeing household names, but that doesn't mean it won't showcase some high flyers 🚀

• While he wasn't even signed to an NBA squad until landing with the Sixers just days ago, Mac McClung looks like the early favorite. McClung has been lighting the internet on fire with his highlight jams since high school — the 6'2 guard was made for this competition 🐰

And finally, we have the ultimate showcase - the league's best going at it to close out the weekend. The NBA has been shaking up the All-Star game format in recent years in order to instill more competitive fire into a game that players haven't seemed to take seriously, and the results have been encouraging 📈

• This game will feel more personal than ever, with players likely getting in their feelings based on their selection in the last minute draft. LeBron clearly enjoys his status as the league's premiere All-Star captain, and would love to keep his streak going

• On another note, it's looking unlikely that the King will select Julius Randle after this comment 😂

For My Parlay Gurus

There are no props available yet for the Three Point or Dunk Contest, but my money would be on Kevin Huerter and Mac McClung. The fact that there are even some lines available for an All-Star game without rosters is hilarious, and the spread reflects LeBron's pristine track record in the game. A parlay on this weekend just doesn't make sense, but I don't think I'd bet against LeBron - he'll probably win MVP to be honest 👑

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