BBNBA 2024 All-Star Weekend: Kentucky Takeover in Indy

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The 2024 NBA All-Star Weekend gets rolling in Indianapolis tonight. The three-day event will be loaded with former Kentucky Wildcats, too. All three days will feature at least two one-time ‘Cats in some form or fashion, capped off by seven (well, six really) of them participating in the All-Star Game on Sunday night.

John Calipari is excited to see his guys put on a show.

“We should cheer these kids,” Calipari said last week during his radio show. “We should be so happy. Because of what they’ve done for us. And now they get an opportunity to do what they’re doing on that big stage. And I know our fans are ecstatic for ’em, because you love these kids. But that’s one of those things that you look at, and you just say, ‘Do we really understand how amazing that is?’”

Below is the schedule of events for this weekend at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.

Friday, Feb. 16 7:00 EST (ESPN) | Ruffles NBA All-Star Celebrity Game
Friday, Feb. 16 9:00 EST (TNT) | Panini Rising Stars
Saturday, Feb. 17 2:00 EST (TNT) | HBCU Classic presented by AT&T
Saturday, Feb. 17 8:00 EST (TNT) | State Farm All-Star Saturday Night
Sunday, Feb. 18 1:30 EST | G League Up Next Game presented by AT&T
Sunday, Feb. 18 8:00 EST (TNT) | 73rd NBA All-Star Game

Wallace, Tshiebwe are Rising Stars

The first major event of All-Star Weekend happens tonight. The 2024 Panini Rising Stars — which features rookies, sophomores, and G League players — kicks off the festivities. For the third straight year, the Rising Stars event will include a three-game mini-tournament between four teams: two semifinal matchups that result in one championship.

Friday, Feb. 16 (9 p.m. ET, TNT)

Game 1: Team Jalen vs. Team Tamika
Game 2: Team Detlef vs. Team Pau
Game 3: Winner of Game 1 vs. Winner of Game 2 (10 p.m. ET)

Suiting up for Team Detlef (head coach: Detlef Schrempf) is Indiana Pacers rookie Oscar Tshiebwe. The former Kentucky legend is part of a team that features only G League Ignite players and members of the actual G League. Tshiebwe will team up alongside the likes of Emoni Bates, Matas Buzelis, and reigning NBA Contest champion Mac McClung. Although Tshiebwe has only appeared in seven games for the Pacers this season, he’s been doing his thing in the G League for the Indiana Mad Ants. The 2022 National College Player of the Year is posting per-game averages of 12.2 points and 12.6 rebounds in 22.5 minutes while shooting over 57 percent from the floor.

Going up against Tshiebwe in Game 2 will be Cason Wallace of Team Pau (head coach: Pau Gasol). Wallace has been off to a solid start in his professional career after the Oklahoma City Thunder selected him No. 10 overall in the most recent NBA Draft. The 6-foot-4 guard is averaging 6.8 points, 2.2 rebounds, and 1.3 assists in 20.7 minutes per game off the bench for an OKC squad that sits in second place in the Western Conference. Wallace is on a team comprised mostly of rookies. He’ll play alongside the likes of Victor Wembanyama, Brandon Miller, Jaime Jaqeuz Jr., Jabari Smith Jr. (sophomore), and a couple of others.

Lastly, Shaedon Sharpe of the Portland Trail Blazers was tabbed to Team Jalen (head coach: Jalen Rose), but an injury will keep him from playing in the event. A core muscle issue has kept him sidelined since mid-January and requires surgery. Jeremy Sochan of the San Antonio Spurs was named as Sharpe’s replacement.

Skills, 3-pointers, and dunks

Moving on to Saturday night, another trio of Wildcats were selected to participate in the three main events — and all three will actually give it a go. The Kia Skills Challenge, the Starry 3-Point Contest, and the AT&T Slam Dunk Contest will make up Saturday’s slate (not to mention a 3-Point Challenge between Steph Curry and the WNBA’s Sabrina Ionescu).

8 p.m. ET | State Farm All-Star Saturday Night | TNT | Lucas Oil Stadium

The Skills Challenge will go first. Philadelphia 76ers point guard Tyrese Maxey will be on Team All-Stars alongside Scottie Barnes (Raptors) and Trae Young (Hawks). The Skills Challenges pits three teams against each other with the goal of racking up as many points as possible throughout various mini-games. Round 1 is “Team Relay”, Round 2 is “Team Passing”, and Round 3 is “Team Shooting”. You can probably guess what those games will look like.

Maxey and Team All-Stars will have to beat Team Pacers (Tyrese Haliburton, Bennedict Mathurin, Myles Turner) and Team Top Picks (Paolo Banchero, Anthony Edwards, Victor Wembanyama).

Immediately following the Skills Challenge is the Starry 3-Point Contest. Two former Wildcats have already won this game in recent years (Karl-Anthony Towns in 2022 and Devin Booker in 2018). Towns will be looking to win his second 3-Point Contest in three years. He’s going up against a pretty talented of shooters, though, including defending champion Damian Lillard.

Malik Beasley (Bucks) | 44.4 percent on 6.5 3PT attempts
Jalen Brunson (Knicks) | 41.1 percent on 6.5 3PT attempts
Tyrese Haliburton (Pacers) | 40.0 percent on 7.9 3PT attempts
Damian Lillard (Bucks) | 34.1 percent on 8.5 3PT attempts
Lauri Markkanen (Jazz) | 40.3 percent on 8.0 3PT attempts
Donovan Mitchell (Cavaliers) | 36.1 percent on 9.1 3PT attempts
Karl-Anthony Towns (Timberwolves) | 43.7 percent on 5.1 3PT attempts
Trae Young (Hawks) | 37.1 percent on 9.0 3PT attempts

Once the 3-Point Contest wraps up, you’ll want to make sure you stick around for the Stephen vs. Sabrina 3-Point Challenge. Steph Curry is the NBA’s all-time 3-point leader while Sabrina Ionescu is the WNBA’s single-season 3-point record holder. Those two will square off in a battle of the world’s top shooters right before the Dunk Contest.

And speaking of the Dunk Contest… New York Knicks rookie Jacob Toppin accepted his invitation to particpate in the event. Despite playing the vast majority of his first season in the G League, Toppin’s highlight dunks for the Westchester Knicks have been going viral every other night it feels.

He’ll battle against defending Dunk Contest champion Mac McClung, Jaime Jaquez Jr., and Jaylen Brown. We’ve already seen one Toppin win this contest (older brother Obi did it in 2022), could we have another take home the trophy this year? If Jacob does win the contest, he’ll join Hamidou Diallo (2019), John Wall (2014), and Kenny Walker (1989) as other Wildcats to do the same.

G League Up Next Game

We’ll go ahead and sneak this event in, too. The G League Up Next Game is essentially the All-Star Game but for G Leaguers. Another trio of former Wildcats will suit up in the precursor to the big one later that evening. This event is set up similarly to the Rising Stars wherein four teams will compete in two semifinal games and one championship.

Sunday, Feb. 18 at 1:30 p.m. ET | G League Up Next Game | Indiana Convention Center

Ashton Hagans (Rip City Remix) and Skal Labissiere (Stockton Kings) were both voted into the game by the fans. Hagans and Labissiere finished first and second, respectively, in the final returns of fan voting, automatically locking in their spots in this game. Hagans will play for Team EYL alongside Oscar Tshiebwe while Labissiere will play for Team BallIsLife.

2024 NBA All-Star Game

Now for the main event. A record SEVEN former Kentucky players were selected to the 2024 NBA All-Star Game, but due to injury, that number has been chipped down to six (which is still a record). Kentucky (2018, 2023) and UCLA (1983) have both been able to sneak in four alums during one All-Star Game throughout history, but the Wildcats’ having seven selected is unprecedented.

Sunday, Feb. 18 8 p.m. ET | 73rd NBA All-Star Game | TNT | Gainbridge Fieldhouse

This year’s All-Star Game is going back to the basics: Eastern Conference vs. Western Conference. No Elam Ending, either (boo!!). Kentucky will have two representatives in the East and four in the West. Here’s hoping we get something competitive to watch.

BBNBA Eastern Conference All-Stars