Tag: 2020 All-Star weekend

Steven Adams just as shocked at Chris Paul’s dunk as everybody else

Adams jokingly said he was surprised by Paul’s dunk because the percentage he makes in the layup line is “fairly low”.

It wasn’t just the media and the fans that Chris Paul surprised with his two-handed slam during last Sunday’s All-Star Game.

It was also his teammate, Steven Adams.

Adams is much more used to Paul throwing up the lobs than to see him being the one throwing them down.

Adams told Joe Mussatto of The Oklahoman that he was “shocked” by the fact that Paul was able to get up for the slam based on the fact that CP3 apparently hasn’t been too successful in the dunking department before games.

“I was shocked because the amount of dunks that he attempted in our layup line, you know, the percentage that he actually made was rather low. And that was with one hand. But he got up there on the two-hand. It was really impressive. It looked easy.”

Dunks probably seem a lot easier to the 6’11” Adams than they do to the 6’1” Paul.

Paul led the Thunder to a 113-101 win over the Denver Nuggets on Friday night. He shot 11-of-17 from the floor, but no dunks in his first game back from the All-Star break.

On Sunday, Paul got up on an alley-oop from Russell Westbrook in Team LeBron’s 157-155 win over Team Giannis.

It wasn’t nearly as flashy as the dunks showcased during the Rising Stars Challenge or the AT&T Dunk Contest, but it was one of the most talked-about from All-Star Weekend.

Considering Adams hit his first career 3-pointer in OKC’s win over the Pelicans on Feb. 13, maybe during next year’s All-Star Weekend, he can compete in the 3-point contest and Paul can show off in the Dunk Contest.

Chris Paul: All-Star. All style. He’s at No. 5 in the latest rankings

Paul showed out in Chicago in a Pyer Moss fit complete with a mustard yellow beanie and white non-high top Nike Air Jordan Ones.

Chris Paul spent the weekend in Chicago sporting All-Star style both on and off the court.

All-Star Weekend not just about the competitions, contests, and challenges. It’s also an opportunity for the league’s biggest stars to show up and show out at various events, dinners, and parties that accompany the festivities.

Paul is no stranger to The Athletic’s NBA Style Power Rankings and has taken the top spot on several occasions this season.

For his fit in Chicago, however, Paul landed squarely in the middle of the list, coming in at No. 5 in his Pyer Moss Cropped Trucker Jacket and “Rock Me” track pants.

NBA players will singlehandedly be putting Kirby Jean-Raymond’s great grandchildren through college at this rate. That’s how much the young Haitian American designer’s brand Pyer Moss is beloved around the league. It’s hard to go a week or even a day without spotting an NBA guy in one of fashion’s trendiest brands. All-Star weekend was no different for Chris Paul, who has been consistently sporting the brand all season.

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Now entering, #NBAAllStar.

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However, Paul’s ensemble wasn’t completely exempt from criticism.

Overall, we mostly enjoyed the look, but wish Paul didn’t go all match matchy on us with that yellow beanie. And for the 10000000th week in a row, we wish he’d let go of his addiction to non-hightop Nike Air Jordan Ones.

A look at some of the best looks that landed Paul on the list earlier in the season:

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support yours ✊🏽

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ride with the mob 😤

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Chris Paul feeling ‘refreshed’ in his first season in OKC

Paul sat down with ESPN’s Maria Taylor during All-Star Weekend to talk about the positives and negatives of his first year in Oklahoma City.

There is no question that Chris Paul has looked like a new player this year.

Or maybe, more accurately, he looks like the player he was nearly a decade ago.

The rebirth of CP3 was on full display during All-Star Weekend, complete with a career-best 23 points in the All-Star Game and even a high-flying dunk.

In his first season with the Thunder, Paul’s scoring is up from a year ago, his shooting percentage is significantly improved and maybe most importantly, his health has been excellent.

The veteran guard has been vocal about the benefits of going vegan during the offseason.

But it’s not just the change in diet that has Paul feeling good, it’s also a change in scenery. Paul sat down with ESPN’s Maria Taylor ahead of the All-Star Game and told her that he felt “refreshed” in his first season in OKC.

“I was having an amazing time out in LA. And that first year in Houston was unbelievable. It was just a different way of playing. You know, but the ultimate goal was to win a championship. But in that time, had that terrible injury. Being injured, you can lose confidence, all the different-type stuff going through your head, but it’s been refreshing being in Oklahoma and the biggest thing, too, is being healthy.

One of the biggest knocks against Paul prior to this season was his inability to stay healthy.

From 2017 through 2019, he missed time due to various injuries that included his knees, hip, groin, and hamstring, including a five-week absence last year with the Rockets while nursing a right hamstring injury

Paul played in just 58 games in each of his two seasons in Houston. This year in Oklahoma City, he’s already played in 54, and the only game he missed was for personal reasons immediately following the death of Kobe Bryant.

Paul said during the interview that he’s noticed a difference this season in his ability to recover faster, primarily due to his vegan diet, and that he feels he’s at his best on the second day of back-to-backs.

Oklahoma City returns to action on Friday night when they host the Denver Nuggets.

Chris Paul posts touching Kobe tribute after All-Star Game victory

Paul shared a clip from a Kobe Bryant interview in which the late Lakers star discussed changes he wanted to see in future All-Star Games.

Chris Paul admitted that at times, the All-Star Game was tough.

Not because the best in the league were competing like it was Game 7 of the NBA Finals, but because they were playing, in part, in memory of Kobe Bryant.

The league made sure to honor the late Lakers great throughout the weekend. They renamed the MVP award to the Kobe Bryant All-Star MVP Trophy, both Team Giannis and Team LeBron wore No. 24 and No. 2 jerseys for Kobe and his daughter Gianna, Magic Johnson delivered a eulogy and Jennifer Hudson sang. To name a few.

But it was Paul that pointed out that the best way that the NBA honored the legacy of Kobe is the way both teams competed in the All-Star Game.

And on Monday, Paul posted a touching tribute to Bryant, linking a video from a portion of an interview that Kobe gave on the Knuckleheads podcast back in September 2019.

You ALWAYS pushed us to be more competitive!!! I’m grateful to be in a position to make players voices heard and honor you as a fierce competitor. We’re ALL fans of the game after all!!! #MambaMentality

On the podcast, Bryant talked about improvements he had wanted to see in future All-Star Games and how he and Paul had discussed their ideas for possible changes.

“The All Star Game in general needs a little revamping, because it used to be competitive. Fans want to see the best pick-up game in the world…Me and CP used to talk all the time—I don’t think me and CP ever lost a game. And we used to look at each other and say OK, ‘Let’s go. 4th quarter, let’s go get em.”

The NBA announced changes to the All-Star Game format on Jan. 30, four days after Bryant, his daughter Gianna, and seven others were killed in a helicopter crash 30 miles northwest of Los Angeles.

Among those changes was the new Elam ending that was suggested by Paul over the summer.

Paul said Sunday night that he was constantly checking with players throughout the game to see how they liked the format, with LeBron James telling USA Today that it was “extremely fun and a great way to end the 2020 NBA All-Star Weekend”.

Love and Miss you Bean!! Was the first time I’ve played in the All-Star game without you. But one thing WE ALWAYS did was COMPETE!!! Hope we didn’t let you down!! #MambaMentality #Mambacita #ASW2020

In his 10th All-Star Game, Paul made a case for winning the Kobe Bryant All-Star Game MVP, scoring a career-best 23 points to go along with six assists as Team LeBron defeated Team Giannis 157-155.

All-Star Weekend ‘special’ for Chris Paul

In his first appearance in the All-Star Game since 2016, Chris Paul scored a career-best 23 points helping Team LeBron to a 157-155 victory.

“It was fun.”

That’s what Chris Paul said as he sat at the podium after Team Lebron’s 157-155 win over Team Giannis in Sunday night’s All-Star Game.

Paul scored a career-best 23 points to go along with six assists, making a solid argument for his second All-Star Game MVP, although the honor of the inaugural Kobe Bryant All-Star MVP ended up going to Kawhi Leonard.

Paul proved that he was still every bit the All-Star caliber player that fans had gotten accustomed to seeing during his nine-year run in which he was selected to every game from 2008 through 2016.

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THROW IT DOWN CP! 🤯

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The three-year hiatus in between All-Star Games was part of what made this year’s more meaningful.

“The weekend was special because for me I hadn’t played in the game since 2016,” said Paul. “It was fun, especially to have my family, my kids get a chance to experience this stuff with me.”

As a whole, the All-Star Game was about a lot more than just having fun this year.

The league went to great lengths to honor the late Kobe Bryant, with multiple tributes throughout the weekend, including all the members of Team Giannis wearing Kobe’s No. 24 and all the members of Team LeBron donning his daughter Gianna’s No. 2.

Though they wanted to honor Kobe, Paul admitted that it was difficult at times throughout the weekend.

“It was tough early, especially early,” Paul revealed. “For a lot of us, it’s still surreal. It’s not real until you start showing pictures and talking about it. But I think the best way we could honor Kobe, Gigi, and everyone involved was to play like we played.”

Paul also said that he’d like to see the NBA continue having both teams play for charity in the All-Star Game, another new component of the game that was implemented this year. He said without the fans, there’s no reason for the All-Star Game to exist.

“Sometimes people lose sight of the purpose of All-Star Weekend. It’s really a big “thank you” to the fans and all the people that support us,” Paul said. “We go out there and compete night-in and night-out, but there’s no ‘us’ without the fans.”

The 2021 NBA All-Star Game will be Sunday, Feb. 14 in Indianapolis.

Frank Vogel: Chris Paul a ‘big reason’ for Team Lebron’s win in ASG

Team LeBron defeated Team Giannis 157-155 in Sunday night’s All-Star Game, the first year that the league utilized the Elam Ending.

Chris Paul was in peak form during Sunday night’s All-Star Game.

He was throwing lobs, hitting threes and even shocking social media by throwing down a two-handed slam.

But he was also playing defense (and fouling to stop fast breaks), something that hasn’t always gone hand-in-hand with All-Star Games in the past.

On Sunday, Team LeBron beat Team Giannis 157-155 in a thrilling finish (even if it did end on free throws), thanks in part of the new Elam Ending that was instituted by the NBA this year, a change that was suggested by Paul.

Team LeBron entered the fourth quarter trailing by nine, meaning they had some ground to make up to get to the target number of 157 first.

Frank Vogel, who coached Team LeBron, told SB Nation that Paul was a big part of the comeback.

“He told me early in the day that he wasn’t one of those vets that just likes to take a rest in a game like this, that he wants to come in and win a game and help our guys win a game. All the young guys throughout the course of the game, every time they made a mistake or didn’t play defense, he was yelling at them. So he got us — not only got us to the finish line but also provided great leadership and some big plays in that fourth quarter down the stretch.”

Paul scored a career-best 23 points in his 10th All-Star appearance, making a compelling case for the inaugural Kobe Bryant All-Star MVP award, which ultimately went to Kawhi Leonard.

According to SB Nation, Paul ended Sunday with a “game-high offensive rating of 192.5”. To go along with his 23 points, Paul also dished out six assists, “just 15 below Magic Johnson for the all-time All-Star Game lead”.

It was Paul’s first All-Star Game since the 2015-16 season. He said during media day Saturday that being selected to the All-Star game is “always something special” and something he “never takes for granted”.

WATCH: Chris Paul out here dunking in the All-Star Game at 34

Paul put down a two-handed dunk off an alley-oop pass from Russell Westbrook during the second quarter of Sunday’s All-Star Game.

 

Who knew that Chris Paul could still throw it down?

Apparently not a lot of people.

Social media went insane on Sunday night when Paul showed he could still get up at age 34, throwing down an alley-oop off a pass from Russell Westbrook and finishing with a two-hand jam.

Honestly, with how high he got up, Paul looked like he could’ve competed in Saturday night’s dunk contest.

The play came with 7:37 left in the second quarter and Team LeBron trailing Team Giannis 12-10. He even got a little extra hang time on the rim.

The dunk was met by a standing ovation from his teammates on the bench.

The fact that Paul could still dunk was shocking to a lot of the media members that regularly cover the NBA.

Although Tim MacMahon sighted Basketball Reference saying the dunk as Paul’s first since the 2015-16 season when he was with the Clippers, Twitter users were fast to point out that Paul threw down a dunk in game four against the Utah Jazz last year.

Paul has thrown some beautiful lobs of his own during Sunday’s game, including one in the first quarter to Ben Simmons who finished with a monster slam.

WATCH: Chris Paul throws perfect lob to Ben Simmons

On a fast break, Paul threw a perfect lob to a trailing Ben Simmons for the slam.

Chris Paul is out there just doing Chris Paul things.

Paul has made his name in the NBA as, among other things, one of the best passers that the league has ever seen.

He’d led the NBA in assists four times during his career and is currently 7th on the league’s all-time assists list with 9,542. And yet, he never seems to stop dazzling fans with how impressive and effortless they continue to look.

Especially the one from the first quarter of Sunday’s All-Star Game.

With just over a minute to play, Team LeBron was running the floor as part of a fast break. As Paul received a pass, and without coming down, he lobbed it for a trailing Ben Simmons, who finished with a slam to give Team LeBron a 51-37 lead over Team Giannis.

Paul also picked up the first foul of the night, much to the surprise of the broadcast team.

Although according to Joe Mussatto of The Oklahoman, who covers Paul and the Thunder extensively, the move by Paul to foul to stop a fast break was completely on-brand.

As of 3:51 left to go in the second quarter, Paul has played nine minutes, scoring 11 points on 4-of-7 shooting from the field and dishing out four assists.

SGA vows to ‘practice his passing’ after loss in Skills Challenge

Gilgeous-Alexander was eliminated by the Bucks’ Khris Middleton in the first round of Saturday night’s Skills Challenge.

If it wasn’t for that pesky passing target.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander probably would’ve advanced in Saturday night’s Skills Challenge. Instead, he was beaten by Khris Middleton, the two-time All-Star for the Milwaukee Bucks who made his first pass and hit his second 3-point attempt to knock out SGA.

Gilgeous-Alexander fell behind Middleton when his first pass ricocheted off the side of the passing target. He also missed his second attempt, before finally connecting on his third.

He told Maddie Lee of The Oklahoman after the competition that “he knew” the passing skill would be the problem.

“Yeah, I’m going to practice a little more passing from now on and hopefully I’ll have the same opportunity from now on.”

When asked what makes that particular skill so difficult in the challenge setting, Gilgeous-Alexander said that he felt like he “rushed the passing”.

“When I thought about it, I think that’s what it was. I was trying to just fire it in there. When you get there just take your time and make an accurate pass. It goes by faster, obviously.”

Overall, Gilgeous-Alexander has had a successful All-Star Weekend despite getting knocked out of his first Skills Challenge.

He also scored 16 points in Team World’s 151-131 loss to Team USA in the Rising Stars Game on Friday night, where he showcased some crazy handles and his patented Shai scoop.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander eliminated in first round of Skills Challenge

He lost to Khris Middleton from the Milwaukee Bucks. Bam Adebayo won the Skills Challenge, defeating former OKC center Domantas Sabonis.

The trend of the big men showing up and showing out during the Skills Challenge continued on Saturday night. Much to the detriment of Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.

Gilgeous-Alexander was matched up against Khris Middleton, the two-time All-Star from the Milwaukee Bucks during the first round of the Skills Challenge.

Neither player had difficulty dribbling around the obstacles during the ball-handling portion of the challenge, but things broke down for Gilgeous-Alexander when he got to the pass.

While Middleton hit the target on his first pass, SGA’s was off the mark. He then didn’t know where the ball rack was, turning the wrong direction and losing precious seconds. He missed his next pass before finally hitting his third.

Both players made the layup and Gilgeous-Alexander almost caught Middleton at the end. Middleton’s first 3-point attempt was long off the back of the iron, and SGA put up a shot from around the hash mark to try and win the round on a heave.

His shot wasn’t off by much, but Middleton knocked down his second 3-point try for the victory.

Middleton lost to former Thunder center, Domantas Sabonis in the second round.

Sabonis then lost to the Heat’s Bam Adebayo in the final.