Tag: NBA All Star Game

Top 10 3-point shooters in Notre Dame women’s basketball history

Who has most hit from downtown in Irish history?

Several months back, former Notre Dame guard [autotag]Jackie Young[/autotag] advanced to the finals of the annual WNBA 3-Point Contest. But nobody was going to beat Sabrina Ionescu, whose final-round score of 37 was higher than even the highest score ever recorded in the NBA version of the contest. Almost immediately, many wondered how Ionescu would favor in a shootout with NBA 3-point king Stephen Curry.

This past NBA All-Star Weekend, fans got their wish. It was the highlight of the weekend with Curry needing the final rack to beat Ionescu, 29-26. There are hopes that something like this can continue next year and beyond, especially with women’s basketball increasing in popularity.

While we contemplate the future of women’s basketball and only can guess what it holds, we know who’s helped lay the groundwork for that future. Among them are the top 3-point shooters in Notre Dame history. Since 3-pointers are the latest thing to bring male and female basketball players together, let’s see who rounds out the top 10 for the Irish:

Jewell Loyd selected for NBA All-Star Celebrity Game

Will you be tuning in?

Former Notre Dame player [autotag]Jewell Loyd[/autotag] had quite the 2023 WNBA season. She was the league’s scoring champion and the MVP for its All-Star Game. Now, she’ll get a chance to compete during NBA All-Star Weekend.

Loyd was among the many names announced for the annual NBA All-Star Celebrity Game, which will take place the Friday before the big event in Indianapolis. She will play for Team Shannon, named for coach and Pro Football Hall of Famer Shannon Sharpe, who is coaching because of his employment with ESPN, which is broadcasting the game. They’ll be playing a team coached by Stephen A. Smith.

By playing in the game, Loyd will be the fourth former Notre Dame player in the WNBA to do so. She’ll be joining [autotag]Arike Ogunbowale[/autotag], [autotag]Ruth Riley[/autotag] and two-time selection [autotag]Skylar Diggins[/autotag]. While you look forward to this year’s event, here are some images of a couple of these players in this game over the years:

Two-time Notre Dame opponent Carmelo Anthony retires from basketball

Farewell, Melo.

Carmelo Anthony is a lock for the Basketball Hall of Fame, and why wouldn’t he be? He was a 10-time NBA All-Star, made six All-NBA teams and won three Olympic gold medals. Plus, he was named to the league’s 75th anniversary team. Now, nearly 20 years after he was drafted, he has announced his retirement:

While leading Syracuse to the 2003 national championship in his lone season there, Anthony beat Notre Dame twice, and both Big East games were close. When the programs played at Syracuse, he scored 10 points during a 14-2 Orange run that tied the game in the second half, ultimately scoring 26 points. When they reunited in South Bend not long after, he scored 14 of his 21 points in the second half of a game in which he also grabbed 10 rebounds.

As nice as it would have been to see Anthony battle the Irish more, he clearly made the right choice to be one-and-done. Here’s to whatever comes next for him.

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Follow Geoffrey on Twitter: @gfclark89

Former Georgia Bulldog named as NBA All-Star

Minnesota Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards, a former Georgia Bulldog, has been named as an NBA All-Star.

Minnesota Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards has been named an NBA All-Star. Edwards is the first Georgia Bulldog to be named as an All-Star since Dominique Wilkins in 1993-1994.

Edwards was the No. 1 selection in the 2020 NBA draft. The 6-foot-4, 225-pound guard is in his third season in the NBA. Edwards is averaging 24.7 points, 5.4 rebounds, and 4.6 assists per game. Each of these numbers represents a career high for Edwards.

The Timberwolves star is also shooting more efficiently. Edwards is making a career-high 46.4% of his field goal attempts and 36.7% of his 3-point attempts.

Edwards is making his first career All-Star appearance. The former No. 1 pick plans to play in the 72nd NBA All-Star Game in Salt Lake City, Utah. The All-Star Game will be played on Feb. 19 at 8 p.m. E.T.

Only 16 players in the NBA are scoring more points per game than Edwards.

The Atlanta native joins Toronto’s Pascal Siakam and Sacramento’s De’Aaron Fox as players to be named by the league as All-Star reserves. The trio replaces three injured NBA All-Stars: Kevin Durant, Steph Curry and Zion Williamson.

Edwards and the Timberwolves were happy to learn he made the 2023 NBA All-Star game.

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Seahawks WR DK Metcalf part of Dwyane Wade’s Celebrity All-Star team

Seahawks wide receiver DK Metcalf will get a chance to show off his skills in another sport next Friday night.

Seahawks wide receiver DK Metcalf will get a chance to show off his skills in another sport next Friday night.

Yesterday, the NBA announced the participants in this year’s Celebrity All-Star Game. Metcalf was named on Dwyane Wade’s team. The other side has former Lions wide receiver Calvin Johnson. Here are the full rosters.

At the very least, we know Metcalf can dunk.

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Notre Dame alumnus Monty Williams named NBA Coach of the Year

Congrats, Monty!

To say the least, Monty Williams has had an incredible run in his three seasons as the Phoenix Suns’ coach. Fresh off coaching the Suns to the NBA Finals last year, the Notre Dame alumnus guided them to a league-best 64-18 record. That gave the Suns the best record in franchise history. So it only was fitting that Williams be given the best honor an NBA coach can receive:

During the season, Williams won Western Conference Coach of the Month twice. In November, the Suns won all 16 of their games. They also nearly had a perfect month in January, going 13-1. For that, he also had the honor of coaching Team LeBron to a 163-160 victory in the All-Star Game.

Presently, the Suns and Dallas Mavericks are deadlocked at 2-2 in the Western Conference semifinals. The Suns have home-court advantage, so they only need to protect that in order to advance to the conference finals and play the winner of the Memphis Grizzlies-Golden State Warriors series. Here’s hoping Williams and the Suns can finish what they couldn’t in 2021.

Contact/Follow us @IrishWireND on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Notre Dame news, notes, and opinions.

Follow Geoffrey on Twitter: @gfclark89

Seahawks WR Tyler Lockett shares an idea to improve the Pro Bowl

Seahawks wide receiver Tyler Lockett has only been to the Pro Bowl once in his career.

The 2022 Pro Bowl was about the worst NFL All Star game we’ve ever seen. While it’s not supposed to be as serious as a real competition, the effort we saw all around amounted to an awful product in what should be a showcase of the sport’s greatest talents.

Seahawks wide receiver Tyler Lockett has only been to the Pro Bowl once in his career – a crying shame if there ever was one. He still has ideas on how to improve it, though. Last night on Twitter he shared an idea about changing the Pro Bowl to a quarter by quarter kind of game for charity the way the NBA All Star game is run nowadays.

Surely an improvement.

Lockett has developed into one of the league’s most consistent producers at wide receiver. Over the last four seasons he’s totaled at least 965 receiving yards and has scored at least eight touchdowns.

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Monty Williams coaches Team LeBron to NBA All-Star victory

A nice night for the Notre Dame alumnus.

Monty Williams’ first time as NBA All-Star coach went as well as it could have. The Notre Dame alumnus’ Team LeBron defeated Team Durant, 163-160, much to the delight of the Cleveland faithful. While the Phoenix Suns coach’s role in it won’t be remembered nearly as much as Steph Curry’s MVP performance or the NBA’s 75h anniversary team being honored, he can remember his experience, and that’s all that really will matter to him.

Actually, the way this event played these days begs the question of what coaches actually do. It’s clear to everyone that this is just a glorified pickup game, so strategizing isn’t as necessary as determining when to shuffle the lineup. Come to think of it, this has to be one of the cushiest gigs in professional sports. I would work hard to coach my team to the top of its conference just so I could have it myself.

Contact/Follow us @IrishWireND on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Notre Dame news, notes, and opinions.

Follow Geoffrey on Twitter: @gfclark89

Watch: Monty Williams crashes DeMar DeRozan’s All-Star news conference

Monty is loving this All-Star Weekend.

Notre Dame alumnus and Phoenix Suns coach Monty Williams is coaching Team LeBron in the NBA All-Star Game. One of the players starting for that team is the Chicago Bulls’ DeMar DeRozan. Williams and DeRozan are familiar with each other from their time with the U.S. teams that won the 2014 FIBA World Cup and the gold medal at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics. So when DeRozan was taking questions during All-Star Media Day, he probably didn’t mind that Williams decided to join the gathered reporters and ask an important question:

It’s nice to know that Williams recognizes how relaxed NBA All-Star Weekend is supposed to be. He deserves to have some fun after coaching the Suns to the best record in the NBA to this point. We only can imagine what wacky antics he might try when the actual game begins. Considering who he is, it wouldn’t be a surprise.

Contact/Follow us @IrishWireND on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Notre Dame news, notes, and opinions.

Follow Geoffrey on Twitter: @gfclark89

Monty Williams will coach Team LeBron in NBA All-Star Game

Nice honor for Monty.

Former Notre Dame player Monty Williams has had quite the run as Phoenix Suns coach. Last year, he coached the Suns to their first NBA Finals since 1993. Now, he’ll have a chance to coach some of the best players in the entire NBA.

With the Suns having clinched the best record in the Western Conference through Feb. 6, Williams and his staff have won the right to coach Team LeBron at this year’s NBA All-Star Game. The team is so named by virtue of the Los Angeles Lakers’ LeBron James receiving the most votes of any Western Conference player and thus being one of two team captains. The game will be played Feb. 20 in Cleveland.

At 40-9, the Suns have the best record in the NBA and never have had that good of a record through 49 games in franchise history. The season has included an 18-game winning streak and a Coach of the Month award for Williams for October and November.