Tag: skills challenge

Celtics Lab 241: Breaking down the good, bad, and irretrievably broken of All-Star Week with Clemente Almanza

What were the good, bad, and irretrievably broken aspects of the week-long event?

The NBA’s 2024 All-Star Game has come and gone, and with it the successes of the Boston Celtics who participated. The week of All-Star festivities saw some significant changes, but perhaps none more so than the actual All-Star Game itself.

Gone were the target score endings and charities for each quarter of the event, along with the East vs. West dissolving playground-style team choosing. The ostensible goal — stronger player efforts on both ends of the court — was decidedly not reached with a record-breaking offensive output. But it wasn’t all bad — what were the good, bad, and irretrievably broken aspects of the week-long event?

To talk through the state of All-Star Week, how the Celtics did in it, what needs to change and what was done right, the hosts of the CLNS Media “Celtics Lab” podcast linked up with Thunder Wire editor Clemente Almanza.

We also touch on the post-deadline order of the West, where OKC sits in it and who will come out of it in the 2024 NBA Playoffs, so buckle up for a bumpy ride into what All-Star was and can be.

The Celtics Lab podcast is brought to you by FanDuel.

Listen to the “Celtics Lab” podcast on:

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All the Boston Celtics’ All-Star Week contest wins in NBA history

The Celtics are among the league’s leading teams when it comes to the Skills Challenge, Dunk Contest, and 3-point shootout.

In the spirit of the 2024 NBA All-Star Week festivities currently underway in the city of Indianapolis, Indiana, we lean on an account by our sister site HoopsHype of which team’s players have won the most All-Star Week contests over the years.

The Dunk Contest, Skills Challenge, and 3-Point Contest may not be the focal point of the annual gathering of NBA stars and rising prospects held by the NBA each winter. But they are an integral part of All-Star Week festivities just the same, and over the course of the league’s history of having such competitions, the Celtics rank quite high in winning them.

Let’s take a look at those won by Boston Celtics over the years.

A visual history of the Boston Celtics in the Skills Challenge

The event, which tests a player’s ball-handling, passing and shooting ability, is arguably the hardest to succeed at.

As far as NBA All-Star Week competitions go, the league’s Taco Bell Skills Challenge is a relative newcomer after having been introduced for the first time at the 2003 All-Star Game. This year, there will be no Boston Celtics players participating in the 2024 Skills Challenge, however.

Still, it has had a decent number of Celtics players try their hand at winning the contest, though only one — a current Boston player, at that — has taken home the hardware. The event, which tests a player’s ball-handling, passing and shooting ability, is arguably both the hardest to succeed at, yet is also the least popular of the three major individual competitions of the various events held in the week’s festivities.

Let’s review the franchise’s history competing in the event.

2023 NBA All-Star events: When and how to watch the young Rockets

Jabari Smith Jr., KJ Martin, Tari Eason, and Alperen Sengun will lead a healthy #Rockets contingent in the NBA’s 2023 All-Star weekend festivities. Here’s when and what to watch for.

Second-year center Alperen Sengun, rookie forwards Jabari Smith Jr. and Tari Eason, and third-year forward KJ Martin will represent the Houston Rockets in three events at the NBA’s 2023 All-Star weekend. Second-year guard Jalen Green was scheduled to, but he no longer will due to the left groin strain that he suffered on Wednesday.

Sengun, Eason, and Smith will play in Friday’s Rising Stars event, while Smith will also participate in Saturday’s Skills Challenge. Martin is one of four NBA players taking part in Saturday’s flagship event — the annual dunk contest to conclude the evening.

With the NBA’s worst record, the young and rebuilding Rockets (13-45) understandably won’t have any representatives in Sunday’s actual All-Star Game. But their widespread representation in many of the other events designed to spotlight the league’s young talent should provide hope that better days are ahead for the franchise.

Here’s a look at specific details for each All-Star event.

Rockets rookie Jabari Smith Jr. to participate in skills challenge at NBA All-Star weekend

#Rockets forward Jabari Smith Jr. will compete on a rookie team with Orlando’s Paolo Banchero and Detroit’s Jaden Ivey in the NBA’s 2023 skills challenge at All-Star weekend.

With the NBA’s worst record, the young and rebuilding Houston Rockets (13-44) understandably will not have any All-Star players when the 2023 game takes place this weekend in Salt Lake City.

The Rockets will, however, be represented in related competitions. KJ Martin is competing in Saturday’s dunk contest, while Jalen Green, Alperen Sengun, and Jabari Smith Jr. are in Friday’s Rising Stars challenge. Now, courtesy of an NBA announcement, we know Smith will be involved in Saturday’s festivities, as well.

Smith, Orlando’s Paolo Banchero and Detroit’s Jaden Ivey comprise a rookie team taking part in the 2023 Kia Skills Challenge. The contest puts three teams of three players through a four-round competition that tests their dribbling, passing and shooting abilities.

The two teams with the most points through the first three rounds will advance to the final round (rules). The rookies will compete with a Utah Jazz team (Jordan Clarkson, Walker Kessler and Collin Sexton) and the Antetokounmpo brothers (Giannis, Alex and Thanasis).

In 54 outings through Tuesday, Smith is averaging 11.9 points and 7.0 rebounds in 29.9 minutes per game as a rookie.

All of the All-Star events from Salt Lake City’s Vivint Arena can be watched live on TNT on Friday and Saturday nights.

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How to watch 2023 Pro Bowl Skills, live stream, channel, time, events

The 2023 Pro Bowl will be held this weekend and on Thursday we will have the Skills Showdown from Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nevada. 

The 2023 Pro Bowl will be held this weekend and on Thursday we will have the Skills Showdown from Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nevada.  The Skills showdown will feature a ton of events for all NFL positions including Best Catch, Precision Passing, Longest Drive, Lightning Round, and one non-football challenge called Dodgeball.

This will be a great night that will feature your favorite NFL players competing, don’t miss it here are all the details to live stream the action below.

2023 Pro Bowl Skills Showdown

  • When: Thursday, February 2
  • Time: 7:00 p.m. ET
  • TV Channel: ESPN
  • Live Stream: fuboTV (watch for free)

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Sabrina Ionescu and Zoe Brooks win WNBA Skills Challenge

Former Duck great Sabrina Ionescu won the WNBA Skills Challenge with high schooler Zoe Brooks.

Winning is in Sabrina Ionescu’s genes, no matter what type of competition she may be in.

In typical Sabrina fashion, with her teammate and high school star Zoe Brooks, she won the WNBA Skills Challenge at All-Star Weekend in Chicago.

“I had a great partner, which helped,” Ionescu told the press afterward. “I told myself I wasn’t gonna get too competitive, but I got really competitive. I’m happy we won.”

Each WNBA participant was paired with a high school player from the Elite Youth Basketball League (EYBL) participating in the 2022 Nike Nationals. All the teams had to go through an obstacle course that tested various skills including ball-handling, passing, and shooting. Being a master of the triple-double, this type of thing was right up Ionescu’s alley.

But it wasn’t as easy as one would think for the former Duck great. Ionescu faced a slight bit of adversity in the first round when Chicago Sky’s Azura Stevens inadvertently knocked the ball away from Ionescu after the layup portion of the course.

She bounced back, however, and made the 3-pointer first to advance to the semi-finals. Ionescu then managed to cruise through that round, easily knocking out Las Vegas Aces guard Kelsey Plum.

In the final round, she was matched up against the Indiana Fever’s NaLyssa Smith where the No. 2 overall pick of this year’s WNBA draft made a surprise run through the event, upsetting hometown favorite Courtney Vandersloot of the Sky in the first round and reigning MVP Jonquel Jones of the Connecticut Sun in the semis.

Ionescu put an end to Smith’s run, though.

NBA Twitter reacts to Josh Giddey’s Skills Challenge performance

Rules were as complexed as calculus but Josh Giddey did good.

Oklahoma City Thunder rookie guard Josh Giddey’s All-Star festivities have come to an end as his team — Team Rooks — lost to Team Cavaliers in the Taco Bell Skills Challenge.

To be honest, the rules were kinda messy and hard to understand. Even the commentators had a hard time explaining what exactly was going on and how points were won and lost. But Giddey’s team lost — I think — and that puts an end to the 19-year-old’s weekend. He did well in the shooting and passing challenges and was arguably the best of his trio along with Detroit Pistons guard Cade Cunningham and Toronto Raptors forward Scottie Barnes.

Report: LaMelo Ball opts out of Skills Challenge at 2021 All-Star weekend

Despite the league’s desire to have him at All-Star weekend, LaMelo Ball reportedly declined to take part in the Skills Challenge.

Despite the NBA yearning for his inclusion in the abbreviated All-Star weekend, LaMelo Ball has reportedly opted out of taking part in the Skills Challenge in the 2021 All-Star Weekend. After a report in mid-February from ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski indicated the league wanted Ball involved in the Skills Challenge, Ball was indeed reportedly invited to participate.

However, per Yahoo Sports’ Chris Haynes, Ball turned down the offer from the NBA due at least partially to the league also not having a Rising Stars game in the revamped All-Star weekend.

Ball has quickly become one of the league’s most exciting young players in the league and appears to be a runaway for the Rookie of the Year after securing his second straight Rookie of the Month award for the Eastern Conference.

Interestingly, Ball’s teammate Miles Bridges also opted out of an event during All-Star weekend as well, choosing not to take part in the Slam Dunk contest, also reported by Haynes on Tuesday.

Jayson Tatum set to defend Skills Challenge championship

Boston Celtics All-Star Jayson Tatum, who was the 2019 Skills Challenge champion, accepted the invitation to defend his title.

For Boston Celtics fans who got a trade deadline scare when a Twitter notification from The Athletic’s Shams Charania popped up and the first words were “Celtics All-Star Jayson Tatum,” you can relax.

The tweet had nothing to do with the trade deadline that’s on Thursday.

Tatum accepted his invitation to participate in the Skills Challenge during NBA All-Star Weekend and defend his title, Charania tweeted and the NBA announced Thursday evening.

Last year, Tatum won the Skills Challenge when he knocked down a half-court shot to beat Atlanta Hawks guard Trae Young, who had gotten to the 3-point line well before Tatum. Fearing the sharpshooter would drain his first attempt, Tatum threw up a prayer.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lfIGlAV12ZY]

Here is a full list of the competitors for the 2020 Skills Challenge:

  • Bam Adebayo, Miami
  • Patrick Beverley, LA
  • Spencer Dinwiddie, Brooklyn
  • Khris Middleton, Milwaukee
  • Derrick Rose, Detroit
  • Domantas Sabonis, Indiana
  • Pascal Siakam, Toronto
  • Jayson Tatum, Boston

The players will compete against each other one-on-one to test ball handling, passing and shooting.

Tatum will be defending his title against some former champions. Dinwiddie won the 2018 Skills Challenge, Beverley won in 2015 and Rose in 2009.

The event will take place on Saturday, Feb. 15 at 9 p.m. ET at the United Center in Chicago. It is part of All-Star Night, which also includes the 3-point challenge and slam dunk contest.