NBA All-Star Saturday night: Highlights, updates, and results

It’s been nearly 48 hours since Fergie’s... different... national anthem was sung at the 2018 NBA All-Star Game, and the jokes are still rolling on. It’s to the point where Fergie’s issued an apology.

“I’ve always been honored and proud to perform the national anthem, and last night I wanted to try something special for the NBA,” she told TMZ. “I’m a risk taker artistically, but clearly this rendition didn’t strike the intended tone. I love this country and honestly tried my best.”

The 2018 NBA All-Star Weekend is over, and as always, there’s a lot to unpack from three days of festivities among the best athletes and biggest celebrities in the nation. This year’s edition was in Los Angeles, and the stars and athletes didn’t disappoint.

Here’s what we’ll remember from it.

The NBA All-Star Game has had some lackluster finishes over the last few years, but this one was different. The players actually tried hard. They played defense when they had to, they ran from end to end like a normal regular-season game, and they all seemed to be playing with pride.

All-Star games are normally fun — even when players aren’t trying. But when you add on a tie game in the final two minutes, it gets 10 times better. We had an official review, a go-ahead bucket, and a crucial defensive stop to end things.

LeBron James and Kevin Durant locking down Steph Curry to win a game is a play that should strictly be reserved for NBA 2K considering how unstoppable those two are. It’s tough to think of a better duo.

Given the new format of the 2018 All-Star Game, we were gifted to witness the two together in real life.

The NBA made the first substantive change to the Three-Point Contest in 2014 when they added the “moneyball rack.” In the past, shooters shot five balls at five stations around the arc, with the last ball counting for two points. Now, one entire rack consists of double-point moneyballs — and it’s at the shooter’s choosing.

Obviously, this adds an element of strategy. Over the three years we’ve seen the contest using this format, shooters tend to put the moneyball rack last. However, we’ve seen it almost everywhere. Here’s Stephen Curry talking about his strategy in 2014 to CBS Sports’ Matt Moore:

The last two weeks have been major stepping stones for Larry Nance Jr. to pick up where his father left off in the NBA.

On Feb. 8, Nance Jr. was traded from the Los Angeles Lakers to the Cleveland Cavaliers, where his father played for seven seasons and had his jersey retired. Nance Sr. even wants the jersey unretired for his son to wear next season.

At the 2018 NBA All-Star media day, LeBron James spoke about social injustice and equality in response to the Fox News host who suggested he “shut up and dribble.”

“We’re back to everything I’ve been talking about over the last few years,” James said to the media. “It lets me know that everything I’ve been saying has been correct for her to be having that type of reaction.

The 2018 Basketball Hall of Fame Finalists were announced on Saturday afternoon, and 13 players, coaches and referees are one step closer to reaching their dreams. They include Steve Nash, Jason Kidd, Ray Allen, Maurice Cheeks, Grant Hill, Chris Webber, Katie Smith, Tina Thompson, coach Charles “Lefty” Driesell, coach Kim Mulkey, coach Rudy Tomjanovich, referee Hugh Evans, and the Wayland Baptist University women’s team.

Nash, Allen, Kidd, and Thompson were first time nominees.

The NBA Celebrity Game is an annual rite of All-Star Weekend, something to occupy time while you wait for dunks. With Los Angeles hosting, the celebrity teams are, fittingly, Team Clippers and Team Lakers. Here is SB Nation’s official roster breakdown:

COACH: Rachel Nichols of ESPN. Can we get a Kickstarter going to get rid of one of those underscores in her Twitter handle? It’s like those people who use two spaces after a sentence. MODERN TYPOGRAPHY HAS CORRECTED THE IMPERFECTIONS OF TYPEWRITERS.

Michael Jordan from the free throw line, Spud Webb soaring through the air at 5-foot-7, and Vince Carter with the Honey Dip are all iconic slam dunks. This year’s Slam Dunk Contest didn’t have anything close to those legendary moments, but it still doesn’t take the title of Worst Dunk Contest Ever.

The date: February 8th, 1997. The dunkers: Darvin Ham, Chris Carr, Bob Sura, Michael Finley, Ray Allen, and Kobe Bryant, the only hint of personality in the event.

After the 3-Point Contest, NBA All-Star Saturday night took an unexpected turn. Reggie Miller stepped into the middle of the court after Eric Gordon’s victory and began inviting players and celebrities alike to shoot three-pointers to support the Sager Strong Foundation.

Each made shot saw $10,000 donated to the cause. After that, Ernie Johnson asked Stephen Curry to make a shot from halfcourt to take the total amount from $130,000 to $500,000. (When he failed, Johnson called on Craig Sager’s son to finish the job.)

The reason the NBA Slam Dunk Contest so often fails to meet expectations is because expectations for it are so high. And expectations are high because of years like 2016, when Aaron Gordon and Zach LaVine had a battle for the ages, one that we could have watched for three hours if they had the legs for it. The dunkers brought legitimate shock to viewers, and that fueled the audience into relishing every minute.

It also fueled us into expecting more, especially since Gordon participated again this year. He didn’t live up to our memory of 2016. He didn’t really live up to anything, though the idea behind the drone dunk was inventive. (It would have been stronger if he had the capacity to continue to control the drone through the dunk, including its release of the ball. And also, if he would have made the dunk on the first try.)

The Indiana Pacers’ Glenn Robinson III won the NBA Dunk Contest on Saturday in New Orleans, sealing the dunk contest with a reverse slam over several people. Robinson started with the first 50 of the night and finished strong against Derrick Jones Jr., who had advanced into the final round with him.

After having one of the best Slam Dunk Contest performances ever last year, despite losing the title to Zach LaVine, Aaron Gordon surprisingly lost in the first round. He needed several attempts to throw down his drone dunk and couldn’t land a through-the-legs attempt on his second dunk. Gordon, who has been injured this year, just looked like he didn’t have the same hops as last year.

With this astounding dunk over Paul George, Pacers mascot Boomer and an Indiana dancer, Glenn Robinson III earned a perfect 50 and clinched the 2017 Slam Dunk Contest win over Derrick Jones, Jr.

This was not the best dunk contest. This was not a good dunk contest. But Robinson III — the son of Glenn “Big Dog” Robinson — showed up a few times and made sure the trophy was well-deserved.

And a deserving one after this final dunk.

That resembled John Wall’s slam to win in 2014, except Robinson jumped over two more people and all three were taller than the Wizards’ mascot. Robinson is the first Pacers champion since Fred Jones in 2004.

NBA stars and celebrities helped donate $500,000 to Craig Sager’s Sager Strong Foundation with an impromptu three-point shooting contest after the Three Point Contest at All-Star weekend on Saturday.

Reggie Miller explained the purpose of the event, to collect players and celebs onto the court attempting to make as many threes as they could in a minute. Each three sent $10,000 to the Sager Foundation, and they made 13 of them total.

Kyle Lowry did not get off to a very good start to his round in the Foot Locker Three-Point Shootout on NBA All-Star Saturday night.

That was Lowry’s only airball, but he clanked most of his shots off the rim and did not qualify for the final round. In fact, he tied Wesley Matthews for the worst round overall with just 10 points (out of a possible 34).

Kristaps Porzingis won the NBA Skills Challenge at the 2017 All-Star Weekend in New Orleans. Reminder: he’s 7’3, and he’s now the most skilled player* in the NBA.

(*OK, so winning the Skills Challenge might not make you the most skilled player in the league. Let me have this.)

No, Reggie Miller. That is not his name:

He is Nikola Jokic, the Denver Nuggets’ center that’s rapidly becoming one of the league’s most delightful young big men. He’s one of the many giants changing the game.

NBA commissioner Adam Silver spoke to the media in his annual press conference at All-Star Weekend in New Orleans on Saturday. The press conference is the regular time each year that Silver broadly addresses the many issues that are affecting the NBA and its future.

Silver led with an opening statement that discussed the Developmental League, which will be renamed the G-League and host new two-way contracts under the new collective bargaining agreement. Silver also talked about New Orleans as a host city, after the game was moved from Charlotte last year, and said the NBA has never been better.

You knew it was going to happen after Kyrie Irving’s adventures in provocation on Friday. During his NBA All-Star Weekend press conference, commissioner Adam Silver was asked whether he believes the earth is flat.

Silver used levity to answer.