Fast and furious, Tyrese Haliburton began the 2024 NBA All-star weekend in a race car.
At the finish line of the festivities, he popped some champagne and left with some hardware to track his record of events.
Indiana hosted a hallmark All-star weekend, with some new tricks up their sleeves for basketball’s Super Bowl.
Friday Night Lights
After the announcement of this year’s inductees to the Hall of Fame, including Chauncey Billups, Vince Carter and Michael Cooper, came more legends. Starting with a legendary brunch, featuring the likes of Larry Bird, Isiah Thomas and Reggie Miller trading war stories with Spike Lee.
Then, the new Indiana blood got their chance to do the right thing.
In the Rising Stars game, Pacer and Canadian Bennedict Mathurin dropped the stats to become MVP of the next up. Hit the Most Valuable Player to read all about how his 18 points made him the third Canadian after Andrew Wiggins and Jamal Murray to take home this honour.
Wiggins and Murray became champions after that. Just saying.
Saturday Night’s Alright For Styling
Mathurin won again with Haliburton and Myles Turner in the Kia Skills Challenge. One that almost felt like ‘Squid Game’, as players got penalized for making the same mistakes. Repeating each other like the echo machine Kenny ‘The Jet’ Smith takes with him into the commentary booth.
You would have thought they would have been able to tell with the new LED courts that lit up the weekend in all colours.
If you hated the inspired In-Season Tournament (now the Emirates Cup) hardwood, then we don’t know what to tell you. Yet, all the lights lit up Indy like Times Square in New York or Tokyo’s Shibuya.
Sprite green flooded the floor for a Van Gogh like Starry 3-Point contest. Won for the second year running, right on time, by Dame Lillard with 26 made shots on his watch.
That’s the same makes WNBA superstar Sabrina Ionescu had against Stephen Curry, in a wild, one round, winner takes all shoot-out.
Sabrina holds the all-time three-point contest record (37 points), in both leagues, but Steph Curry took home the belt with 29 at the buzzer of the last rack.
Either way, a new precedent was set in the equality of the game.
Like Lillard, the iron lung of Mac McClung went back-to-back. This time in the Dunk Contest, even without an NBA team. An athletic spectacle that saw everyone jumping over Shaq. So much so, Giannis Antetokounmpo had to take his jacket…and wear it. Which even drowned this Milwaukee mountain of a man.
Mac returned by jumping over two people to make it two titles in as many years. Although, he faced strong competition from Boston Celtics Jaylen Brown. Brown’s Terrence Clarke tribute was beautiful. His Dee Brown one looked away a little late though.
Any Given Sunday
The great G-League Next Up game and the hallowed HBCU Classic also highlighted the weekend. Not to mention a celebrity game and musical performances from Jennifer Hudson and Babyface. But you know what main event everyone came to see.
Breaking the biggest records, the East beat the West by an amazing 211-186. A return to the old coastal format for LeBron James and Giannis Antetokounmpo’s captained teams. Dame was on time again for his Buck teammate’s squad, with 39 and a couple of half-court heaves that looked like regular shots.
Dunking participant Jaylen Brown had 36. While the Celtic Matt Damon to his Ben Affleck, Jayson Tatum had 20.
Putting on for his city, Tyrese Haliburton hit five three-pointers in the first quarter and had 32 for the East that best the West 104-89 at the half. A 50-piece from a dunking Karl-Anthony Towns and 31 points from Canadian Shai Gilgeous-Alexander set the pace for the other coast.
Hoosier Larry Bird wanted a more competitive game like in his heyday, but you know that doesn’t make a French Lick of sense in this weekend.
