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USA Today
27-03-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
NBA All-Star Game 'a miss,' commissioner Adam Silver says
NBA All-Star Game 'a miss,' commissioner Adam Silver says Show Caption Hide Caption NBA fans share their best NBA Dunk Contest of all time We asked fans at 2025 NBA All-Star weekend what's the best NBA Dunk Contest of all time Now that the NBA All-Star Game, with its revised mini-tournament format, is more than a month in the past, commissioner Adam Silver has had a chance to reflect on the experience. The overall takeaway: the product was 'a miss.' Speaking Thursday at the conclusion of the NBA's Board of Governor's meetings, Silver fielded several questions about the state of the league, television ratings, expansion and recent sales of franchises. And the All-Star Game, which has drawn criticism recently for a lack of competitive and compelling play, remains an issue. 'I thought we made almost an immeasurable amount of progress — sitting there, I thought this was a little better — but it was a miss,' Silver told reporters Thursday. 'We're not there in terms of creating an All-Star experience that we can be proud of and that our players can be proud of.' Silver continued by acknowledging the switch in broadcast partner for next year's All-Star Game, with NBC taking the reins from TNT, which had aired the event for 23 consecutive years. The 2026 All-Star Game, though, will be unique in that NBC will be airing the event while also juggling its coverage of the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milano Cortina. Despite the busy schedule, Silver said NBC is 'very enthusiastic about the All-Star Game as a marquee property.' Next year's All-Star Game will be hosted by the Los Angeles Clippers at the newly opened Intuit Dome in Inglewood, California. Silver said that the NBA, based on feedback to this most recent version of the event, is starting fresh in considering ways to improve the All-Star Game experience. Silver did say that, with the environment of the Olympics and the NHL's success with its 4 Nations Face-Off tournament held in February, the NBA could consider introducing some form of international competition to the All-Star weekend. 'People floated USA (versus) World, I'm not sure that makes sense with the level of development, if that's fair to lump all the other countries together these days,' Silver said. 'Maybe we can single out if there are some international teams that can compete.' The NBA introduced a new format with a mini-tournament with four teams competing in three games. The NBA divided the 24 selected All-Stars into three teams of eight players. TNT analysts Shaquille O'Neal, Charles Barkley and Kenny Smith each drafted their teams. The fourth team was the winning squad from the Rising Stars event Friday night. 'I think at the height of this, we sell competition,' Silver said. 'I think our players recognize they're not putting their best foot forward when there's a sense that they're not all-in playing an All-Star Game. And I take responsibility, too, because we're both a sport and an entertainment brand and we recalibrated for this year's All-Star Game in San Francisco around more of an entertainment product and don't think it worked.' Silver added that the recalibration was 'well-intentioned' but that 'the breaks were too long' and that the NBA is 'a bit back to the drawing board.' The USA TODAY app gets you to the heart of the news fast. Download for award-winning coverage, crosswords, audio storytelling, the eNewspaper and more.
USA Today
18-02-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
We'll believe Aaron Gordon and Zach LaVine will do the NBA Dunk Contest again when we see it
Aaron Gordon and Zach LaVine were in very different places in their careers the last time we saw them in their epic NBA Dunk Contest in 2016. At the time, Gordon was still trying to establish himself as a young franchise-player talisman for the Orlando Magic. Now, he's a dynamic two-way player for the perennial title contender Denver Nuggets. Meanwhile, LaVine was still years away from transforming into the dynamic, All-Star caliber scoring guard he is today for the Sacramento Kings. On Tuesday, after seeing Ja Morant's invite to do the next Dunk Contest at All-Star Weekend in Los Angeles in February 2026, Gordon suggested he might have one more run in him. This sentiment came after seeing that LaVine hinted he was also into the idea of competing against Morant and Giannis Antetokounmpo. Listen, at face value, this is an extremely exciting and tantalizing prospect for hoops fans. Antetokounmpo, Morant, Gordon, and LaVine are all some of the greatest dunkers in basketball history. Together, I have no doubt they might put on one of the best shows the Dunk Contest has ever seen. The creativity and sheer electric dunking talent on hand here would be almost too much to fathom. It would be SO cool. That said, each of these gentlemen teasing a Dunk Contest appearance feels like bog-standard social media posturing we've seen before. Until they follow through and are at the Dunk Contest again, ready to roll, there's no reason to believe Morant, Antetokounmpo, Gordon, and LaVine will participate. The easiest thing to do for NBA stars is to offer little crumbs online about how they're maybe, potentially, perhaps ready to participate in the league's midseason celebration of basketball. Everyone can do that. The hard part is being there and ready to compete. We'll believe it when we see it.
USA Today
17-02-2025
- Entertainment
- USA Today
Kevin Durant saw latest NBA All-Star Game backlash as proof people just like complaining
Kevin Durant saw latest NBA All-Star Game backlash as proof people just like complaining The fallout from the latest disaster that was the 2025 NBA All-Star Game continues. My pal Mike Sykes wrote about how Sunday's mini-tournament strangely seemed like it was about everything but the basketball. Reigning NBA MVP Nikola Jokic said the league should probably focus its energy elsewhere after another dud of an event. Meanwhile, other league superstars like Shai Gilgeous-Alexander were kinda baffled by the egregious break in the middle of the final game. We can now throw Kevin Durant's thoughts into this mix. On Monday afternoon, the legendary Phoenix Suns scorer noticed all the backlash from the latest All-Star Game madness and came to a pretty reasonable conclusion on his X account. Per Durant, sometimes, people just like to complain about the NBA rather than actively watch it. As a result, Durant said the league would perhaps simply be better off instituting a midseason break that had no additional fanfare because everyone seems so "miserable" this time of year. While this in no way excuses the league's and TNT's atrocious presentation of Sunday's All-Star proceedings, I do find it otherwise hard to disagree with Durant. I'm not sure what the NBA could have done to genuinely make its fans happy. It's the nature of the online world we live in. As a diehard NBA fan, I'm fairly certain folks would've poked holes in whatever product was delivered to them. Fair Criticism Maybe KD is right and fans just want something to complain about. But we had Mike Sykes in San Francisco and his criticism was more than fair. Shootaround — Chris Paul was so mad after the Spurs were hilariously disqualified from the NBA Skills Challenge — Adam Silver revealed why the Stephen Curry and Sabrina Ionescu 3-point contest was canceled — Mac McClung jumped over a Kia during the NBA Dunk Contest in an awesome tribute to Blake Griffin — Nikola Jokic downplayed a big-man rivalry with Karl-Anthony Towns with the coldest analogy
Yahoo
16-02-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Watch Mac McClung jump over car and into history books winning third straight Dunk Contest
SAN FRANCISCO — Mac Clung owns the Dunk Contest. He may not be an NBA player — he is currently on a two-way contract with Orlando and has played five NBA minutes this season — but he is the best dunker going. After stringing together four perfect scores in a row to win the Dunk Contest again on Saturday night, he became the only player in NBA history to win the NBA Dunk Contest three consecutive years. Nobody — not Jordan, not Kobe, not even three-time winners like Nate Robinson — did it three years in a row. "I think the biggest thing is I genuinely love this contest, and I'm very honored to be here and just very appreciative," he said. McClug was what All-Star Saturday night needed. He changed the energy in the Chase Center. Throughout All-Star Saturday night, things felt a little flat until two-time defending champion McClung got the building on its feet with his first dunk, re-creating the Blake Griffin dunk over a car. MAC MCCLUNG ARE YOU KIDDING ⁉️@Kia | #KiaK5 — NBA (@NBA) February 16, 2025 McClung didn't stop there — for his second dunk he threw down two balls, one taken from a guy spinning on a hoverboard and knocking in another up on the rim. McClung got a perfect score of 50 on that one, too (all of his dunks got perfect scores). San Antonio's Stephon Castle would have won a lot of years, he just had some John Stockton/Karl Malone timing. Still, the Spurs rookie was impressive on his way to a second-place finish (Matas Buzelis and Andre Jackson Jr. competed but were eliminated in the first round). STEPHON CASTLE BRINGING THE CREATIVITY!TIMING WAS IMPECCABLE #ATTSlamDunk on TNT — NBA (@NBA) February 16, 2025 "I mean, [McClung's] dunks are crazy. I would give all his dunks 50, too, but I feel like he earned it and he did a great job," Castle said. McClung wasn't done. For his final dunk of the night, he jumped over 6'11" Evan Mobley standing on a board that raised him about five inches — and McClung tapped the front of the rim then dunked it. Steph Curry couldn't believe what he saw #ATTSlamDunk — NBA (@NBA) February 16, 2025 It's just wild to see — and it's inspiring other big name players who hint they may jump into the Dunk Contest down the line. If you do it. I'll do it with you — Giannis Antetokounmpo (@Giannis_An34) February 16, 2025 McClung is the reigning G-League MVP and now three-time Dunk Contest champion, but he still has yet to stick in the NBA. "I love hooping more than I love dunking," McClung said. "I really just am at peace with that, that I'm exactly where I'm supposed to be, and I'm going to keep applying pressure [to get into the NBA], for sure." Whatever happens on that front, McClung owns the Dunk Contest.
NBC Sports
16-02-2025
- Sport
- NBC Sports
Watch Mac McClung jump over car and into history books winning third straight Dunk Contest
SAN FRANCISCO — Mac Clung owns the Dunk Contest. He may not be an NBA player — he is currently on a two-way contract with Orlando and has played five NBA minutes this season — but he is the best dunker going. After stringing together four perfect scores in a row to win the Dunk Contest again on Saturday night, he became the only player in NBA history to win the NBA Dunk Contest three consecutive years. Nobody — not Jordan, not Kobe, not even three-time winners like Nate Robinson — did it three years in a row. 'I think the biggest thing is I genuinely love this contest, and I'm very honored to be here and just very appreciative,' he said. McClug was what All-Star Saturday night needed. He changed the energy in the Chase Center. Throughout All-Star Saturday night, things felt a little flat until two-time defending champion McClung got the building on its feet with his first dunk, re-creating the Blake Griffin dunk over a car. MAC MCCLUNG ARE YOU KIDDING ⁉️🤯@Kia | #KiaK5 McClung didn't stop there — for his second dunk he threw down two balls, one taken from a guy spinning on a hoverboard and knocking in another up on the rim. McClung got a perfect score of 50 on that one, too (all of his dunks got perfect scores). San Antonio's Stephon Castle would have won a lot of years, he just had some John Stockton/Karl Malone timing. Still, the Spurs rookie was impressive on his way to a second-place finish (Matas Buzelis and Andre Jackson Jr. competed but were eliminated in the first round). STEPHON CASTLE BRINGING THE CREATIVITY! TIMING WAS IMPECCABLE 😮💨😮💨#ATTSlamDunk on TNT 'I mean, [McClung's] dunks are crazy. I would give all his dunks 50, too, but I feel like he earned it and he did a great job,' Castle said. McClung wasn't done. For his final dunk of the night, he jumped over 6'11" Evan Mobley standing on a board that raised him about five inches — and McClung tapped the front of the rim then dunked it. Steph Curry couldn't believe what he saw 🤣 #ATTSlamDunk It's just wild to see. McClung is the reigning G-League MVP and now three-time Dunk Contest champion, but he still has yet to stick in the NBA. 'I love hooping more than I love dunking,' McClung said. 'I really just am at peace with that, that I'm exactly where I'm supposed to be, and I'm going to keep applying pressure [to get into the NBA], for sure.' Whatever happens on that front, McClung owns the Dunk Contest.
