:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/28642793/20140214_pjc_ah6_003.0.jpg)
The 2014 NBA All-Star Game won't tip until Sunday, but the All-Star festivities are already underway. They'll continue Saturday in NBA All-Star Saturday Night. The event starts at 8:30 PM on TNT with the Shooting Stars competition.
Indiana Pacers swingman Paul George is the Eastern Conference captain, while Golden State Warriors point guard Stephen Curry serves as the West captain. The conference that wins each of the four competitions will earn $100,000 in charitable donations, with the second-place conference earning $25,000 for charity. The East is playing for the American Heart Association and UNICEF, and the West is playing for Teach for America and the Wounded Warrior Project.
Learn more about the events, listed here in chronological order, by clicking the links below or by scrolling down the page.
Shooting Stars | Skills Challenge | Three-Point Contest | Slam Dunk
Shooting Stars
The field:
Eastern Conference: Team One (Tim Hardaway Jr., Tim Hardaway Sr., and Elena Delle Donne) and Team Two (Chris Bosh, Dominique Wilkins, and Swin Cash).
Western Conference: Team One (Stephen Curry, Dell Cury, and Becky Hammon) and Team Two (Kevin Durant, Karl Malone, and Skylar Diggins).
This competition pits four teams of three players--one current NBA player, one WNBA player, and one NBA legend--in a shooting contest. Teams must make shots from six specific spots on the floor in numeric order in the fastest time possible. The shots increase in difficulty and culminate with an attempt from halfcourt. The teams must use the same shooting order throughout the competition.
Skills Challenge
The field:
Eastern Conference: Team One (Giannis Antetokounmpo and DeMar DeRozan) and Team Two (Michael Carter-Williams and Victor Oladipo).
Western Conference: Team One (Trey Burke and Damian Lillard) and Team Two (Goran Dragić and Reggie Jackson).
Damian Lillard is the defending champion in this event.
Competitors in this event must navigate an obstacle course that tests their dribbling, passing, and shooting acumen. The player who finishes with the fastest time wins.
The fastest team from each conference will advance to the second round, also known as the championship round, wherein East faces off against West to determine the overall winner.
Three-Point Contest
The field:
Eastern Conference: Arron Afflalo, Bradley Beal, Kyrie Irving, and Joe Johnson.
Western Conference: Marco Belinelli, Stephen Curry, Damian Lillard, and Kevin Love.
Kyrie Irving is the defending champion in this event.
A new component to this event in 2014: the addition of one moneyball-only rack, the placement of which each shooter determines before the competition.
As in the Skills Challenge, the highest-scoring player from each conference will advance to the championship round.
Slam Dunk
The field:
Eastern Conference: Paul George, Terrence Ross, and John Wall.
Western Conference: Harrison Barnes, Damian Lillard, and Ben McLemore.
Terrence Ross is the defending champion in this event.
New to the event in 2014: a two-round, team-based format. In the first round, known as the freestyle round, the three players from each conference have 90 seconds to complete a dunk exhibition. They are free to assist each other. After this round, a panel of judges will determine which conference had the more impressive dunks. The winner of this round will choose the dunking order for the next round.
In the battle round, dunkers from each conference go head-to-head against one another. The first conference to win three head-to-head matchups, according to the judges, earns the overall Slam Dunk championship.
