The NBA All-Star Game is around the corner, and this will be your guide for this All-Star Sunday. This All-Star Weekend will be a little different than years past. In fact, it’s not really a weekend; it is more of an All-Star Sunday. First of all, they canceled the Rising Stars game due to COVID-19 limitations, but they will still be having the rest of the events. The point competition and skills contest will be held before the game, and the dunk contest will be held during halftime. 
Even though they will not be playing the game, they announced all the players that would have participated in the game. On team World, there would have been Precious Achiuwa, Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Deni Avdija, RJ Barrett, Facundo Campazzo, Brandon Clarke, Luguentz Dort, Rui Hachimura, Théo Maledon, and Mychal Mulder. And on team U.S.A., there would have been LaMelo Ball, Anthony Edwards, Tyrese Haliburton, Tyler Herro, De’Andre Hunter, Keldon Johnson, Ja Morant, Michael Porter Jr., Zion Williamson, and James Wiseman. No disrespect to everyone on team World, but this year, if the game were played, team U.S.A. would’ve won easily. Team U.S.A. has the top rookies for 2021 in LaMelo Ball, Antony Edwards, and Tyrese Haliburton, as well as the two stars to come out of last year’s draft, including Ja Morant and All-Star Zion Williamson. However, the game is not going to be played, so it does not matter too much.
Competing in the three-point contest will be Stephen Curry, Devin Booker, Donovan Mitchell, Zach Lavine, Jaylen Brown, and Jayson Tatum. Right now, the heavy favorite is probably former winner Curry, but there is a good chance that he won’t win. Devin Booker is also a former winner, and the rest of the cast could take it home as well. 
Competing in the skills contest will be Robert Covington, Luka Doncic, Chris Paul, Julius Randle, Domantas Sabonis, and Nikola Vucevic. Usually, this is one of the least popular events, for whatever reason, but if I were to pick a winner, it would be Paul, because of his versatility. He is not the best player in the competition, but we have seen in years past that when it comes to the skills competition, the best player does not always win.
Competing in the dunk contest this year will be Obi Toppin, Anfernee Simons, and Cassius Stanley. No disrespect to any of these players, but this is definitely a disappointing dunk contest. The front runner in this competition would probably be Obi Toppin, who is an amazing rookie for the New York Knicks and all-around amazing athlete, but his competition isn’t that great. Anfernee Simons only had two dunks this season, and Cassius Stanley only averages three minutes a game and mostly plays in the G-league on a two-way contract. The three-point contest has better dunkers than the dunk contest. I’m not exaggerating, either: Between the six contestants, there are three dunk contest trophies (Zach Lavine has two and Donovan Mitchell has one). It seems like players aren’t as excited for the dunk contest anymore, whether that is because it is too much work to plan, or it is too physically taxing. Whatever the reason, though, it is pretty sad to see.
Last but not least, there is the All-Star game. This year, the All-Star captains will be Lebron James and Kevin Durant, who will not be playing in the game due to injuries. On Lebron’s team, there is Giannis Antetokounmpo, Stephen Curry, Luka Dončić, Nikola Jokić, Damian Lillard, Ben Simmons, Chris Paul, Jaylen Brown, Paul George, Domantas Sabonis, and Rudy Gobert. On Kevin Durant’s team, there is Kyrie Irving, Joel Embiid, Kawhi Leonard, Bradley Beal, Jayson Tatum, James Harden, Devin Booker, Zion Williamson, Zach LaVine, Julius Randle, Nikola Vučević, and Donovan Mitchell. Obviously, everyone selected is tremendously talented, so this game can very well go either way. However, if I were to pick a winner, I would go with Lebron’s team. I think overall, Kevin Durant’s team is at a disadvantage by Durant not playing. As for the All-Star MVP again, this could very well go to anyone, but I am going to go with Joel Embiid. I think this season he is on a mission to prove himself, and other than the playoffs, there is no bigger stage than the all-star game. 
No matter what happens on Sunday, it will be a little different this year, but it will still be a great day for basketball fans everywhere.