Josh Donaldson

The Rundown: Five Things You Should Know About The NBA All-Star Game

Have you recovered from your Super Bowl nacho cheese hangover? Not Cam Newton. He’s still bitter about Sunday and doesn’t care who knows it. 

The NBA All-Star Game is this weekend in Toronto and we’re sharing the five things you need to know to be in the know.

Buzzer beater,

The Last Night’s Game Team


Five things you should know about the NBA All-Star Game

  1. The game will take place in Toronto on Sunday, February 14th at 8:30 pm (EST) on TNT.
  2. Saturday night’s excitement features the much anticipated skills competition, three-point contest and slam dunk competition.
  3. Historically, the coaches of the two teams are from the two teams that played in the NBA Finals the previous year, Cleveland Cavaliers and Golden State Warriors.   
    • The Cavaliers fired their head coach who coached in the Finals last year, so new head coach, Tyronn Lue, will coach team.
    • The Warriors head coach Steve Kerr coached in last year’s All-Star Game (no coach can coach two years in a row), therefore San Antonio Spurs’ coach Gregg Popovich will lead the West this year. (It’s a little complicated. Here's a full explanation on why). 
  4. Sting will perform during halftime of the game.
  5. This is Kobe Bryant’s last All-Star Game. Despite his declining stats this season he was the fans' leading vote-getter for the game.

MLB (Major League Baseball)

NBA (National Basketball association)

  • Do the time for the crime. Clippers announce forward Blake Griffin will be suspended for four games without pay and then they will hold his pay for one additional game on top of that. Griffin’s suspension stems from his altercation with an equipment manager on a team road trip in January. His suspension will start once he returns in a month from the broken hand sustained in that incident. His five game paycheck is estimated to be $859,442. The fine is considered a charitable donation and will benefit disadvantaged youth in L.A. 
  • No love lost. New York Knicks announce their head coach, Derek Fisher, has been relieved of his duties. Fisher’s record in less than two seasons was not stellar, 40-97 (wins-losses). We’re sure Matt Barnes was ecstatic to hear the news. 
  • Super Shaq. Not to be outdone by the Lakers (who announced last week they were immortalizing him in a statue), Miami Heat announced they will retire Shaquille ‘Shaq’ O’Neal’s #32 jersey at the start of the 2016/2017 season. Shaq played on the Heat from 2004-2008 and won an NBA Championship in 2005-2006 season.

NCAA basketball (College) 

  • Standing on top. Villanova University is ranked #1 for the first time in school history. This is unlikely to last as they are the sixth team to assume the #1 ranking this season, the most ever to this point in the season.

NFL (National football league)

  • Show me the money. A record $132.54 million was wagered on the Super Bowl in Las Vegas sports books. The sports books profited record $13.31 million.
  • #HotRef. A star was born on Sunday at the Super Bowl but he didn’t play in the game. The Pippa Middleton of the game was the head referee, Clete Blakeman. The hashtag #HotRef became a trending topic during Sunday’s game. He even stopped by to visit Hoda and Kathie Lee on Tuesday.

Soccer

  • These boots are made for walking. Fans of the Premier League’s Liverpool staged a walk out of their game against Sunderland at the 77th minute (to signify the 77 euros it cost per ticket) to protest the rise in the price of tickets to the games. The ticket price increase was announced earlier this week to help offset costs of Liverpool stadium renovations. Tickets are expected to increase as much as 30%, although Liverpool announced that 64% of ticket prices will stay the same or be reduced.

Overtime

  • In news that will want to make you put down your morning donut and start doing crunches, the Sports Illustrated (SI) swimsuit cover will be revealed Saturday night. Last year’s honor went to Hannah Davis. SI’s swimsuit issue is making waves this year as it features plus-size model Ashley Graham

Sideline Stat

Coaches’ Corner

  • What exactly is involved in the NBA All-Star Game’s skills competition? According to the NBA, the three round competition includes dribbling, passing and shooting. Here’s a highlight reel from last year’s excitement.