NBA All-Star Weekend 2023 betting guide: Who wins the dunk comp, 3pt shootout and Team Lebron v Team Giannis
It’s 2023 NBA All-Star weekend: from the Dunk comp and three-point shootout to the star-laden game between Team Giannis and Team LeBron, who do the odds like?
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There’s nothing quite like the NBA All-Star weekend to deliver more highlights than a Brighton hair salon.
From the dunk comp to the three-point challenge and the actual game itself, it’s where legends are made and results quickly forgotten.
Plus, after the wild rollercoaster of the trade deadline, it’s the most relaxed and fun moment of the NBA season.
NBA ALL-STAR WEEKEND 2023
Saturday February 18 - Monday February 20
RISING STARS CHALLENGE
It all kicks off on the Friday night (Saturday Aus time) with the Rising Stars challenge, which used to be known as the Rookie-Sophomore game.
The format has changed dramatically with four teams of rookies, second-year players and players from the G-League now competing in a mini knockout tournament, with the first two semi-final games played first to 40 and the final first to 50.
Retired NBA players pick and coach the squads, and a couple have done better than others.
The balance of the squads looks heavily tilted to Team Pau (coached by Pau Gasol) and Team Joakim (with Joakim Noah ostensibly in charge), with the G-League squad of Jet Terry and the team helmed by Deron Williams looking about as lacklustre as Deron’s stint in Brooklyn.
The pick here is Team Joakim: it has a great balance of size, defence and playmaking lead by the Moptop Mamba, Aussie Josh Giddey. Between Evan Mobley, Jabari Smith Jr and Jalen Williams, it’s going to be tough to contain Team Joakim AND score on them as well.
The really fun part will be seeing how top-rated draft pick Scoot Henderson on the G-League Ignite team goes too.
THE PICK: Team Joakim: $4
SKILLS CHALLENGE
The Skills Challenge is the ever-morphing ugly stepchild of the All-Star weekend – one year it has a half-court shot, another it’s a combination obstacle course, this year will feature a car in the middle of the court – and it’s now currently a three-leg challenge that involves an obstacle relay, passing challenges and a shooting showdown between three teams.
Those teams this year are a squad made up of players from the host city’s Utah Jazz (Jordan ‘Jeremy’ Clarkson, Collin Sexton, Walker Kessler - $1.90), a team of rookies (Paolo Banchero, Jabari Smith Jr, Jaden Ivey - $2.50) and the Antetokounmpos ($5) getting an All-Star family vacation as Giannis is joined by Thanasis and the other one. Alex? Sure.
The play here is either the Jazz or the Rookies squads – the home team Cavs squad took it out last year in this format, and there’s something to be said for knowing how to play together already – but considering the talent and combination of skills evident on the rookie team, the lean is there.
THE PICK: Team Rookies - $2.50
THREE POINT SHOOTOUT
Considering the status of the players involved in the dunk comp, this year’s three-point shootout will be the highlight of the All-Star Saturday night.
There’s a couple of things to look at when considering the three-point champ: speed of release, ability to get hotter than the sun and range.
Indiana’s Buddy Hield leads the field in percentage so far this season (42.3% from 3), but of the entire eight-player contest, MVP-candidate Jayson Tatum was low man on the totem pole (at 35.3 3PT% this year, but 37.6% for his career) until Julius Randle – career 33.4% three-point shooter – was shoe-horned in to take the place of the injured Anfernee Simons.
But still, there’s a couple that fit the bill: Hield obviously, then Sacramento’s Kevin Hueter (39 3PT%) and Damian Lillard (37.5 3PT%) of the Portland Trail Blazers.
Those are the three picks to shoot their way to the final, with a couple of smokies like Tyler ‘There Goes My’ Herro and Tyrese Haliburton who could also threaten with their smooth, fast releases.
- Tyrese Haliburton, Indiana Pacers: $7 (Career: 40.7 3PT%. This season: 39.8 3PT%)
- Tyler Herro, Miami Heat: $9 (Career: 38.1 3PT% This season: 36.9 3PT%)
- Buddy Hield, Indiana Pacers: $5 (Career: 40.1 3PT% This season: 42.3 3PT%)
- Kevin Huerter, Sacramento Kings: $6 (Career: 38.2 3PT% This season: 39 3PT%)
- Damian Lillard, Portland Trail Blazers: $5.20 (Career: 37.3 3PT% This season: 37.5 3PT%)
- Lauri Markkanen, Utah Jazz: $7 (Career: 37.3 3PT% This season: 41.2 3PT%)
- Julius Randle, New York Knicks: $11 (Career: 33.4 3PT% This season: 33.8 3PT%)
- Jayson Tatum, Boston Celtics: $6 (Career: 37.7 3PT% This season: 35.3 3PT%)
THE PICK: BUDDY HIELD - $5
2023 NBA ALL STAR DUNK COMP
This year’s dunk competition might be the nadir for a hallowed tradition that was declared dead plenty of times before and after being resurrected by Zach LaVine and Aaron Gordon’s battles. The dunk competition is currently on life support as every NBA star has seemingly decided they’re too cool to be in it.
Because how lame is it to try and do cool dunks on the biggest of stages in a time-honoured tradition that your athletic forefathers forged in front of a worldwide audience.
(That sound? It was NBA Straya smacking the ol’ head)
Anyway. What this comp lacks in star power or even vague name recognition – outside of Kenyon Martin Jr being the son of a former NBA star – it makes up for it in potential.
With super-hyped ‘America’s best dunker’ Mac McClung in the field we’ll see a G-Leaguer have a crack for the time (even if the Sixers picked him up on a two-way contract this week, McClung has spent the year in the G-League), so we’ll see if he can bring new verve and creativity to the contest, while young and hungry up-and-comers always make for fun viewing.
- KENYON MARTIN JR - $3.50
He’s an in-game dunking machine with a history and heritage of hoops hops thanks to his old man, but Kenyon Martin Jr’s record of 122 dunks this season in 58 games is pretty impressive. He’s going to be athletic and vicious, which is the reason he’s the second favourite.
- MAC McCLUNG - $2.60
Has only had seven dunks in the G-League this season while averaging 18.3 points a game, but he has incredible dunking mixtapes across his high school and college years. He’s promising things that have never been seen… which might simply be “a 6’2 white kid who looks like a 1950s coal miner participating in the NBA dunk comp” or it could be a couple of cool ‘small guy dunks’ that blow our minds, ala Nate Robinson when he went back-to-back.
- JERICHO SIMS - $3.80
The Knicks back up big is almost impossibly athletic: he had the third-highest recorded vertical – EVER – in the NBA combine at 44.5 inches, and an incredible 63.5% of his in-game shots have been dunks. That’s incredible: essentially, if he touches the ball on the court, he’s dunking. But his insane athleticism means he could easily pull off a couple of jaw-droppers, plus he likely won’t need too many attempts, which could work against the smaller competitors.
- TREY MURPHY III - $4.50
A classic dunking swingman, Murphy has 62 dunks this season, which is only two more than Sims in more than double the minutes on court. He has springs in his feet though and has a similar body-type and athletic feel that’s reminiscent of other lesser-known dunk comp winners like Hamidou Diallo, Derrick Jones Jr, Glenn Robinson III and Terrence Ross.
THE PICK: With his size and hops, Jericho Sims could pull off a shock win. $3.80
THE NBA ALL STAR 2023 - GAME
TEAM GIANNIS v TEAM LEBRON
What an absolute treat this year’s All-Star game will be.
The NBA All-Star Game itself has leaned towards being a chuck-and-giggle affair for three quarters before the teams settle down and play some defence towards the end.
That’s changed with the introduction of the ‘Elam Ending’ where the fourth quarter doesn’t feature a game clock and the teams play to a set score.
It’s set to change even more with the team captains - LeBron James and Giannis Antetokounmpo - set to select their squads ‘playground’ style, picking the voted starters and then reserves one-by-one in person before the game.
It makes it tough to pick before the game, but having witnessed LeBron James’ team-building skills in LA the past few off-seasons and knowing that Giannis is 0-4 against LeBron in All-Star games, the Greek Freak will go for the jugular and build the better, hungrier team.
THE PICK: TEAM GIANNIS +2 - $1.90 (via bet365)
NBA ALL-STAR GAME MVP
Often the All-Star MVP comes down to who tries the hardest, but this year’s field is also littered with stars with a point to prove.
There’s team captain Giannis who will want to prove he’s still incredible, but after hurting his wrist he might take it easy. So look hard at two-time MVP runner up Joel Embiid ($9) who will go into this game wanting to lay waste to everyone in front of him and could very well do so, or Luka Doncic ($9.50) who was the MVP frontrunner earlier this season and has the game to wow voters.
Elsewhere, NBA Kanye - aka Kyrie Irving ($8) - might want to wash the taste of his ugly exit from Brooklyn from the mouths of fans with some of his razzle dazzle, or Ja Morant ($11) might make it his life’s purpose to put each and every member of the opposing team on a poster by spectacularly dunking on them.
There’s also beloved vets like Damian Lillard ($8) and LeBron ($8) who could give it a shake. But look to who has a point to prove
THE PICK: Joel Embiid - $9 or Luka Doncic $9.50
[all odds as of February 17 via Betr unless noted]
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Originally published as NBA All-Star Weekend 2023 betting guide: Who wins the dunk comp, 3pt shootout and Team Lebron v Team Giannis
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