The NBA All-Star Saturday Night took place on Saturday, February 15, 2025. It was kicked off at 8:00pm with the Skills Challenge, featuring four separate teams of two. Team Cavs featured Clevland’s center Evan Mobley and superstar shooting guard Donovan Mitchell. Team Spurs presented San Antonio’s all-time great point guard Chris Paul and the young seven foot three sensation Victor Wembenyama. Team Warriors highlighted Golden State’s shooting guard Moses Moody and the beloved power forward Draymond Green. Team Rookies was represented by Zaccharie Risacher and Alex Sarr, the first two picks of the 2024 NBA Draft. The Skills Challenge is a series of basketball moves that would be displayed commonly in typical NBA games.

It kicks off with three bounce passes through a circular target, next, a chest pass into another circular target, followed by a three-pointer from the right wing, with three attempts as one moves on immediately after a make, but the player is passed through if they miss all three. After that, a free throw and then a left corner three, with the same shooting rules as the right wing three. After these jump shots the player must make another chest pass through a different circular target, and finally, make a layup or dunk at the opposite basket. This all goes on at a blazing fast and when the first player of the team finishes, his teammate has to go through that process all over again. The two fastest times advance to the final and go through the gauntlet to compete for the best time to be named champions.

The Spurs opened the Skills Challenge, and they had an interesting “idea.” The three jump shots historically always took up the bulk of the time, so instead of trying to make the shots early on, they chucked them quickly off the rack for all three shooting stations without even looking at the hoop. Paul and Wembenyama thought they had found a loophole. However, they wound up getting disqualified for breaking the rules by partaking in illegitimate shot attempts, creating a funny moment that NBA fans will look back on for years. “What they did never really broke any of the rules but I understand why they were disqualified because then no one would try to even make the shots,” explained Andrew Cervantes, a junior at DHS and avid NBA and Denver Nuggets fan.

Going immediately after them was Team Rookies, who actually tried following the rules, finishing with a time of one minute and twenty seconds. Team Cavs beat that time on their turn by just one second, finishing with 1:19, securing them a spot in the final. Then the Warriors secured the other spot in the final, with an excellent time of 1:02. The Cavs went first in the final, getting an even better time of 1:00 that contained minimal flaws. The Warriors had a one minute countdown to win it all, but they could not do it, with the clock expiring as teammate number two Draymond Green was still shooting his three from the corner in a performance full of missed passes and off-target jump shots. This made Cleveland the winner of the Skills Challenge.

Continuing the exciting night at 9:00pm, the 3-Point Contest would begin, featuring eight of the best shooters in the NBA. Here is how it works: there are five racks of five balls on the court; one in each corner, one on each wing, and one at the top of the key. Each shot is worth a single point. At the end of every rack, there is a money ball worth two points. Players are allowed to choose a certain rack to have all five balls be money balls, depending on where they shoot best from. There are also two deep balls nearly around half-court range, worth three points per make. The first round features all eight contestants competing for the top three scores to secure them a spot in the final, with the same process being repeated in the final with the best score of the three determining the winner.

This year’s 3-Point Contest featured many very good NBA players whose shooting abilities stand out above the rest. These were the likes of Brooklyn Nets forward Cam Johnson, Cleveland Cavaliers guard Darius Garland, Detroit Pistons guard Cade Cunningham, Los Angeles Clippers guard Norman Powell, Miami Heat guard Tyler Herro, New York Knicks guard Jalen Brunson, Golden State Warriors guard Buddy Hield, and Milwaukee Bucks guard Damian Lillard.

Cam Johnson started the contest, and he threw away any chance of making the final round with a very low score of 14. Garland followed, and had a great performance, notching a score of 24, which ended up securing him a spot in the final round. Cunningham went after Garland, and despite hitting four out of his five money balls on the final rack, it was too little too late and Cunningham got eliminated with a score of only 16. Norman Powell then followed suit, but like Johnson, finished with an upsetting score of 14 and got eliminated. After the first four contestants, Tyler Herro opened up the second half of the first round of competition, earning a score of 19, and while he was definitely not guaranteed to get into the final at that exact moment, it wound up being just enough and he squeaked into the final round.

Brunson went after Herro, and while he had a strong start, he fell off towards the end, finishing with a score of 18, which would not be enough to get into the final because of the player next up: Buddy Hield. Hield finished with an unbelievable score of 31, hitting both three-point deep balls, nearly all of his two-point money balls, and dominating the first round. Damian Lillard closed out the first round, as the clear favorite to win expected to do well and become the second player in history, with the first being Larry Bird, to win the 3-Point Contest for three consecutive years. Nonetheless, he only secured a score of 18, failing to achieve his three-peat, leaving him getting eliminated in the first round.

The final featured Darius Gland, Tyler Herro, and Buddy Hield. Tyler Herro opened the final round, and had a very good score of 24. While it did not yet guarantee him first place at all, it put him in a solid position and put pressure on the other contestants. Garland went after Herro, and regressed from his performance in the first round, getting an underwhelming score of 19 and eliminating himself from the competition. Finally, Buddy Hield went, and it came down to the wire. Going into the final rack, which was also his full money ball rack, he had a score of 15, meaning he would have to hit all five threes in order to win. He hit the first, the second, and even the third, but he missed the fourth, sealing his elimination. Hield finished with a score of 23, just one point shy of Herro. This made Tyler Herro the winner of the 3-point contest in the closest margin of victory the contest had ever seen. “I did not see it coming but Herro did what was necessary to survive and advance and he just got the job done,” added Cervantes.

The Slam Dunk Competition capped off Saturday night and began at 10:00pm, being the most anticipated event of the entire NBA All-Star Weekend. Here is how it works: The player will do a creative and flashy dunk of their choice within 90 seconds, once he completes the dunk, the five judges grade it on a scale from 40-50, with the average of all five scores being the players score for that dunk. The dunks are judged based on creativity, flashiness, how many attempts it took, and how difficult the dunk is to execute. The competition begins with four players doing two dunks each in the first round, with the scores of both dunks being averaged out to determine who makes the final round. The top two scorers will be featured in the final round, where they both have two dunks once again to win; the highest average score wins the Slam Dunk Competition.

This year, it featured athletic rookies Stephon Castle and Matas Buzelis, a second year player in Milwaukee Bucks small forward Andre Jackson Jr. Most of all, it featured the reigning back-to-back champion, Mac McClung, who was aspiring to achieve the first three-peat in Slam Dunk Competition history. Castle opened the contest, doing a 360 windmill on his first try, notching a respectable score of 47.2. Buzelis followed; however, he did not get a dunk off in the 90 second time limit after failing multiple attempts, and so he only got a score of 40 which pretty much knocked him out of the competition right then and there.

Andre Jackson Jr. went third, and after trying and failing a variety of dunks, he had to settle for a two hand windmill to get something on the board before time expired, earning a score of 43.8. Then, the main star of the show, Mac McClung, pulled off an unbelievable dunk. He jumped over an entire car with someone standing out of the sunroof holding the ball for him, and then pulled off the amazing reverse jam. Now, players have jumped over cars in the dunk contest before, but it is usually over the hood of the car, not the top with someone standing out the sunroof. McClung got a 50 across the board from all the judges.

Matas Buzelis went first for the second dunks, and had a solid dunk, throwing down an up-and-under reverse slam off an alleyoop. This earned himself a score of 47.4, but by then he was eliminated. Andre Jackson Jr. went second, once again trying a variety of dunks; but once again could not pull off any of them. He ended up throwing down a tomahawk windmill to beat the buzzer; a good dunk nonetheless. He was awarded a score of 45, which pretty much eliminated him from the competition.

Castle went after that, only needing to make any dunk to secure himself a spot in the final round. He ended up performing a reverse windmill off an alleyoop, getting a score of 47.8 and advancing himself into the final. McClung also only needed to make a semi-decent dunk to secure his spot in the final round, but he went for flashiness, entirely leaping over the person holding the ball for him, grabbing the ball, pausing mid-air, and throwing down the 180 slam all on his first attempt. He was rewarded another 50, launching himself into the final with the crowd erupting.

Castle opened the final round with an exceptional dunk, as in the middle of his run-up, someone would make a shot from about 5 feet, while Castle would jump, catch the ball after it went through the net, go between his legs, and dunk the ball all in mid-air. It would have easily given him a perfect 50, but he took way too many attempts because of errors from both himself and the person shooting the ball initially. He still managed to get a great score of 49.6.

Mac McClung’s first dunk in the final round was unreal, and has a genuine case for the greatest dunk in the NBA Slam Dunk Competition history. He dunked two balls, one being held right next to the rim by someone on a ladder, and the other being held above their head by someone standing on a literal hoverboard and spinning. This is not a hyperbole, but truly was executed in perfection. McClung cleared the guy on the hoverboard, grabbed the ball, then cupped that ball in his right hand, then, with his left hand, he grabbed the other ball, dunked it, and then dunked the other ball in his right hand. “The one where McClung dunked two balls and jumped over the guy on the hoverboard was not just my favorite of the night but is probably the greatest dunk I’ve ever seen,” Cervantes elaborated. One has to watch the full dunk themselves to truly comprehend the spectacle that it was. As expected, McClung got another 50, putting immense pressure on Castle.

Castle responded with a 270 behind-the-back slam, and he cupped the ball while dunking it for good measure. The crowd erupted, as McClung was finally meeting his match it seemed, and Castle’s sensational slam would send the pressure back to McClung to make the competition all the more dramatic and hard-fought. Castle pulled off his first 50 of the night when he needed it the most, meaning McClung would have to get another 50 to win the competition.

For his final dunk, McClung brought out the 6 ’11 Evan Mobley, he also made him stand on a base that added another six inches of height. Mobley held the ball on top of his head, McClung ran up, grabbed the ball, cleared Mobley, tapped the front of the rim with the ball, depicting just how brilliant his hangtime is, and threw down the dunk ferociously. McClung received his final 50, pulling off both the very first three peat and making him the first player ever in Slam Dunk Competition history to get all 50s throughout the entire night.

Not only did he do that, but he also has recently gotten NBA superstars and legends to start wanting to partake in the competition once again. Most of the very best players of the NBA over the past decade have refrained from partaking in the Skills Challenge, 3-Point Contest, and Slam Dunk Competition, opting to only participate in the main event of the All-Star Game, which this year changed to being an All-Star Tournament. It seems like McClung may have sparked an astronomical change though. Both Memphis Grizzlies uber-athletic star point guard Ja Morant and one of the best and most athletic players in the world in Milwaukee Bucks superstar power forward Giannis Antetokounmpo hinted at participating in the dunk contest in future years after McClung’s recent performance.

Hopefully this can lead to fans seeing even more of other NBA all-time greats, whether it would be Lebron James in the Slam Dunk Competition, Stephen Curry in the 3-Point Contest, Kevin Durant in the Skills Challenge, or many more scenarios to come. In conclusion, it was an excellent competition between McClung and Castle, but in the end, McClung is just on a whole other planet when it comes to dunking, and he might have just cemented himself as the best dunker in NBA Slam Dunk Competition history. “He’s gotta be the best dunker of all time by now,” Cervantes concluded. This masterclass performance would be remembered eternally all while bringing the dramatic and captivating NBA All-Star Saturday Night to a resounding close.