Three ball and Dame Time
The 2025 All-Star game had a new format, but that didn’t stop the Milwaukee Bucks from having a player represent them. Leading vote-getter Giannis Antetokounmpo withdrew from the game due to a calf injury; though he was present for the festivities, Damian Lillard still played. Lillard was a member of Team OG, led by Shaq, and played their first semifinal game against Candace Parker’s team, the winner of the Rising Stars game on Friday night. The team to score 40 points first wins.
First, Dame participated in a Mr. Beast challenge where a fan named Jaren had to make one logo three before Dame made three for $100k. Lillard made the first two, but Jaren made his right at the Buzzer to win $100k. After that, Dame started for Team Shaq, and the team got out to an early 15-10 lead, assisting a Jayson Tatum dunk and draining a three himself. After the time out, Lillard was on the bench as Team Candace hung around with Team Shaq for a stretch. Dame re-entered the game; he made a three, putting Team Shaq three points away from winning. The team tried ending the game with a three but missed their last few shots. After assisting KD with a dunk to put team Shaq at 39, Lillard missed a step back and closed the game with a three, giving his team a 42-35 win, as Dame led all scorers with 9 points.
In the championship, Dame and Team Shaq faced off against Team Charles Barkley, who had players including Nikola Jokic and Karl Anthony-Towns. Team Shaq got off to an 11-1 start, with Dame recording an assist. After a lengthy break, which included a lovely tribute to the Inside The NBA crew for their final NBA All-Star Weekend coverage (on TNT, at least), play resumed. Dame did not play the remainder of the game as Steph Curry and Jayson Tatum carried Team Shaq to a 41-25 win and became the champions. I would say Dame was the MVP of the first game, but Golden State Warrior Steph Curry won All-Star MVP on his home floor.
Dame was asked by Ernie Johnson how he felt about the change of format, and he answered by saying it did provide more competition, which was good. I agree that the semi-final games were more competitive than the final. This format can work with some more tweaks, but I also think fans need to treat this as a glorified exhibition and nothing more.