Tatum Takes Over All-Star Game

Good morning, Enjoyers! Before we start, let’s all take a deep breath. Repeat after us: “I can survive another three days without NBA basketball.” Okay, now exhale. We got this. While we wait, let’s talk about All-Star Weekend! 🤩 

Today’s Lineup

The Dunk Contest Is Back: And that is thanks to…Mac McClung?

Tatum Breaks Record: The Celtics forward went off on Sunday night.

Unsung Heroes: This guard might be having the best month of his career.

Stars Arising

Okay, so we all agree that Jose Alvarado should be mic’d up every game for the rest of the season, right? The Pelicans' second-year guard was hilarious when talking to the announcers during Friday night’s Rising Stars game (even while dropping some NSFW language on national TV) and then proceeded to hit the game-winning shot to seal the victory for Team Pau.

Saturday Festivities

The Skills Challenge was definitely an event that took place…moving on, the Three-Point Shootout was a pretty fun time! Hindsight is 20/20, but was there really any doubt that Damian Lillard had this competition in the bag when he broke out the Weber State jersey? Dame beat a pair of Indiana Pacers, Tyrese Haliburton & Buddy Hield, in the championship round. Shoutout to the Big Sky Conference.

Three weeks ago, if someone told you that Mac McClung was going to defeat Trey Murphy III (who had some outrageous dunks of his own) in the best dunk contest in recent memory, your response would probably be—unless you’re a big high school mixtape fan—something along the lines of “who’s Mac McClung?” Well, no one is asking that question now after the Philadelphia 76ers' newest two-way player put on an absolute show on Saturday night.

Like, this is the type of dunk you did in NBA Live 05, along with throwing it off the jumbotron and going between the legs twice.

Afterwards, McClung was understandably getting props from some of the NBA’s best. What a couple of days for the former Georgetown Hoya and Texas Tech Red Raider.

Jayson Tatum Goes Nuclear

Step aside, Anthony Davis! There’s a new single-game scoring record at the All-Star Game, and it belongs to Jayson Tatum. Boston’s superstar completely took over on Sunday night, scoring 55 points, hitting 10 threes, en route to winning MVP honors. Which do you think he cares about more: the award, or locking up his teammate in this back-and-forth with fellow Celtic, Jaylen Brown?

Unfortunately, both captains of this game watched the majority of the action from the sideline. Giannis Antetokounmpo dunked on the first possession and then sat the rest of the night after suffering a wrist sprain last week. LeBron James tried to make a defensive play in the first half (seriously! He tried!) and mashed his fingers on the rim, causing him to sit out the second half.

And of course, there were dunks. Ja Morant had one of the best of the night with this beauty:

Just one dunk contest Ja, please. For the people. Just one. While we're waiting on that, let's appreciate how the King will seemingly never run out of showstopping dunks. He’s going to be doing this in 2033, huh?

South Beach Is Feeling The Love

After the Cleveland Cavaliers officially bought out longtime power forward Kevin Love on Sunday, the Miami Heat swooped in to sign the 34-year-old. After spending the first 15 seasons of his career in Minnesota and Cleveland, can you blame him for wanting to get some sun?

Unsung Heroes

Did anyone watch the Boston Celtics last year and think, “wow, this team needs some serious help, if only one of their role players could have a career year next season…” No? You didn’t think that? Well, it’s happening anyway. Derrick White has been very good all season for Boston, but has been a revelation over the past month or so.

In the month of February, White is averaging 21.1 points, 6.8 assists, and 5.0 rebounds while shooting over 42% from 3PT. He’s creating for himself and others, as evidenced by his three straight double-doubles of at least 20 points and 10 assists. His defense is as pesky as ever, and he’s playing like the type of borderline star who helps teams win championships. Just saying.

Frozen Moments

• Words of wisdom from one of the MVPs of the weekend, Jose Alvarado.

• The celebrity game ended in CHAOS thanks to an unreal near-buzzer beater from The Miz. 😅 

• All-Star Pascal Siakam was on cameraman duties with the throwback video camera all weekend.

Good Reads

Paul George Is Done With Pressure - Joseph Bien Kahn (GQ Sports)

From Oakland to Ogden: How Damian Lillard became the pride of Weber State - Marc J. Spears (andscape)

What We’re Enjoying

U Were Right I Was Wrong by Deante’ Hitchcock: We talk about underrated NBA players all the time on here, so it’s only fair we talk about underrated musicians, as well. Deante’ Hitchcock is simply one of the most underappreciated hip-hop artists of the last decade, and his newest single “U Were Right I Was Wrong” is another example of that. The noir-influenced music video is sweet, as well. Run it up.

Signing Off

Don’t think of this as goodbye, think of it as see you later. Also, we might be starting a new segment soon that might feature some of your favorite NBA content creators, so keep an eye out…I’ve said too much! Talk soon.

-Quinn Everts

Trivia Answer: The NBA team with the most ASG MVPs? The Los Angeles Lakers! They had six total winners that combined for 11 total awards.

Before you go…