The NBA All Star Weekend is a much-awaited event for all the hoops fans out there and this year, basketball legends are heading to New York City for the event.
A three-day event, the All Star Weekend is set to bring back favorite basketball stars to the court on February 13-15. While fans are the most eager to see this event, players are also excited to have the needed break, which marks the middle of the current season, to take a rest and recuperate from the season's pressures and tough games.
According to Sporting News, the first day of the event would start off with two matches. First up is the Rising Stars Challenge where players on their first and second year in the league would showcase their talent at the Barclays Center.
Meanwhile, the second exhibition match on opening day, which also marks the official opening of the event, is the Celebrity Game that would feature former players, WNBA athletes and other known personalities from outside basketball showing their ball skills at the Madison Square Garden.
The second day of the All Star Weekend is usually packed with numerous activities. Skills Challenge, Shooting Stars, 3-Point Contest and the Slam Dunk Contest would be held at the Barclays Center beginning 8:30 in the evening. The Skills Challenge has been part of the All Star Weekend since 2003 while the Shooting Stars begun a year after.
An All Star Game would cap off the weekend on Sunday at the Madison Square Garden.
Perhaps one of the highlights of the All Star Weekend is the All-Star Balloting, which allows fans of the players to vote for them so they could participate in the games. In the current standings, LeBron James of the Cleveland Cavaliers is at the top spot for all the players and is also the lead for the Eastern Conference.
Meanwhile Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors is second over-all and leads the West, noted NBA. Anthony Davis from the New Orleans Pelicans ranks at third while Kobe Bryant from the Los Angeles Lakers is at the fourth spot over-all. Fans can still cast their votes for their favorite players until Jan. 19.
According to Forbes, the average price of tickets for the three-day event is at $3,255.99. The amount is three times more than last year's event held at the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans and the most expensive to date for tickets sold at any of the previous All Star Weekends. This year's All Star Weekend would see the event return to the New York City after 17 years.
Check out the 2015 NBA All Star roster in the video below.
