Four New Yorkers are already headed to Atlanta for the NBA’s All-Star Game this weekend…and now, you can officially add a fifth, and a second outing for one of the previous four.
The NBA announced the participants for the Skills Challenge, 3-Point Contest, and Slam Dunk competition on Tuesday night, announcing that Knicks forward Julius Randle – who was already named to the East All-Star team – will be one of the six participants in the Skills Challenge, while Knicks rookie Obi Toppin will be one of three skywalkers in the Slam Dunk.
Randle will be up against Portland’s Robert Covington, Dallas’ Luka Doncic, Phoenix’s Chris Paul, Indiana’s Domantas Sabonis, and Orlando’s Nikola Vucevic. Randle is the only one of the six making his Skills Challenge debut, and will look to become the second Knick (after Kristaps Porzingis in 2017), third New Yorker (Brooklyn’s Spencer Dinwiddie won in 2018), and fourth Knick/Net (then-New Jersey Ney Jason Kidd won the inaugural event in 2003) to win the challenge.
In the Slam Dunk, Toppin will square off with Portland’s Anfernee Simons and Indiana’s Cassius Stanley, and will look to become the third Knick to win the event; Kenny “Sky” Walker won the event in 1989 (succeeding two-time defending champ Michael Jordan), and Nate Robinson won it three times, taking the trophy in 2006, 2009, and 2010.
There are no New Yorkers in the 3-Point Contest this year, as Brooklyn’s Joe Harris bowed out after winning in 2019 and participating last year. This year’s participants are Phoenix’s Devin Booker, Boston’s Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum, Golden State’s Steph Curry, Chicago’s Zach LaVine, and Utah’s Donovan Mitchell. Both Curry and Booker are past winners, and Booker and LaVine were both in last year’s field.
All-Star Weekend is really a one-day event this year, on Sunday, March 7. The Skills Challenge and 3-Point Contest will take place at 6:30 p.m. prior to All-Star Game tip-off, and the Slam Dunk Contest will be contested at halftime.
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