Follow live: Stars are out in Cleveland as Team Durant faces Team LeBronon February 21, 2022 at 1:40 am

This is what we came for. The 2022 NBA All-Star Weekend wraps up on Sunday night with the league’s biggest stars facing off in Cleveland. The 71st NBA All-Star Game pits Team LeBron (lead by none other than the Kid from Akron a.k.a LeBron James) against Team Durant (captained by, you guessed it, Kevin Durant) for the second consecutive season.

During halftime, The Association will honor the NBA’s 75th Anniversary Team with players from every decade of the league’s existence in attendance for the diamond anniversary.

The 76 players who comprise the anniversary team — including six who are 2022 All-Stars — have combined for 736 All-Star selections and 64 All-Star MVP winners.

This year’s All-Star Weekend has had multiple events with new formats — starting with Rising Stars Challenge that took place on Friday night.

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Saturday’s action was headlined by three events: the 3-point contest, slam dunk contest and skills challenge.

The Skills Challenge also had a new look. Under the new format, three teams of three players participated in a four-round competition that tested shooting, passing and dribbling ability.

Read More: NBA All-Star 2022: Grading the dunk, 3-point and skills contests

If you couldn’t be in Cleveland for the festivities this weekend, our updates are basically the next best thing:

Return of the King

LeBron is, in fact, home. King James made things official with his signature chalk toss before tip-off. The crowd was moderately (read: extremely) hyped to see it.

Steph basks in the boos

As the rapper Plies once said: “You ain’t doin’ somethin’ right if you ain’t got ’em hatin'” and Stephen Curry has undoubtedly got the Cleveland fans hatin’. After winning three NBA titles over the hometown Cavs, the boos upon introduction feel warranted.

Banana Boat Crew in the building

Some things just feel right, like seeing Carmelo Anthony, LeBron, Chris Paul and Dwyane Wade together. The famed banana boat riding friends came together as members of the NBA’s 75th Anniversary Team.

Team LeBron ready to repeat?

Here’s how Saturday night played out:

Obi Toppin was declared the winner, defeating Juan Toscano-Anderson in the final round, 92-69. He became the third New York Knick to earn a first-place finish in the contest.

Meet Obi at the top

An All-Star assist

Toscano-Anderson, clad in a custom jersey that acknowledged his heritage, performed a windmill over teammate and first-time All-Star Andrew Wiggins as his opening dunk. His 87-point first-round finish allowed him to advance to the final round.

New York state of mind

Those from the Big Apple had another reason to celebrate. Cole Anthony, a New York native, paid homage to his city by accomplishing a dunk contest first — a one-handed jam in Timberland boots.

You can take the man out of N.Y., but you can’t take the N.Y. out of the man.

Rockets rookie stays persistent

After multiple attempts, Jalen Green pulled off an impressive jam.

KAT earns the crown

KAT called himself “one of the best shooting big men of all-time” after winning the contest, and his new hardware certainly supports that claim.

Ice in his veins

Trae Young‘s last shot attempt lifted him into the final round — showing just why his nickname is “Ice Trae.”

This recently redesigned challenge saw three teams competing against each other. Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo and his brothers, Alex and Thanasis, made up one team. A trio of Cleveland Cavaliers (Darius Garland, Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley) were the second squad. The third group was composed of standout rookies Scottie Barnes, Cade Cunningham and Josh Giddey

Cavs

This trio capitalized on their homecourt advantage and came out on top.

Rooks

The youngest squad made it to the final round, but fell just short of victory.

Antetokounmpos

The Antetokounmpo Bros. were all smiles.

Sights and sounds

Dr. J and Spike

Spike Lee, who was also courtside at the HBCU Classic earlier in the day, secured a keepsake from Julius Erving.

Making an entrance

From cozy couture to flashy fashion, these stars arrived at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in style.

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