NBA All-Star Weekend 2024 Picks: 3-Point, Dunk, Skills Contests
NBA All-Star 2024 Weekend is one of my favorite sporting events on the calendar. My parents are huge New York Knicks fans and we'd order pizza and wings for the Saturday night contests. The NBA added a "Skills Challenge" in 2003, which doesn't do it for me. Otherwise, NBA All-Star Weekend is nostalgic for me. I miss the days of superstars such as Kobe Bryant and Vince Carter competing in the Slam Dunk Contest.
Unfortunately, NBA All-Star Weekend doesn't have the same excitement because players care less and less about putting on a show for the fans. All-Stars don't compete in the Slam Dunk contest anymore. The 3-Point Contest is still awesome but the rule changes in 2014 made it a little less cool. I'm not here to whine about what could be better. Instead, I'll gamble and hope to pay for my DoorDash order with Pizza Bets in the four events Saturday.
NBA All-Star 2024 Weekend Best Bets
Odds courtesy of FanDuel Sportsbook
Kia Skills Challenge
- Team Top Picks (+140): Orlando Magic PF Paolo Banchero, Minnesota Timberwolves SG Anthony Edwards, and San Antonio Spurs big Victor Wembanyama
- Team All-Stars (+180): Toronto Raptors SF Scottie Barnes, Philadelphia 76ers PG Tyrese Maxey, and Atlanta Hawks PG Trae Young
- Team Indiana Pacers (+190): PG Tyrese Haliburton, SF Bennedict Mathurin, big Myles Turner.
Since 2022, the Skill Challenge has a 3-round format including shooting and passing challenges and an obstacle course. If need be, there's a shootout tiebreaker where the first team to make a half-court shot wins. The host teams have won the past two Skills Challenges since the change to a 3-team competition and that trend will continue Saturday.
Kia Skills Challenge competitors in the 2024 NBA All-Star Weekend via X (Twitter).
Initially, I wanted to pick Team All-Stars because they have three ball-handlers. But, Haliburton is the most skilled player in the field. Mathurin shoots well from everywhere on the floor. Turner is a capable ball-handler for a big and solid outside shooter. More importantly, Team Pacers have the juiciest odds and this is the most random contest of the entire NBA All-Star Weekend.
Official pick: Team Pacers (+190)
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Starry 3-Point Contest
Milwaukee Bucks PG Damian Lillard is the reigning 3-point champion and the favorite to go back-to-back. Yet, the 2022 champion, Minnesota Timberwolves big Karl-Anthony Towns, is tied for the longest odds on the board. KAT's 3-point percentage in his championship performance was higher than Dame's last year (72.5-60.0%).
Odds for the 2024 Starry NBA 3-Point Contest from FanDuel Sportsbook.
Furthermore, I like taking 3-point shooting bigs in these contests. Towns has an effortless release and doesn't need to jump. Because of this, KAT can quickly go from rack to rack without rushing. Lastly, Towns shoots 43.7% from behind the arc, which ranks 12th in the NBA, ahead of everyone in this contest besides Bucks SG Malik Beasley's 44.4%.
Official pick: Minnesota Timberwolves big Karl-Anthony Towns (+700)
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3-Point Challenge: Stephen Curry (-213) vs. New York Liberty PG Sabrina Ionescu from the WNBA (+164)
First of all, I know what you're thinking. "Does Sabrina Ionescu get to shoot WNBA basketballs from the women's 3-point line"? Yes, she does. Ionescu set a WNBA and NBA single-round record when scoring 37 of a possible 40 points in last year's WNBA 3-Point Contest. However, Curry is a two-time NBA 3-Point champion and the greatest shooter ever.
To be fair, I've never seen Sabrina Ionescu play. I only watch NBA basketball, St. John's University since it's my alma mater, and men's college hoops during March Madness. That said, Curry's implied win probability based on the -213 odds is 68.1%. Simply put, I'd take Curry in a 3-point shootout vs. any non-NBA player ever. Especially at these odds.
Official pick: Stephen Curry (-213)
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AT&T Slam Dunk Contest
Entering last year's Slam Dunk Contest, Mac McClung was a relative nobody and played in the G-League. McClung still plays in the G-League but blew up after putting on a show en route to winning the Slam Dunk Contest. Three of Mac's dunks were scored a "50" with the other being a "49.8".
Plus, since McClung is the only non-NBA player in the 2024 Slam Dunk Contest, I assume he's been working on his dunks more than the rest of the group. And nowadays competitors only need to do four dunks so I think McClung has more tricks up his sleeve.
Official pick: Osceola (G-League) Magic SG Mac McClung (-190)
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