NBA All-Star Weekend’s Saturday night festivities begin at 5:00 P.S.T. Leading up to the fun, there’s been several small news stories regarding the Portland Trail Blazers players competing in the events.
NBA All-Star Weekend is upon us! On Friday, Team USA defeated Team World in the Rising Stars Challenge, 161-144. Tonight (Saturday), Damian Lillard and Seth Curry represent the Portland Trail Blazers in the three-point contest. On Sunday, Lillard will take the floor again with Team LeBron in the All-Star game.
Leading up to the contests, multiple stories have come out about both of Portland’s All-Star participants. Here’s a quick rundown what’s going on:
Curry Brothers Bet:
Also participating in the three-point contest is Seth’s brother, Stephen Curry. According to USA Today, the brothers have put together a wager full of bragging rights.
Stephen said:
"“Family’s obviously big for us, like support, so we kind of wanted to weave that into the bet. So whoever loses has to pick up the tab for all the tickets anytime we play against each other for the rest of our careers.”"
Although the competitions are mostly all fun-and-games, the Currys this year will have a little something extra to play for. Watch for either brother to have an edge when facing off each other in the shootout tonight.
To Lillard, this little bet is nothing more than cute. He told NBC Sports that he expects to beat both brothers.
#RipCity who has a better chance at winning the three-point shootout?
— Football Doesn't Matter (@fbdoesntmatter) February 16, 2019
If my poll is any indication, it seems like a tight race but a majority of Portland fans are expecting the same.
Seth Curry gets engaged:
This past Thursday, Seth Curry proposed to Callie Rivers – daughter of LA Clippers Head Coach, Doc Rivers and sister of Houston Rockets’ guard Austin Rivers.
TMZ Sports reported on the new union:
"“… the Blazers guard popped the question to his longtime girlfriend in front of their families at Ruth’s Chris Steak House in Charlotte on Thursday … with brother Steph and father Dell present.”"
Following the proposal, Callie tweeted this:
https://twitter.com/CallieRivers25/status/1096300413253550080?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1096300413253550080&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.tmz.com%2F2019%2F02%2F15%2Fseth-curry-proposes-doc-rivers-daughter-callie-engaged%2F
Clearly, this will be a very happy weekend to celebrate for the Curry and Rivers’ families. Looks like Seth will have another brother (in-law) in the NBA.
Lillard hits halfcourt shots with LeBron James:
As the All-Star participants practiced, Lillard and LeBron James played a game of their own. The two superstars traded halfcourt heave swishes.
#DamianLillard & #LeBronJames go back-to-back from half! #TeamLeBron#NBAAllStar pic.twitter.com/Kqpx3UXW10
— NBA (@NBA) February 16, 2019
This look definitely bodes well for Team LeBron.
Trail Blazers beat reporter Casey Holdahl joked on Twitter that Dame “planned on doing some recruiting at All-Star Weekend, looks like it’s going well.”
Some back-and-forth with one of the game’s greatest players certainly doesn’t hurt Dame’s appeal to other top tier players he will share the floor with.
Lillard’s Media Availability:
The media caught up with Lillard to ask him a variety of questions.
Among them: if Portland should host an All-Star Weekend, how it feels to be a four-time All-Star, his professional wrestler name, how social media has affected smaller market stars’ prevalence, his thoughts on Dwyane Wade, and which musical artist he compares his game to.
Watch on TrailBlazers.com for the full interview.
Congratulations to Dame and Seth on their honors this year!