The NBA is still going ahead with their yearly NBA All-Star game in 2021. Though it won’t be a traditional All-Star weekend due to COVID-19, there will still be the dunk contest, a three-point contest, a skills challenge, and the game itself.
Which Portland Trail Blazers are competing in NBA All-Star weekend?
Robert Covington – Skills challenge
Robert Covington will complete in the Skills Challenge for the first time in his career, in what is also his first appearance at All-Star weekend. The skills challenge has been a fixture of All-Star weekend since 2003, and has had a few Portland Trail Blazers enter.
Damian Lillard has won the competition on both occasions he has entered. In 2013, as a rookie, he won it outright. In 2014 he won it again, this time sharing the trophy with Trey Burke.
CJ McCollum also competed in this challenge in 2016. Covington’s shooting and passing skills should give him a decent chance of competing well in this challenge.
Anfernee Simons – Dunk contest
Third-year Blazer Anfernee Simons will compete in the Dunk contest for the first time, in what will also be his first appearance at All-Star weekend.
Many ex-Blazer have competed in the Dunk contest before, dating all the way back to Clyde Drexler in 1984, but has never been won by a current Blazer. Derrick Jones Jr is the reigning champion, but he won it in 2020 when he was a member of the Miami Heat.
With just three players entered in the dunk contest, the bouncy Simons has a strong chance of winning the competition. Though he doesn’t get many opportunities to showcase his hops in games, he has ” head at the rim ” type of athleticism, so he will showcase some impressive dunks.
Damian Lillard – All-Star game
Damian Lillard has been named to his sixth All-Star game, and he only trails Blazer legend Drexler for all-time All-Star game selections. Drexler had eight in his Blazer career.
Portland Trail Blazers star Damian Lillard tells @YahooSports he has withdrawn from participating in the 3-Point Contest in Atlanta on Sunday for rest purposes.
— Chris Haynes (@ChrisBHaynes) March 2, 2021
Lillard actually entered the three-point contest as well originally but pulled out so he could rest and just play the All-Star game. NBA Insider Chris Haynes had this news at the beginning of March.
Though Lillard controversially missed out on starting in the All-Star game to Luka Doncic, after being top 3 in voting, he will likely still play a big role in the game as the second-best point guard in the Western Conference team alongside Steph Curry.
The full lineup of the day is outlined below.
The full Sunday lineup: Skills and 3-Point Contest before the All-Star Game, Dunk Contest at halftime: pic.twitter.com/cshaAYxgtM
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) March 3, 2021