Rick Pitino is turning heads in his latest coaching stint at St. John’s — but only partially for his team’s on-court product.

Pitino, in his first season coaching the Red Storm after a three-year stint at Iona, ripped into his players in a postgame news conference on Sunday after losing 68-62 to Shaheen Holloway’s Seton Hall team. The 71-year-old Naismith Hall of Famer bemoaned everything from his team’s lack of toughness and athleticism to St. John’s ‘(expletive) facilities’ to a ‘lost’ season of recruiting players via the transfer portal.

“If I said I was disappointed, that would be the understatement of the year,” Pitino told reporters.

The Red Storm gave up a 41-29 halftime lead to the Pirates, getting outscored 39-21 in the second half of Sunday’s loss. It dropped St. John’s to 14-12 on the season and 6-9 in Big East play, and was the team’s eighth defeat in the last 10 contests following a 12-4 start.

Following a Sean Conway made 3-pointer at the 16:13 mark, St. John’s did not score another field goal in the second half until an RJ Luis Jr. jumper made the score 50-48 Seton Hall with 6:48 left in the game. A Daniss Jenkins 3-pointer gave St. John’s its last lead, 53-52, with 5:22 left to play.

The Red Storm, who were outscored 16-9 in the game’s final five-plus minutes, shot 33.8% from the field and 24% from 3-point range. Asked whether he had second thoughts on taking the St. John’s job, Pitino said it wasn’t the program, but his players who were the problem.

He then proceeded to criticize the university’s basketball facilities.

“Do we have (expletive) facilities? Yes, we do,” Pitino said. “But we’re doing something about that. But that’s not the reason we’re losing. Having (expletive) facilities has nothing to do with not guarding.”

Pitino spoke at length about his team’s lack of athleticism and toughness, which stood in stark contrast to his favorable review of Holloway’s Seton Hall team. The St. John’s coach, who has criticized the advent of NIL and the transfer portal in college athletics, called out several of his own players by name, adding that he recruited offensive-oriented players to St. John’s through the portal ‘at the last second.’

That strategy, he suggested, has since come back to bite his team on the defensive end.

“We are so unathletic that we can’t guard anybody without fouling,” he said. “For me, I’ve always enjoyed the first year, and I’m not gonna lie to you: This is the most unenjoyable experience of my lifetime. This has been so disappointing.

Added Pitino: “We kind of lost this season with the way we recruited. We recruited the antithesis of the way I coach. It’s a good group, they try hard, but they’re just not very tough.

‘We had to put together a team at the last second. We will never, ever, do that again.”

Pitino and St. John’s return to play at Georgetown on Wednesday.

In February for Black History Month, USA TODAY Sports is publishing the series ’29 Black Stories in 29 Days.’ We examine the issues, challenges and opportunities Black athletes and sports officials continue to face after the nation’s reckoning on race following the murder of George Floyd in 2020. This is the fourth installment of the series.

The Golden State Warriors have an opportunity to collect gold plaques.

But that’s not the reason they’re getting into the music industry.

Golden State Entertainment is the brainchild of David Kelly, the NBA team’s Chief Legal Officer. Besides getting his law degree, he spent time in the late 1990s and early 2000s in the music industry as Capital D, one half of the Chicago rap duo All Natural.

Using his experience as an artist and his ability to connect authentically with others, Kelly pitched the idea of the media company to Warriors owners Joe Lacob and Peter Guber. Kelly cited Lacob’s vision that Golden State is much more than a basketball team as reason for why an entertainment division was a perfect fit.

All things Warriors: Latest Golden State Warriors news, schedule, roster, stats, injury updates and more.

‘Really it’s for the executives at the company to think about, alright, that’s the mission that’s been laid out by ownership, what does that mean to me?’ Kelly said in an interview with USA TODAY Sports. ‘What is in my background, what’s my perspective on this that I can bring there to there to help in creating this larger mission that’s been laid out? So when I went to Joe and Peter with the idea, they got it.’

Golden State Entertainment is a music and film company that launched in April 2022. Although the latter took a backseat the past year due to the writer’s strike, the company did help facilitate production on the Emmy-winning Jeremy Lin documentary ’38 at the Garden.’

Kelly said that the extension of the Golden State brand, which has won seven NBA championships, into music was natural because the basketball experience is already so intertwined with the artform. This season, Golden State Entertainment worked with dance duo Sidepiece to create the up-tempo song ‘Feel The Need,’ which is played during Warriors home games at Chase Center.

‘That connection between basketball and music has always been there,’ Kelly said, ‘but seeing on the business side how it was really being used in marketing and promotion just really made me think.’

Several teams have worked with local artists on music, like the New Orleans Pelicans creating a gameday song with Mannie Fresh and Dee-1 and the Kansas City Chiefs embracing Tech N9ne’s ‘Red Kingdom.’ But Golden State Entertainment as a label connected to a professional sports team is believed to be the first of its kind.

Golden State Entertainment’s artist roster is diverse

One of Golden State Entertainment’s artists, Claire de Lune, creates music under the name Tiny Deaths and is also an NBA writer for The Guardian. Her ethereal sound reflects gut-wrenching stories of heartbreak. She released her album, ‘Spirit of the Staircase,’ in November through Golden State Entertainment.

She explained that signing with the label was a ‘cosmic intertwining of my two sides of my life…It felt sort of meant to be.’

‘People contain multitudes and most sports fans are really big fans of music and art and entertainment as well and vice versa,’ she said.

The label’s first single was ‘Wheels Up’ with K-pop star BamBam and local Bay Area artist Mayzin. The Oakland-bred MC was recommended to Kelly by the team deejay, DJ D Sharp.

‘When I got the call it was surreal,’ Mayzin, a lifelong Warriors fan, said. ‘A one hundred percent dream come true. I never expected my favorite basketball team to end up having a recording label that would sign me one day. That’s something you can’t ever predict.’

Mayzin said he appreciates the freedom Golden State Entertainment provides him to continue exploring a variety of genres. His basketball anthem ‘Season’ is featured in the NBA 2K video game and he released the woozy love song ‘Hot Coffee’ on Wednesday.

He said it was fun to step into the ‘Wheels Up’ crossover with a K-pop artist and that working with the Got7 star was ‘effortless.’

The collaboration exemplifies the brand that Golden State Entertainment hopes to represent.

‘A lot of times when people think about the NBA, maybe you think about hip-hop,’ Kelly said. ‘But our fanbase is diverse, our interests are diverse, our reach is diverse, and so the roster for GSE needs to be equally diverse.’

GSE releases a remarkable ‘Conversation’

Kelly’s bringing his trusted friends from the music industry along for the ride. Grammy-winning producer No I.D. is a Creative and Strategic Advisor for the company. Chicago rap veteran Rhymefest released a solo project called ‘James & Nikki: A Conversation’ earlier this month through Golden State Entertainment.

‘Rhymefest is a fascinating, interesting artist who his music always has had intention to it,’ Kelly said. ‘… He writes with intention. So when I heard the first demo of the project that he was working on, ‘The Conversation’ project, it was first off, the sort of project we wanted to be associated with, the sort of thing we want to tie our brand to and also just the kind of project we think the people need to hear.

‘It’s a nice full circle moment to be in a position where we can work together and do business together, but there’s a deeper relationship behind it.’

When Kelly reached out about Golden State, signing with a label wasn’t on Rhymefest’s radar.

‘I had had kind of bad experience with major labels,’ Rhymefest, who co-wrote Kanye West’s ‘Jesus Walks’ and ‘Glory’ with Common, said.

Kelly knows the difficulties of the industry, too. When All Natural was first starting out, they were signed to a label called Wild Pitch. Before the duo was able to release anything, Wild Pitch shuttered.

‘As a young artist, I was just happy to be signed, but it was a good lesson,’ Kelly said. ‘… That was my first introduction to show business, to the business side of the industry, which is important to just understand that it is a business.’

Rhymefest was struck by Kelly’s offer to be a strategic partner and was intrigued when the Warriors executive asked him to define success for himself.

‘I said, ‘Look, if we can make something that honors our past, that speaks to the present, that moves into the future, I would consider that something of impact. And if we can somehow quantify or qualify what impact looks like, I want to make a project that makes impact, not just clicks,” Rhymefest recalled. ‘And he said, ‘Oh, that’s what we want too.’ And so you know, what made me want to work with Golden State? That type of freedom, that type of support, and that type of collaboration that I had never experienced with an entertainment company before.’

That freedom is exemplified by ‘James & Nikki’ being promoted as a ‘composition,’ not an album or mixtape, per Rhymefest’s vision.

‘James & Nikki’ reframes the 1971 sit-down conversation between writers and activists James Baldwin and Nikki Giovanni where they discuss the roles of Black men and women in society. Rhymefest’s composition weaves segments of the conversation with his own analysis of society today while exploring a connection to divine power. He was very intentional about having women rappers on the project to balance his own voice in the same way that Baldwin and Giovanni do in the interview.

On ‘Triggered,’ Rhymefest and Helixx C. Armageddon trade verses about hurting, healing and self-actualization. The song concludes with Giovanni discussing politics and how who’s in the Oval Office, ‘wouldn’t change one bit for me, except maybe I would even have to go in exile.’ The song feels especially poignant considering the country is in a presidential election year.

‘The spirit of where Nikki was coming from is something we can learn from today,’ Rhymefest said. ‘And what that is, is this: In this election year, people are going to be trying to turn us against one another. Democrat and Republican will be trying to pit Americans against ourselves for the power of a party, for the power of a person, for the power of an agenda. No matter what that agenda is. I’m not saying don’t vote. What I’m saying is don’t forget your humanity. Don’t forget that your neighbor is your neighbor.’

Rhymefest was intentional about the lead single, ‘Creator,’ with Brittney Carter and Rell Suma. He challenged Carter to approach her verse with a sense of accountability instead of anger.

”We’re not going to argue about this. We’re not gonna like throw stuff at each other about this,” he said he told her when she thought the song was only about infidelity. ”We’re gonna love each other through this. So, how can we write that verse?’ And then she said, ‘If I cannot extend grace, then I am not who I say I am.’ And I got chills when she said that, ‘I am not who I said I am if I cannot extend grace, and just know that when I lay my head on your chest, there’s no pressure.’ That will break a curse. That will create healing.’

That type of purpose is exactly what Kelly hopes to bring with Golden State Entertainment.

‘We can come in with a lighter touch on certain things and try to give more bespoke aspects,’ Kelly said. ‘…How do we tie this into an artist who’s really trying to have an impact with a certain song where it’s not purely transactional and it can be a lot deeper.’

The East reigns supreme.

The Giannis Antetokounmpo-captained team defeated the West, 211-186, in the NBA All-Star Game on Sunday at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. It’s the highest-scoring All-Star Game in history and the Eastern Conference became the first team to surpass the 200-point mark.

Karl-Anthony Towns was the game’s leading scorer with 50 points off the bench in the losing effort. Last season, Jayson Tatum broke the record for most points scored in an All-Star Game with 55 points.

Damian Lillard led the East with 39 points, including two halfcourt shots. He was awarded the Kobe Bryant MVP Award for the effort. It’s his first time winning the award in eight All-Star appearances. 

Jaylen Brown added 36 points. Tyrese Haliburton, playing in front of his own Indiana Pacers fans, scored 32 points. He started 5-for-5 with all his shots from beyond the arc.

West captain LeBron James had 8 points in 14 minutes. He had a slam dunk with an assist from Luka Dončić in the first quarter, but was limited due to an ankle injury. The Los Angeles Lakers star was playing in his record 20th All-Star game.

The All-Star Game returned to the East-West format this season after six years playground style where two captains picked players in a draft. James won all but one of those games.

Earlier in the weekend’s festivities, Mac McClung, a G League player for the Osceola Magic, won the dunk contest for the second straight year and Lillard repeated as the 3-point contest winner. Steph Curry defeated Sabrina Ionescu in the first NBA vs. WNBA 3-point challenge. — Victoria Hernandez

NBA All-Star Game highlights

The Eastern Conference defeated the Western Conference, 211-186, with the winners putting up the most points in the game’s 73-year history. The previous mark: 196 by the West in 2016.

It was a flurry of records: The total points of 397 smashed the record of 374 set in 2017, while the East made 42 3-pointers to break the mark of 35 set by Team LeBron in 2019. The sides combined for 193 points in the first half to break the any-half record of 191 set last year, and the East tied an any-half record by scoring 104 by intermission.

Who won NBA All-Star Game MVP?

INDIANAPOLIS — Damian Lillard was the star of All-Star Weekend. He won 3-point contest for the second consecutive time Saturday and claimed the MVP Sunday, becoming just the second player since Michael Jordan to win a Saturday event and MVP in the same year.

And by the time, the East topped the West 211-186 – and MVP voters submitted and then resubmitted their votes on deadline – Lillard earned his first NBA All-Star Game Kobe Bryant MVP award. — Jeff Zillgitt

All-Star Game ends with MVP controversy

Milwaukee Bucks guard Damian Lillard won the NBA All-Star Game Kobe Bryant MVP award, and it didn’t sit well with Indiana Pacers fans and the 2024 All-Star Game host city.

They wanted Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton to win the award. Haliburton would’ve been a worthy choice. He had 32 points, making 10-for-14 on 3s. He also had seven rebounds and six assists.

Damian Lillard highlights

Damian Lillard of the Milwaukee Bucks scored a team-high 39 points, making 11 3-point attempts, in an MVP performance for the Eastern Conference.

Luka Dončić, Nikola Jokić play hot potato down the court

If the NBA All-Star Game isn’t fun, then what’s the point?

Despite being down 20-plus points, Luka Dončić and Nikola Jokić found a way to keep the game entertaining. They tossed the ball between themselves for a play in the fourth quarter. It was a game of hot potato as neither one dribbled between passes.

East steamrolling West through three quarters

With the East crushing the West on 3-pointers and Damian Lillard and Tyrese Haliburton continuing to put up points, the East took a 160-136 lead after three quarters.

Lillard has a game-high 33 points, and Haliburton has 24 points – all on 3-pointers – and scoring help from Giannis Antetokounmpo (17 points), Jayson Tatum (20 points) and Jaylen Brown (23 points) has put the East in solid position headed into the fourth quarter. Lillard and Brown each had 11 points in the third.

Luka Doncic stuffed by rim, Damian Lillard hits 3-pointer from half court

Luka Doncic got stuffed by the rim on a dunk attempt. Damian Lillard got the ball and as he approached the center court logo, you could sense what he was about to do: launch a 3-point shot from half court.

Jennifer Hudson performs at NBA All-Star halftime

Jennifer Hudson traded her jersey for a sparkly jumpsuit and was the halftime performer for the NBA All-Star Game.

The EGOT winner gave a rendition of her 2011 song “I Got This” during the break in play while repping No. 17. She is the 17th person to win an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony Award. She stood on a series of risers while a live band accompanied her soaring vocals.

Hudson appeared in the Celebrity All-Star Game on Friday as part of Stephen A. Smith’s losing team. — Victoria Hernandez

Eastern Conference leads after highest-scoring half in NBA All-Star history

The East is leading the West, 104-89, at the half of the NBA All-Star Game.

The score total of 193 marks the highest-scoring half in All-Star Game history. The East’s points ties the record for a team’s first half points from 2016.

Three-point contest winner Damian Lillard is the leading scorer with 22 points. He’s made six three-point shots. Tyrese Haliburton, who is playing in front of his own Pacers fans, has 18 points, all from behind the arc. He cooled down a bit in the second quarter after starting the game going 5-for-5.

For the West, Kevin Durant and Steph Curry each have 12 points and 4 assists. Captain LeBron James has 8 points and 4 rebounds in 14 minutes of play.

Giannis Antetokounmpo shows off dunking abilities as second oldest guy on East team

Captain Giannis Antetokounmpo has made dunk on dunk in the NBA All-Star Game.

In the first quarter, he slapped in a reverse dunk off a lob from Bam Adebayo.

In the next period, he made slams off an assist from Damian Lillard and an ally-oop from Trae Young.

Before the game, the 29-year-old reflected on what it means to play in his eighth All-Star Game.

“It’s crazy I’m the second oldest guy on my team,” he said on the TNT broadcast before running away. — Victoria Hernandez

Eastern Conference leads after first quarter

If Indiana Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton wasn’t trying to win the All-Star Game MVP in the first quarter, he at least got a head start. On his home court and in front of Pacers fans at Gainbridge Fieldhouse, Haliburton made the first five 3-pointers he attempted and gave the Eastern Conference All-Stars an early first-quarter lead over the Western Conference All-Stars.

The East ended the first quarter with a 53-47 lead.

For the second consecutive night at All-Star Weekend, 3-point shot was on display. A night after Damian Lillard, Steph Curry and Sabrina Ionescu delivered an entertaining clinic in the 3-point contests, the East and West combined to make 18-of-42 3s in the first quarter.

LeBron James slams massive dunk in first quarter

LeBron James made an early statement in his record 20th NBA All-Star Game.

With 5:28 left in the first quarter, the Los Angeles Lakers great caught a lob from Luka Doncic, galloped into the paint, and took flight to make a slam dunk. The play tied the game at 29.

Tyrese Haliburton gets hot early from behind 3-point line

Playing in front of the hometown crowd at Indianapolis’ Gainbridge Fieldhouse, Indiana Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton made his first five 3-pointers helping the Eastern Conference All-Stars to a 20-14 lead in the first three minutes, 34 seconds of the game. He attempted a deep 3 from the halfcourt logo on his sixth attempt but missed. This is Haliburton’s second All-Star Game and first as a starter. This season, Haliburton averages 21.8 points and a league-best 11.7 assists.

LeBron James doesn’t plan to play much in All-Star Game

West All-Star starter LeBron James missed the Los Angeles Lakers’ last game before the All-Star break against Utah with a left ankle injury and confirmed he is receiving treatment.

“I won’t be playing the entire game tonight, for sure,” James said about three hours before the start of the game. “I can get out there and run around with the young guys for a little bit and then shut it down at some point to give my body, and my ankle more importantly, another opportunity to rest.

“I’m seeking some more treatment (Monday) going into this week, because we have quite a few days this week as well. We don’t play until the end of the week. See how that goes. But the most important thing for me is definitely my health, where I’m at right now, where our team is leaning. We’re trending in the right direction.”

Babyface performs US national anthem for NBA All-Star Game

R&B star Babyface gave a soulful rendition of the “Star-Spangled Banner” ahead of the NBA All-Star Game.

He opted for an acoustic rendition of the national anthem, strumming on a guitar while wearing massive sunglasses.

What time does the NBA All-Star Game start? 

Tipoff for Sunday night’s NBA All-Star Game is set for 8 p.m. ET. 

How to watch NBA All-Star Game on TV

The 2024 NBA All-Star Game will be televised on TNT.

Where is 2024 NBA All-Star Game? 

This year’s All-Star Game is at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. Gainbridge Fieldhouse is the home arena of the Indiana Pacers.

NBA All-Star Drip Check: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Tyrese Haliburton and Tyrese Maxey impress in tunnel fits

The rising stars of the NBA are setting the bar for fashion.

Ahead of the All-Star Game, the Oklahoma City Thunder’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Indiana Pacers’ Tyrese Haliburton and Philadelphia 76ers’ Tyrese Maxey showed they are ready for their big moment by dressing for the occasion.

The Thunder guard had a white ensemble. He wore a jacket with colorful Vs from Gruppo Vava and a tribute to Virgil Abloh on the back. It’s the same jacket Drake wore in the “8 am in Charlotte’ video. Gilgeous-Alexander paired it with white Chrome Hearts pants with colorful crosses and chunky boots.

The Pacers guard wore an eye-catching black Prada coat with blue fluff around the arms and the bottom. He accessorized it with eyeglasses and a tie for a sophisticated look.

NBA All-Star Game starters 

Here are the starters for each side:

East: Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo, Miami’s Bam Adebayo, Indiana’s Tyrese Haliburton, Milwaukee’s Damian Lillard, Boston’s Jayson Tatum 
West: Los Angeles Lakers’ LeBron James, Dallas’ Luka Doncic, Phoenix’s Kevin Durant, Oklahoma City’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Denver’s Nikola Jokic 

NBA All-Star Game rosters 

Here are the complete rosters.  

East:  

Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo 
Philadelphia’s Joel Embiid 
Indiana’s Tyrese Haliburton 
Milwaukee’s Damian Lillard 
Boston’s Jayson Tatum 
Miami’s Bam Adebayo 
Orlando’s Paolo Banchero 
Boston’s Jaylen Brown 
New York’s Jalen Brunson 
Philadelphia’s Tyrese Maxey 
Cleveland’s Donovan Mitchell 
New York’s Julius Randle 
Atlanta’s Trae Young % 
Toronto’s Scottie Barnes % 

West:  

Los Angeles Lakers’ LeBron James 
Dallas’ Luka Doncic 
Phoenix’s Kevin Durant 
Oklahoma City’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander 
Denver’s Nikola Jokic 
Phoenix’s Devin Booker 
Golden State’s Steph Curry 
Los Angeles Lakers’ Anthony Davis 
Minnesota’s Anthony Edwards 
Los Angeles Clippers’ Paul George 
Los Angeles Clippers’ Kawhi Leonard 
Minnesota’s Karl-Anthony Towns 

% Indicates commissioner’s selection for the injured Julius Randle and Joel Embiid 

Who are the NBA All-Star Game coaches? 

The Minnesota Timberwolves’ Chris Finch will coach the West, and Milwaukee Bucks’ Doc Rivers will coach the East. 

NBA All-Star Game predictions 

The West will win the All-Star Game in its return to the East-West format. LeBron James, who is making his record 20th All-Star appearance, won all but one of the six games that were done playground draft style. He was a captain every time and returns as captain again. The West also won six of the past seven matchups before the game switched formats with Kevin Durant and Anthony Davis receiving two of the MVP awards. Both are back on the West roster this year alongside rising star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Finals MVP Nikola Jokic.

The winner of the Kobe Bryant MVP award will be Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. With a return to the East-West format and this season featuring the in-season tournament, it feels like a new era for the NBA. So it’s time for a new star to shine. The Oklahoma City Thunder guard is second in the league with an average of 31.1 points per game and he’s proven to be clutch. He will carry on the torch that former Thunder stars Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook ignited with four MVP titles between the two of them.

LeBron James expresses desire to finish career with Lakers

INDIANAPOLIS — As Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James prepared for his NBA record 20th All-Star Game, he acknowledged he is contemplating what the end of his playing career will look like and expressed a desire to finish it with the Lakers.

“I have not mapped out how many seasons I have left. I know it’s not that many,” James said when asked by USA TODAY Sports at a news conference Sunday afternoon. — Jeff Zillgitt

Larry Bird makes rare public speaking appearances during NBA All-Star Weekend

INDIANAPOLIS — Only the NBA All-Star Game in Indianapolis could pull NBA legend Larry Bird from his quiet and good life back into the spotlight.

It’s his preference to stay out of the spotlight after a lifetime in it as basketball player, coach and executive.

But with All-Star Weekend in Indianapolis (Bird coached the Pacers and led the front office) and his home state (Bird was born in French Lick and played college basketball at Indiana State), Bird agreed to two interviews – one at Friday’s NBA Tech Summit and one with TNT that aired Saturday featuring Bird, Isaiah Thomas and Reggie Miller, two former NBA players with Indiana and Pacers ties. — Jeff Zillgitt

Who won the NBA slam dunk contest? 

Mac McClung, who has been a slam dunk viral sensation for nearly a decade starting in high school, etched his name in NBA All-Star Weekend history book with his second consecutive slam dunk contest title.

McClung, a G League player for the Osceola Magic with just four career NBA games played, jumped over TNT analyst, Basketball of Hall of Famer and 7-footer Shaquille O’Neal, who was wearing a jersey from McClung’s high school, Gate City in southwest Virginia, for a two-handed reverse dunk.

McClung received a perfect score of 50 from judges Gary Payton, Fred Jones, Mitch Richmond, Darnell Hillman, Dominique Wilkins and slipped by Boston’s Jaylen Brown for the championship.

Who won the NBA 3-point contest? 

It was Dame Time yet again in NBA All-Star 3-point contest.

One of the clutch players in the game, Milwaukee Bucks guard Damian Lillard needed to make the final shot of the event to edge Atlanta’s Trae Young and win his second consecutive 3-point contest. He also needed to make his final shot last year to win the event.

Lillard had 26 points in the final round, slipping past Young’s 24 points.

‘When I got to the final rack, I didn’t know my exact score, but when I missed a couple, I heard the crowd just oohing and aahing. Once they kept doing it over and over, I knew I was still alive because I knew they would have stopped if it had been over for me,’ Lillard said. ‘The next two balls, I missed again, and then I grabbed the next one and I knew I needed that to win.’

In the showcase 3-point contest between Stephen Curry and Sabrina Ionescu, the Golden State Warriors guard won, 29-26. — Jeff Zillgitt, Victoria Hernandez

NBA All-Star Game rules, format 

This year, it’s a return to the traditional East vs. West format instead of two captains picking teams. Also, the game returns to a four, 12-minute quarters format opposed to the targeted-score ending to conclude the All-Star Game in 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023. The team that wins each quarter will have donation made in its name to a charitable organization. — Jeff Zillgitt 

NBA All-Star Game scores last 10 years 

Here are the final scores and MVPs for the last decade: 

2023: Team Giannis 184, Team LeBron 175 | MVP: Jayson Tatum 
2022: Team LeBron 163, Team Durant 160 | MVP: Stephen Curry 
2021: Team LeBron 170, Team Durant 150 | MVP: Giannis Antetokounmpo 
2020: Team LeBron 157, Team Giannis 155 | MVP: Kawhi Leonard 
2019: Team LeBron 178, Team Giannis 164 | MVP: Kevin Durant 
2018: Team LeBron 148, Team Stephen 145 | MVP: LeBron James 
2017: West 192, East 182 | MVP: Anthony Davis 
2016: West 196, East 173 | MVP: Russell Westbrook 
2015: West 163, East 158 | MVP: Russell Westbrook 
2014: East 163, West 155 | MVP: Kyrie Irving 

How long is the NBA All-Star Game? 

The 2023 NBA All-Star Game was 2 hours, 10 minutes long. 

2023 All-Star Game stats, box score 

What are most points scored in an NBA All-Star Game?

Jayson Tatum set the record last year for most points scored in an All-Star Game with 55.  

NBA All-Star Game odds 

2025 NBA All-Star Game location 

Next year’s All-Star Game is slated to be in San Francisco at the Chase Center, where the Golden State Warriors play. 

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