NBA All-Star 2017

Andy Fahey

For the first time since 2014, the JBL Three-Point Contest champion is not a Golden State Warrior. Defending Klay Thompson fell just short of advancing to the final as he tallied a score of 18 in the first round.

After Stephen Curry took home the crown in 2015, Thompson took the reigns as the three-point king at All-Star Weekend in Toronto in 2016. But the bid for three straight Warriors Three-Point Contest Champions fell just short, as Thompson tied for the highest score not to advance to the final round.

While there is certainly a degree of disappointment in not taking home the three-point crown, every basketball fan had to feel good about what happened immediately after Houston’s Eric Gordon was ultimately crowned the Three-Point Contest champion, as $500,000 dollars was donated to the SagerStrong Foundation through a slew of shooting contests.

Stephen Curry was pulled from the crowd to participate but ultimately couldn’t connect from halfcourt, but Craig Sager’s young son, with a lift from Shaquille O’Neal, ultimately made a shot to bring FootLocker’s donation to a half million dollars.

All of this was part of State Farm All-Star Saturday Night, which opened with New York’s Kristaps Porzingis winning the Taco Bell Skills Challenge and ended with Indiana's Glenn Robinson III winning the Verizon Slam Dunk Contest.

Earlier in the day, Thompson and Curry joined their All-Star teammates Kevin Durant and Draymond Green at their All-Star practice. And other highlights of the day included Curry tossing the ball up for the ceremonial of the tip of the NBA Cares Special Olympics Unified Sports Game, Santa Cruz Warriors players Briante Weber and Dennis Clifford taking part in the NBA D-League All-Star Game and Santa Cruz’s Scott Wood winning the D-League Three-Point Contest.

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Thompson Denied in JBL Three-Point Contest

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Photos: Warriors at All-Star Friday

With the arrival of All-Star Weekend comes a plethora of activity for those honored to receive the coveted invite, and only a fraction of that actually takes place on the court.

After arriving in New Orleans on Thursday, the Warriors’ All-Star contingent, including Steve Kerr, Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, Draymond Green and Klay Thompson, continued their media tour with more interviews and addressed important topics such as All-Star Game strategy and Three-Point Contest predictions.

After taking care of their media responsibilities, the Dubs took part in the 10th anniversary of the NBA Cares Day of Service at a New Orleans elementary school.

And later, some on-the-court work was done with Draymond Green taking on coaching duties in the NBA All-Star Celebrity Game. One of the players involved was none other than former Warriors guard Baron Davis.

Draymond’s squad took the L in the not-so competitive event, but the top highlight of the game had to be Jarrius Robertson. The 14-year-old kid from the New Orleans area is battling a chronic liver disease, and he checked into the game late in the fourth quarter and scored a basket on his very first, and only, shot attempt. Read more on Jarrius’ story here.

The Rising Stars Challenge also took place on Friday, which pitted 10 first- and second-year NBA players from the U.S. against 10 first- and second-year players from around the world. Warriors Assistant Coach Mike Brown coached the World Team.

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All-Star Weekend in Full Swing for the Dubs

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Photos: Warriors Arrive in New Orleans for All-Star Weekend

Golden State Warriors guard Klay Thompson will look to defend his crown in the Three-Point Contest on All-Star Saturday Night in New Orleans on February 18, the league announced today. Thompson, who won the event last year with a record-tying score of 27 in the final round, will participate in the contest for the third-straight season.

Thompson’s Three-Point title defense will mark the fifth-straight year that the Warriors have had at least one player in the Three-Point Contest, with Stephen Curry edging out Thompson for the title in 2015. Following Thompson’s win in 2016, the Warriors became the only team to have two different players win the contest in consecutive years. The Warriors will have a participant in the event for the ninth time since its inception in 1986, including seven of the last eight years.

Warriors Three-Point Contest Participants

Thompson, who will make his third career All-Star appearance, owns averages of 21.3 points, 3.8 rebounds and 2.0 assists in 34.1 minutes over 48 games (all starts) this season. The Washington State product ranks fifth in the league with 149 three-point field goals and is hitting better than 40 percent of his three-point attempts (.403) for the sixth-straight season. Thompson scored a career-best and NBA season-high 60 points on Dec. 5 vs. Indiana, joining Wilt Chamberlain, Rick Barry and Joe Fulks as the only players in franchise history to reach the 60-point plateau. The 6’7” guard scored 40 of his 60 points in the first half alone and became the first player in the Shot Clock Era (since 1954-55) to score 60 points in a game despite playing fewer than 30 minutes (29:03).

Thompson will join Curry, Kevin Durant and Draymond Green on the Western Conference All-Star team, marking the eighth time in NBA history that a single team will have four players appear in the All-Star Game. In addition to the team’s NBA-record-tying four All-Stars, Warriors Head Coach Steve Kerr and his staff will coach the Western Conference for the second time in three seasons. The Warriors own an NBA-best record of 42-7 (.857) this season, which is tied for the fifth-best record through 49 games in NBA history.

Thompson is joined in the Three-Point Contest by Houston’s Eric Gordon, Cleveland’s Kyrie Irving, Toronto’s Kyle Lowry, Dallas’ Wesley Matthews, Portland’s C.J. McCollum, Charlotte’s Kemba Walker, and the L.A. Lakers’ Nick Young.

State Farm All-Star Saturday Night will be exclusively televised by TNT on Saturday, Feb. 18, at 4:30 p.m. PST. The 66th NBA All-Star Game will tip-off on Sunday, Feb. 19 at Smoothie King Center in New Orleans.

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Klay Thompson to Defend his Title in Three-Point Contest on All-Star Saturday Night

Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green and guard Klay Thompson have been named reserves on the NBA Western Conference All-Star team, the league announced today. Green and Thompson will join Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant on the Western Conference squad, marking the eighth time in NBA history that a single team will have four players appear in the All-Star Game. The Warriors will be just the second Western Conference team to have four All-Stars in the game, joining the Los Angeles Lakers in 1998. In addition to the team’s four All-Stars, Warriors Head Coach Steve Kerr and his staff will coach the Western Conference for the second time in three seasons. The Warriors own an NBA-best record of 39-7 (.848).

Green, 26, earned his second career All-Star appearance with averages of 10.7 points, 8.5 rebounds, a career-high 7.5 assists, 1.91 steals and 1.41 blocks in 33.3 minutes over 44 games (all starts) this season. Green is the only player to average at least 10 points, eight rebounds and seven assists in addition to tallying at least one steal and one block per game since blocks and steals were first recorded in 1973-74, a feat he accomplished last season and is on pace to replicate in 2016-17. The fifth-year forward has recorded three triple-doubles this season and now has 17 such games in his career, which trails only Tom Gola’s 20 for the most triple-doubles in franchise history.

YEAR2017
            2015
            2011
            2006
            1998
            1983
            1975
            1962

ALL-STAR STARTERSCurry, Durant, Green, Thompson
            Horford, Korver, Millsap, Teague
            Allen, Garnett, Pierce, Rondo
           Billups, Hamilton, Wallace, Wallace
            Bryant, Jones, O’Neal, Van Exel
            Cheeks, Erving, Malone,Toney
            Cowens, Havlicek, Silas,  White
            Cousy, Heinsohn, Jones, Russell

TEAMGSW
            ATL
            BOS
            DET
            LAL
            PHI
            BOS
            BOS

Green, the runner-up for Defensive Player of the Year in each of the past two seasons, made his All-Star debut in 2016, scoring four points and grabbing five rebounds in 12 minutes. The 6’7” forward also participated in the Skills Challenge on All-Star Saturday Night.

Thompson, 26, will make his third career All-Star appearance, owning averages of 21.1 points, 3.8 rebounds and 1.9 assists in 34.3 minutes over 45 games (all starts) this season. The Washington State product ranks fifth in the league with 139 three-point field goals. On Dec. 5 vs. Indiana, Thompson scored a career-best and NBA season-high 60 points, joining Wilt Chamberlain, Rick Barry and Joe Fulks as the only players in franchise history to reach the 60-point plateau. The 6’7” guard scored 40 of his 60 points in the first half alone and became the first player in the Shot Clock Era (since 1954-55) to score 60 points in a game despite playing fewer than 30 minutes (29:03).

Thompson, who is making his third-straight All-Star appearance, has tallied 8.0 points, 4.0 assists and 3.0 rebounds in 20.5 minutes in his two previous All-Star Games, including a starting assignment in 2015. He has participated in the Three-Point Contest in both 2015 and 2016, winning the event last year with a record-tying score of 27 in the final round. Thompson also took part in the Rising Stars Challenge in 2013.

Joining Green and Thompson as Western Conference All-Star reserves are DeMarcus Cousins (Kings), Marc Gasol (Grizzlies), Gordon Hayward (Jazz), DeAndre Jordan (Clippers) and Russell Westbrook (Thunder).

The 2017 All-Star reserves were selected by the 30 NBA head coaches, who were asked to vote for seven players in their respective conferences—three frontcourt players, two guards and two additional players regardless of position. They were not permitted to vote for players from their own team. The 66th NBA All-Star Game will take place on Sunday, Feb. 19 at Smoothie King Center in New Orleans. The game will reach fans in more than 200 countries and territories in more than 40 languages. TNT will televise the All-Star Game for the 15th consecutive year, marking Turner Sports’ 32nd year of NBA All-Star coverage.

Western Conference All-Star jerseys for both Green and Thompson, in addition to West starters Curry and Durant, are currently available for purchase in adult and youth sizes at warriors.com.

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Warriors Forward Draymond Green and Guard Klay Thompson Named All-Star Reserves

Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry and forward Kevin Durant have been named starters on the NBA Western Conference All-Star team, the league announced today. Curry will make his fourth All-Star appearance and is the first Warriors player to be named an All-Star starter in four-straight seasons since Wilt Chamberlain (1960-63). Durant will make his eighth-consecutive All-Star appearance and his first as a member of the Warriors, starting the game for the sixth time (2011-14, 2016-17). It marks the second time in three years that the Warriors will have two players start the All-Star game (Curry &amp; Klay Thompson in 2015) and is the first time since fan voting was introduced in 1975 that two Warriors were voted in as starters by the fans (Thompson replaced an injured starter in 2015). Fan voting accounted for 50 percent of the All-Star balloting, with Curry (1,848,121 votes) and Durant (1,768,185) both leading their respective position groups in Western Conference fan voting.

Curry, 28, owns averages of 24.6 points (12th in the NBA), 6.1 assists (15th), 5.2 rebounds and 1.81 steals (tied for eighth) in 33.6 minutes over 42 games (all starts) this season and is on pace to become the first Warrior since Chris Mullin (1988-93) to average at least 22 points per game in five-straight seasons. Curry, who has led the league in three-point field goals in each of the last four seasons and in 2015-16 broke his own NBA record for single-season three-pointers with 402, ranks second in the league with 158 threes this season and set an NBA record with 13 three-pointers in a single game on Nov. 7 vs. New Orleans. The reigning back-to-back MVP, who was the first-ever unanimous selection for the award last season, earned Western Conference Player of the Week honors for games played from Jan. 2-8, his eighth career weekly honor.

Durant, 28, is averaging a team-high 26.2 points (seventh in the NBA) to go with a career-high 8.6 rebounds, 4.7 assists, 1.71 blocks and 1.12 steals in 34.4 minutes over 42 games (all starts) in his first season with Golden State and is the only player in the league to rank in the top 10 in both scoring and field goal percentage, hitting a career-high 54.4 percent from the field (tied for ninth). The 2013-14 league MVP is on pace to become the first Warrior since Rick Barry in 1966-67 to score at least 26 points and grab at least eight rebounds per game over the course of an entire season. Durant was named Western Conference Player of the Week for games played from Nov. 21-27, his 25th career weekly award.

Curry has taken part in NBA All-Star Weekend in six of his previous seven campaigns, averaging 17.7 points, 7.3 assists and 5.7 rebounds in his three appearances in the All-Star Game (2014-16). The 6’3” guard joins Paul Arizin, Rick Barry and Wilt Chamberlain as the only Warriors to start in at least four All-Star Games. Curry has also participated in the Three-Point Contest five times (2010, 2013-16)—winning the event in 2015 before finishing as runner-up to teammate Klay Thompson last year—in addition to the Shooting Stars Competition (2014 &amp; 2015), the Rising Stars Challenge (2010 &amp; 2011) and the Skills Challenge (won the event in 2011).

Durant has participated in NBA All-Star Weekend in all nine of his previous seasons in the league, appearing in the Rising Stars Challenge in 2008 and 2009 before being named to the Western Conference All-Star team in each of his last eight campaigns. In seven appearances (five starts) in the All-Star Game (2010-16), Durant owns averages of 25.6 points, 5.6 rebounds and 2.9 assists, including a 36-point performance on his way to All-Star Game MVP honors in 2012. The four-time NBA scoring champion is the only player in NBA history to score 30-or-more points in four consecutive All-Star games (2011-14). Durant has also participated in the Three-Point Contest (2011 &amp; 2012) and the Shooting Stars Competition (2014) at NBA All-Star Weekend.

The Warriors own an NBA-best record of 36-6 (.857) and are the only team in NBA history to win at least 36 of their first 42 games in three consecutive seasons. Curry and Durant are on pace to become the first pair of Warriors teammates to both average at least 24 points per game over the course of an entire season.

Joining Curry and Durant in the Western Conference starting lineup are Anthony Davis (Pelicans), James Harden (Rockets), and Kawhi Leonard (Spurs). The Eastern Conference starters are Giannis Antetokounmpo (Bucks), Jimmy Butler (Bulls), DeMar DeRozan (Raptors), Kyrie Irving (Cavaliers) and LeBron James (Cavaliers).

Players were ranked in each conference by position (guard and frontcourt) within each of the three voting groups—fan votes, player votes and media votes. Each player’s score was calculated by averaging his weighted rank from the fan votes, the player votes and the media votes. The five players (two guards and three frontcourt players) with the best score in each conference were named NBA All-Star Game starters. Fan voting served as the tiebreaker for players in a position group with the same score.

The 66th NBA All-Star Game will take place on Sunday, Feb. 19 at Smoothie King Center in New Orleans. The game will reach fans in more than 200 countries and territories in more than 40 languages. TNT will televise the All-Star Game for the 15th consecutive year, marking Turner Sports’ 32nd year of NBA All-Star coverage.

Both Curry’s and Durant’s Western Conference All-Star jerseys (see attached for photos) are currently available for purchase in adult and youth sizes at warriors.com.

MULTIPLE ALL-STAR STARTERS IN WARRIORS HISTORY

YEAR
            2017
            2015
            1967
            1966
            1956
            1952
            1951

ALL-STAR STARTERS
            Stephen Curry &amp; Kevin Durant
            Stephen Curry &amp; Klay Thompson
            Rick Barry &amp; Nate Thurmond
            Rick Barry, Guy Rodgers &amp; Nate Thurmond
            Paul Arizin &amp; Neil Johnston
            Paul Arizin &amp; Andy Phillip
            Joe Fulks &amp; Andy Phillip

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Warriors Guard Stephen Curry and Forward Kevin Durant Named All-Star Starters

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Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant of the Golden State Warriors continue to lead the Western Conference players in the second fan returns of NBA All-Star Voting 2017 presented by Verizon. Curry and LeBron James, of the defending NBA champion Cleveland Cavaliers, are top two vote-getters overall.

Fan voting continues to surge as more than 21 million votes have been cast, a 142% increase from the same time period last year.

Fans will account for 50 percent of the vote to determine the 10 starters for the 66th NBA All-Star Game, which will take place on Sunday, Feb. 19 at Smoothie King Center in New Orleans.  All current NBA players and a panel of basketball media will account for 25 percent each, with each participant completing one full ballot featuring two guards and three frontcourt players from both conferences.

Voting for fans, players and media will conclude on Monday, Jan. 16 at 11:59 p.m. ET, and starters will be announced live on TNT on Thursday, Jan. 19 during a special one-hour edition of TNT NBA Tip-Off presented by Autotrader.com at 7 p.m. ET.  The Eastern Conference and Western Conference All-Star reserves, as selected by NBA head coaches, will be announced the following week on TNT on Thursday, Jan. 26.

In the second fan returns, James totaled 1,066,147 votes to maintain the top spot among all players and increase his lead in the East frontcourt over the Milwaukee Bucks’ Giannis Antetokounmpo (963,110).  Cleveland’s Kevin Love (473,328) edges the Philadelphia 76ers’ Joel Embiid (457,300) by 16,028 votes for third place in the East frontcourt.  Cleveland’s Kyrie Irving (971,362) and the Chicago Bulls’ Dwyane Wade (514,866) continue to set the pace among East guards, while the Toronto Raptors’ DeMar DeRozan (453,538) remains in third place.

In the West, Curry (990,390) has pulled ahead of teammate Kevin Durant (987,479) as the conference’s leading vote-getter.  Curry and the Houston Rockets’ James Harden (961,685) remain the front-runners at guard, followed by the Oklahoma City Thunder’s Russell Westbrook (899,024).  Durant, Golden State’s Zaza Pachulia (823,376) and the San Antonio Spurs’ Kawhi Leonard (630,766) continue to lead the frontcourt, with the New Orleans Pelicans’ Anthony Davis (567,201) in fourth place.

See below for the second fan returns of NBA All-Star Voting 2017 presented by Verizon.

After all votes are tallied, players will be ranked in each conference by position (guard and frontcourt) within each of the three voting groups – fan votes, player votes and media votes.  Each player’s score will be calculated by averaging his weighted rank from the fan votes, the player votes and the media votes.  The five players (two guards and three frontcourt players) with the best score in each conference will be named NBA All-Star Game starters.  Fan voting will serve as the tiebreaker for players in a position group with the same score.

NBA fans may submit one full ballot each day through NBA.com, the NBA App (available on Android and iOS), Twitter, Facebook and Google Search, as well as via Sina Weibo and Tencent Microblogs in China. All current NBA players are available for selection.

NBA All-Star 2017 in New Orleans will bring together some of the most talented and passionate players in the league’s history for a global celebration of the game.  The 66th NBA All-Star Game, which will take place on Sunday, Feb. 19 at Smoothie King Center, will reach fans in more than 200 countries and territories in more than 40 languages.  TNT will televise the All-Star Game for the 15th consecutive year, marking Turner Sports’ 32nd year of NBA All-Star coverage.  Smoothie King Center will also host the BBVA Compass Rising Stars Challenge on Friday, Feb. 17 and State Farm All-Star Saturday Night on Saturday, Feb. 18.  The NBA All-Star Practice, NBA All-Star Celebrity Game and NBA Development League All-Star Game presented by Kumho Tire will take place at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome.

NBA All‑Star 2017