Jay King doesn’t hold back and tears into the NBA: This is the reporter’s direct message to the league
The Athletic journalist didn’t hold back with his take on the four players selected to take part in the Slam-Dunk contest at the All-Star weekend.
The 2025 NBA All-Star weekend will be held in the San Francisco Bay Area, at the luxurious Chase Center. The downtown venue is the new home of the Golden State Warriors who relocated from their previous venue in Oakland. The 2025 All Star will be the first in the region for a quarter of a century with the last big NBA big midseason bash last held in the Bay Area in 2000 at the Oakland Arena.
With just over two weeks remaining until the event, we now know the names of the starters in both Eastern Conference and Western Conference teams.
Eastern Conference
Jalen Brunson (point guard, New York Knicks), Donovan Mitchell (shooting guard, Cleveland Cavaliers), Jayson Tatum (forward, Boston Celtics), Giannis Antetokounmpo (power forward, Milwaukee Bucks), Karl-Anthony Towns (center, New York Knicks).
Western Conference
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (guard, Oklahoma City Thunder), Stephen Curry (guard, Golden State Warriors), LeBron James (forward, Los Angeles Lakers), Kevin Durant (power forward, Phoenix Suns), Nikola Jokic (center, Denver Nuggets)
Slam Dunk contest
One of the perennial classic events of any All-Star weekend is the dunk contest with the event this year scheduled for the Saturday evening (February 15).
This year, the quartet of players selected by the NBA has left one journalist rather disgruntled. The Athletic basketball expert Jay King took to his X/Twitter account to chastise the league for a ‘pathetic dunk contestant field’.
The four players selected to participate are far from household names and include: Mac McClung (Orlando Magic) along with rookies Stephon Castle of the San Antonio Spurs and Matas Buzelis of the Chicago Bulls, along with second year Bucks guard Andre Jackson Jr.
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