This is the weekend all of us basketball fans love and truly appreciate, All Star Weekend! We all love All Star Weekend. It just kind of gets all of the fans and players away from the stress of the NBA season, and it really just gives us all a chance to appreciate the game of basketball.
The All Star game, Rising Stars game, dunk contest, skills challenge, Celebrity All Star game, and three point contest are all something us basketball fans look forward to. Every event should be exciting this year. But this All Star Weekend will carry a little more weight, and be a little more special than usual though, as the NBA will honor Kobe Bryant, his daughter, and the rest of the victims that lost their lives in the tragic helicopter accident. In the NBA All Star game, all players of team Lebron will be wearing number two, which was Gianna Bryant’s jersey number, and all players of team Giannis will be wearing number 24, which was Kobe Bryant’s jersey number.
In addition to the jersey numbers, both teams will also have jersey patches that contain nine stars on them, which symbolize the nine lives lost in the helicopter accident, John, Keri and Alyssa Altobelli, Sarah and Payton Chester, Christina Mauser, Ara Zobayan, and Kobe and Gianna Bryant.
In the Rising Stars game Friday night, the players will wear jersey patches with the numbers two and 24 on them, surrounded by nine stars. And in the Slam Dunk, Skills, and three point contests on Saturday night, contestants will all take the court with the same jersey patches.
In addition to the jerseys, the All Star game on Sunday will also be changed to honor Kobe. The game will have a new format. Through the first three quarters the score will start 0-0, and each quarter will be 12 minutes long. But for the fourth quarter, a target score will be set, and the game clock will be turned off. The final target score will be dictated by adding 24 points (Kobe’s jersey number) to the leading teams total score through the first three quarters. The first team to reach that final score will be named the winner of the NBA All Star game.
All Star weekend will always be a fun weekend for fans who love the game deeply, but this specific All Star weekend will have a lot to do with remembering the late Kobe Bryant. The ways the NBA is paying respects with the uniforms and the game speaks volumes. We love you and miss you Kobe, and we will always remember you.
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