T-Mobile Rookie Challenge The
T-Mobile Rookie Challenge featured a team of standout first-year players ('
Rookies') against a team of standout second-year players ('Sophomores'). The game was divided into two twenty-minute halves, similar to
college basketball. The participating players were chosen by voting among the league's assistant coaches. The Rookie team included five of the top ten picks from the
2010 NBA draft:
DeMarcus Cousins,
Derrick Favors,
Wesley Johnson,
Greg Monroe and
John Wall.
2009 first overall pick Blake Griffin, who missed the due to injury, was also selected to the rookie team. The Sophomores team featured six players from
the previous Rookie Challenge game:
DeJuan Blair,
Stephen Curry,
Tyreke Evans,
Taj Gibson,
James Harden and
Brandon Jennings. However, Evans was later replaced by Harden due to injury. The head coaches for the Rookies and Sophomores teams were the lead assistants from the All-Star Game coaching staffs,
Mike Budenholzer from the
San Antonio Spurs and
Lawrence Frank from the
Boston Celtics. They were assisted by two All-Stars and two veterans who served as assistant coaches:
Carmelo Anthony,
Amar'e Stoudemire,
Steve Kerr and
Kevin McHale. Budenholzer, McHale and Stoudemire coached the Rookie team while Frank, Anthony and Kerr coached the Sophomore team. On January 20, it was announced that
DeMar DeRozan would replace Jennings due to his foot injury. For this edition, the contestants were also provided with a 'dunk coach': Griffin was mentored by
Kenny Smith, McGee was paired with
Chris Webber, Ibaka was mentored by teammate
Kevin Durant, and DeRozan paired up with
Darryl Dawkins as his mentor. During the first round, McGee made two perfect score dunks, including a dunk that had him dunk three basketballs at once, sending him to the finals. Griffin, who scored a total of 95 points in the first round, also entered the finals. In the second round, McGee and Griffin each made their two dunks, but Griffin won with 68% of the fans votes after he dunked over the hood of a car, with an assist by
Baron Davis. Unable to participate due to injury. DeMar DeRozan was named as a replacement for Brandon Jennings.Jones won the contest with a score of 20 points in the final round, ahead of Pierce with 18 and Allen who scored 15.
Taco Bell Skills Challenge The
Taco Bell Skills Challenge was contested by five players.
Chris Paul, a three-time contestant, have been automatically selected to participate. He went against
Stephen Curry,
Derrick Rose,
John Wall, and
Russell Westbrook, who were voted in by the fans from a pool of 8 candidates. In this contest, the contestants had to complete an "obstacle course" consisting of dribbling, passing and shooting stations. The contestant who finished the course with the fastest time wins the contest. All contestants had to comply with basic NBA ball-handling rules while completing the course. Curry won the event with 28.2 seconds in the final round against Westbrook who finished with 44.2 seconds.
Haier Shooting Stars Competition BBVA Celebrity All-Star Game The
BBVA Celebrity All-Star Game featured two teams composed of retired NBA and WNBA players, actors, comedians, singers, celebrities, and others. The game was divided into four eight-minute quarters. The head coaches were
Hall of Famers
Bill Walton and
Magic Johnson. Their assistants were comedians Ty Burrell and Jason Alexander. Each team featured fake "general managers" who simulated to have chosen the team. The game's MVP was chosen by voting of the audience through
text messaging. At the end of the game,
Justin Bieber was announced the MVP. Bieber scored eight points (3–11 FG), and had two rebounds and four assists. NBA legend
Chris Mullin said of Bieber, "He's got a nice little game... but more importantly, he's got great passion. It looked like he loves the game." ==D-League All-Star==