The 2024 NBA All-Star Weekend in Indianapolis, Indiana was met with a variety of different reviews of the events. The weekend began in the Gainbridge Fieldhouse on Feb. 17 with the Kia Skills Challenge followed by the Starry 3-Point Contest and finished off with the AT&T Slam Dunk Contest. On Feb. 18, the 73rd NBA All-Star Game took place.

The first event, the Kia Skills Challenge, has been getting negative reviews for the past years with fans wanting a new competition instead. Indiana Pacers players Myles Turner, Bennedict Mathurin and Tyrese Haliburton won the event in their home stadium. 

“This competition is not what the NBA thinks it is and it is honestly the worst part of the weekend,” junior Kazim Miftah said. “I look forward to every part of the all-star weekend except for the boring skills competition, they should replace it with a one-on-one tournament.”

The next contest was the Starry 3-Point Contest where Milwaukee Bucks point guard Damian Lillard became the consecutive 3-point champion dramatically, edging Atlanta Hawks point guard Trae Young with the last shot on the last rack. Lillard became the first back-to-back Starry 3-Point Contest champion since 2008. 

“I always look forward to the Starry 3-Point Contest,” senior Christain DeBarge said. “Honestly, this might be a hot take but I think it is the highlight of the entire weekend; I would much rather watch the best shooters in the world compete than the skills challenge where they dribble between cones and the dunk contest when they miss seven dunks before making a boring one.”

The last event of the Saturday night events was the AT&T Slam Dunk Contest where G League player Mac McClung beat Boston Celtics shooting guard Jaylen Brown, earning his second consecutive Slam Dunk Championship. McClung earned a perfect score on his final dunk by leaping over 7 foot 1 former NBA player Shaquille O’Neal. The dunk contest also received mixed reviews from the public. 

“I miss the old dunk contest where the players would actually put on a show for the city,” junior Shervin Moarrefian said. “Nowadays it seems like the players do not even prepare for the competition and are just there to get attention.”

The weekend finished with the main event on Feb. 18 where the Eastern Conference All-Star team beat the Western Conference All-Star team with a score of 211-186. Lillard won the game’s Most Valuable Player award with an astonishing 39 points. The Eastern Conference’s 211-point performance was the most points ever scored by a team in All-Star game history. 

“The game just felt like a glorified three-point contest, to be honest,” junior Evan Burkhardt said. “It got uninteresting very quickly after everyone just kept shooting from 30 feet or more, I wish the players would actually compete so we can see the best players in the world play at the highest level.”

Ultimately, the 2024 NBA All-Star Weekend was one that many fans felt could be improved for the future.