The NBA’s All-Star weekend took place in New Orleans this year and featured eight former Cats who broke records on the court while also shaking up the landscape of the NBA off the court.

The All-Star weekend is more than just a short break during an intense and stressfully long NBA season, rather it’s a way for fans to enjoy the NBA and the players in their most relaxed and comfortable state, where everyone is enjoying the city and the atmosphere that surrounds this yearly event.

BBVA Rising Stars Challenge

On Friday, the main event was the BBVA Compass Rising Stars Challenge, which showcased four former Cats.

The purpose of this event is to select either first or second year players that are thriving in the early stages of their young NBA careers, and have them duel it out representing either the U.S. Team or the World Team. 

The World Team won by a score of 150-141 and UK’s very own alumni Jamal Murray was awarded with MVP honors for the game.

Jamal Murray represented the World Team and poured in 36 points while shooting 9-of-13 from beyond the arc while also dishing out 11 assists. Trey Lyles also represented the World Team alongside Murray, adding nine points, two assists and one rebound.

The U.S. Team featured both Devin Booker, who scored 17 points to go along with six assists, and Karl-Anthony Towns, who finished with 24 points, 11 rebounds and three assists.

Taco Bell Skills Challenge

Saturday is where All-Star weekend starts to amp things up, featuring several different events including the Three-Point Contest, Slam Dunk Contest, and the Skills Challenge, although no former Cats were selected to the Three-Point or Dunk Contest. 

The field for the Skills Challenge was dominated by former Cats as four of the eight players who participated in the event were UK alums. John Wall, Demarcus Cousins, Anthony Davis, and Devin Booker were all participants of the contest, however, all four would lose in the first round.

The Skills Challenge is basically a basketball-based obstacle course that includes players running up and down the court while making pin-point passes and shooting from multiple areas of the court.

New York Knicks forward, Kristaps Porzingis, would go on to win the event.

66^th NBA All-Star Game

The All-Star Game features the best of the best that the NBA has to offer and three former Cats made an appearance during Sunday’s game, especially Anthony Davis, who was named the event’s MVP.

The West beat the East by a score of 192-182 in a game that was more about the flashy passes and high-difficulty shots rather than defense. 

Davis scored 52 points in the event, the most points ever scored in the All-Star game and 10 more than the previous record holder – NBA Hall of Famer, Wilt Chamberlin. Davis also added 10 rebounds to his stat line in his fourth All-Star appearance. 

John Wall scored 12 points and grabbed six rebounds in his fourth All-Star game while DeMarcus Cousins added three points in only two minutes played, 10 minutes lower than any other All-Star, in his third All-Star game. 

The reason for Boogie’s low minutes? He was surprisingly traded moments after the All-Star game ended.

DeMarcus Cousins Joins Anthony Davis

Trade rumors circulated the news feed throughout the entire All-Star game regarding the possibility that Boogie was on the brink of being traded, despite Cousins adamantly stating that he wanted to remain in Sacramento and build his legacy there.

However, once the All-Star game ended, so did Cousins’ career in Sacramento. 

The Sacramento Kings quickly traded Boogie to the New Orleans Pelicans to pair up with another former UK star in Davis for practically pennies on the dollar.

The trade changes the entire landscape of the NBA and sets up the building blocks for a potential all Kentucky NBA team. 

The Pelicans, who were once thought to be a borderline playoff team, can now trot out two of the best 15 players in the league and form the one of most dangerous frontcourt the NBA has possibly ever seen.

Cousins came to New Orleans this past weekend thinking he would only play one game with Anthony Davis, now the two get to wreak havoc on opposing teams for years to come.