The Knicks’ Kristaps Porzingis wins skills competition.
Ex-Warrior Webber, Massimino among Hall of Fame finalists
Big men continue to reign supreme in the NBA All-Star Saturday night skills competition.
New York Knicks 7-foot3 forward Kristaps Porzingis won it, beating Utah’s Gordon Hayward in the finals.
Those vanquished in earlier rounds included guards John Wall of Washington and Isaiah Thomas of Boston, both because they couldn’t make their initial 3-pointers required to close out the course before Hayward did.
Porzingis emerged from the big-men’s division that included the Pelicans’ Anthony Davis and Denver’s Nikola Jokic.
Porzingis and Hayward were neck and neck until the end of the course, but Porzingis hit his 3 first to end it.
The three-round, obstacle-course competition tests dribbling, passing, agility and shooting skills.
Rollie Massimino, who n coached Villanova to the 1985 NCAA championship, and former Warrior Chris Webber are among the 14 finalists for this year’s Basketball Hall of Fame induction class.
Others include NBA referee Hugh Evans, Connecticut star Rebecca Lobo, two-time NBA scoring champion Tracy McGrady, five-time All-Star Sidney Moncrief, Baylor women’s coach Kim Mulkey, Kansas coach Bill Self and two-time NBA champion coach Rudy Tomjanovich.
Previous finalists returning to the ballot include point guard Tim Hardaway, record-setting high school coach Robert Hughes, Notre Dame women’s coach Muffet McGraw, former Wisconsin coach Bo Ryan and 10-time AAU national champion Wayland Baptist University. Enshrinees will be announced at the Final Four on April 3. The induction ceremonies in Springfield, Massachusetts are Sept. 7-9.
Behind MVP Quinn n Cook, the East team edged the West 105-100 in the NBA D-League All-Star game at the Superdome.
Cook, the former Duke standout playing for the Canton Charge, led all scorers with 18 points on 7 of 10 shooting, including 4 for 6 from 3-point range. He also had a game-high 12 assists.
Alfonzo McKinnie of Chicago’s Windy City Bulls scored 16 points for the East, and Edy Tavares of Raptors 905 — Toronto’s affiliate — led all rebounders with 11.
Justin Harper of the Los Angeles D-Fenders paced the West with 17 points. Vander Blue of the D-Fenders scored 15.
In the D-League skills competition, guard Scott Wood of the Santa Cruz Warriors won the 3-point shootout, while forward Troy Williams of the Iowa Energy took the slam dunk contest.
LeBron James has arrived n at All-Star weekend.
The Cleveland star and three-time NBA champion was on the floor for Eastern Conference All-Star practice. He missed Friday’s AllStar events while tending to a family matter.
James tossed a T-shirt into the screaming crowd as he walked out to start practice, sending fans straining to catch the freebie. It’s the 13th All-Star weekend for James, the most of anyone in Sunday night’s contest.
NBA Commissioner n Adam Silver says the league remains in a very good place, citing the continued international growth of the game and successes from a business standpoint.
Silver gave his annual All-Star address, saying “the state of the league is as good as it’s ever been.”
A new seven-year collective bargaining agreement that assures labor peace for the foreseeable future is completed, the league is making forays into the eSports world and there’s never been more international players in the NBA than there are now.