NBA: Skills competition never disappoints fans

For many fans, the NBA’s all-star Saturday night has become as big as the game that follows the next day.

That’s thanks in large part to historic performances in the two main events on Saturday: the three-point shootout and the slam dunk contest.

Here’s our top-three from each one.

THREE-POINT CONTEST

1. Larry Bird, 1988. Bird’s 17-point total in the final round of the 1988 contest is far from outstanding. What makes it special is he closed out the event in Larry Legend fashion, giving him a three-peat in the contest in a mustwin situation.

2. Craig Hodges, 1991. The Chicago Bulls guard poured in a record 19 consecutive shots en route to his second-straight win in the event. Like Bird, Hodges also won the contest three years in a row.

3. Steph Curry, 2015. Curry made last year’s contest a thriller. He hit 13 in a row in the final round, part of his record-setting 27-point showing.

DUNK CONTEST

1. Vince Carter, 2000. The word ‘blessed’ can be overused, but Carter did just that for the crowd at the 2000 all-star game in Oakland with a series of dunks that turned the key into a runway.

2. Michael Jordan vs. Dominique Wilkins, 1988. Arguably the best duel the contest has ever seen. Jordan and Wilkins lived up to their nicknames, Air and The Human Highlight Reel, respectively, collecting four out of six possible scores of 50 before Wilkins got a 45 on his final attempt. That set up for Jordan’s iconic free-throw dunk to win the contest.

3. Spud Webb, 1986. The contest was full of big men: Jerome Kersey, Wilkins and his brother Gerald, to name a few. Then there was five-foot-seven Spud Webb, who looked like a child standing amongst his competitors. Chris O’Leary