Once a year, the NBA and the public vote on which NBA players stood out so far during the basketball season. They vote and decide which players make the All-Stars and compete during All-Star Weekend. This year All-Star Weekend was February 14th – February 16th. Some of the events that the players compete in are the Rising Stars challenge, the skills challenge, the 3-point contest, the slam dunk contest, and the All-Star Game. The Rising Stars challenge is for invited rookie NBA stars to perform all together in one game, and the All-Star game is for invited NBA players who have been in the league longer than two years.
Many well-known NBA players were invited to participate in the All-Star weekend. Some players seen on the court were Lebron James, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Kawhi Leonard, Anthony Davis, James Harden and others.
Many sneakers were introduced during this past weekend. Lebron James’ introduced his new sneaker for his signature line, the “Lebron 17,” called the “Monstars.” The sneaker is in honor of Space Jam 2, which stars Lebron James. The original Space Jam’s main characters were Michael Jordan and Bugs Bunny, where they compiled a team to compete against the Monstars.
Lebron 17 Monstars
Courtesy of Nike
Kawhi Leonard introduced his new signature line with New Balance called the “OMN1s Inspire the Dream”. This is big news in the sneaker world because Kawhi Leonard has previously collaborated with Jordan Brand and Nike, but this is his first actual signature line. His previous shoe with Jordan Brand was the Jordan Retro 1 Mid “Pass the Torch.” These sneakers are sought by many sneaker collectors. It displays Kawhi Leonard’s logo on the tongue and 16 tally marks on the heel of the shoe, which signifies the 16 wins that the Spurs earned in the 2018 playoffs with Kawhi Leonard’s contribution.
OMN1S Inspire to Dream
Courtesy of New Balance
There were a lot of other sneaker coloways introduced from this past weekend from James Harden’s Adidas Vol. 4’s, Giannis Antetokounmpo’s Freak 1’s, Paul George’s PG 4’s and more. One last sneaker I would like to highlight would be the new Nike Adapt BB 2.0 sneakers. These sneakers retail at $400 and are one of the first auto-lacing basketball sneakers designed for basketball performance. They indicate the “future of the game” as the shoes morph to your feet and ankles for optimal ankle and foot support. These sneakers come with a charging pad to charge the auto-lacing system.
Adapt BB 2.0
Courtesy of ESPN
Alyssa Freyder 