LeBron Vs. Giannis! Steph Vs. Sabrina! NBA All-Star Weekend Tips Off In Indy!

An exciting weekend full of basketball is about to tip off in Indianapolis! NBA All-Star Weekend begins Friday night and continues with events every day through Sunday, when East vs. West compete during the epic finale of the weekend!

The weekend will be full of hoopin' excitement with 3-point and slam dunk contests, Rising Stars game, celebrity games, and more. One of the anticipated highlights for this year's event is a 3-point competition between NBA star Stephen Curry and WNBA star Sabrina Ionescu.

Every year, the celebrity game brings a new roster of talent from all different genres. This year's Ruffles NBA All-Star Celebrity Game will feature a mix of WNBA stars, musicians, NFL players, actors, and content creators.

Team Shannon, coached by Shannon Sharpe, Peyton Manning, and 50 Cent, will be facing off against Team Stephen A., coached by Stephen A. Smith, Lil Wayne, and WNBA star A'ja Wilson.

Playing for Team Shannon will be Anuel AA, Kai Cenat, Conor Daly, Walker Hayes, Quincy Isaiah, Jewell Loyd, Micah Parsons, Lilly Singh, SiR, and Dylan Wang.

Playing for Team Stephen A. will be Adam Blackstone, Natasha Cloud, Jennifer Hudson, Tristan Jass, AJ McLean, Kwame Onwuachi, Metta World Peace, Jack Ryan, CJ Stroud, and Gianmarco Tamberi.

The action packed, and usually humor-filled game, begins at 7 p.m. ET and can be watched exclusively on ESPN and the ESPN App. In addition to the game, there will be fun challenges, such as the Ruffles Flamin' Hot Challenge.

Opening night of the weekend long event will also feature the Panini Rising Stars event: a three-game, mini-tournament of four teams made up of NBA rookies, sophomores, and NBA G League players.

Coaches for the teams are Pau Gasol, Tamika Catchings, Jalen Rose, and Detlef Schrempf.

All three games will be played to a final target score, which means each game will end on a made basket or free throw instead of the usual time expiring. The two semifinal games, Game 1 and Game 2, will be played to a final target score of 40. The final game, which features the winners, will be played to a final target score of 25.

Game 1 is Team Jalen vs. Team Tamika. Game 2 is Team Detlef vs. Team Pau. Game 3 is the winner of Game 1 vs. the winner of Game 2.

Rising Stars begins at 9 p.m. ET.

Saturday will be a full day of basketball excitement!

The HBCU Classic, Winston-Salem State vs. Virigina Union starts the day off at 2 p.m. And then, at 8 p.m., the All-Star Night Skills Challenge, 3-Point Contest, Slam Dunk Contest, and Steph Curry vs. Sabrina Ionescu's 3-Point Challenge will take place.

The Slam Dunk contest includes 2023's dunk contest winner, Mac McClung of the G League's Osceola Magic, as well as Jacob Toppin of the New York Knicks and G League's Westchester Knicks, Jaylen Brown of the Boston Celtics, and Jaime Jaquez Jr. of the Miami Heat.

Fighting to be the best 3-point shooter will be 2023 winner Damian Lillard of the Milwaukee Bucks; Malik Beasley, Milwaukee Bucks; Tyrese Haliburton, Indiana Pacers; Jalen Brunson, New York Knicks; Karl-Anthony Towns, Minnesota Timberwolves; Trae Young, Atlanta Hawks; Donovan Mitchell, Cleveland Cavaliers; and Lauri Markkanen, Utah Jazz.

Competing in the NBA Skills Competition this year will be Tyrese Haliburton, Bennedict Mathurin, and Myles Turner for Team Pacers; Paolo Banchero of the Orlando Magic, Anthony Edwards of the Minnesota Timberwolves, and Victor Wembanyama of the San Antonio Spurs for Team Top Picks; and Scottie Barnes of the Toronto Raptors; Tyrese Maxey of the Philadelphia 76ers; and Trae Young of the Hawks for Team All-Stars.

Ionescu led the WNBA in 3-pointers made last season and Curry is the NBA all-time 3-point leader. On Saturday, we’ll get to see who the real 3-point champion is. Will it be Curry or Ionescu?

What started out as a joke between the two is now a reality! Golden State Warriors star Curry will go up against New York Liberty star Ionescu in the first ever NBA vs. WNBA 3-Point Challenge. The exciting addition to this year's weekend will take place after the traditional 3-point contest, just before the slam dunk contest.

Curry will shoot from the NBA 3-point line and will use NBA basketballs. Ionescu will shoot from the WNBA 3-point line and use WNBA basketballs. Each shot made will result in a donation from State Farm to the NBA Foundations to support economic empowerment in the Black community.

Ionescu holds the best 3-point contest performance in NBA or WNBA history and Curry has made more 3-point shots than anyone who’s ever played at the highest level. So the competition will be fierce!

According to the Associated Press, Ionescu said, “It’s going to be a great experience for us both” and Curry added, “It’s an authentic competition between two great shooters.” 

The winner on Saturday night will walk about with the ultimate in bragging rights.

“I think a lot of people are either on one side or the other of their reactions, like this dopest thing in the world, it’s the first of its kind and it’ll be something that kind of changes the narrative of what it looks like,” Curry said.

“But then also, there is the camp that’s like, ‘Oh, you’ve got a lot on the line. You really want to take on that challenge? What if you lose?’ There’s a lot of fear attached to it, really, I guess. This is what sports is about.”  

The finale of the basketball-filled weekend will be the 73rd NBA All-Star Game on Sunday at 8 p.m. ET. This year's game is going back to the classic matchup of Eastern Conference vs. Western Conference with a traditional scoring system of four 12-minute quarters.

Team Giannis Antetokounmpo will be going up against Team LeBron James.

The East Team: Antetokounmpo, Milwaukee Bucks; Joel Embiid, Philadelphia 76ers; Tyrese Haliburton, Indiana Pacers; Damian Lillard, Bucks; Jayson Tatum, Boston Celtics; Bam Adebayo, Miami Heat; Paolo Banchero, Magic; Jaylen Brown, Celtics; Jalen Brunson, New York Knicks; Tyrese Maxey, 76ers; Donovan Mitchell, Cleveland Cavaliers; Julius Randle, Knicks; Trae Young, Atlanta Hawks; Scottie Barnes, Toronto Raptors.

The West Team: James, LA Lakers; Luka Doncic, Dallas Mavericks; Kevin Durant, Phoenix Suns; Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Oklahoma City Thunder; Nikola Jokic, Denver Nuggets; Devin Booker, Suns; Steph Curry, Golden State Warriors; Anthony Davis, Lakers; Anthony Edwards, Minnesota Timberwolves; Paul George, LA Clippers; Kawki Leonard, Clippers; Karl-Anthony Towns, Timberwolves.

Find out more information about the weekend and the full event schedule here.