The 2020 dunk contest may sadly become known for the absolute travesty that was the judging. Derrick Jones, Jr. technically won the event, even though Aaron Gordon produced five straight perfect scores and then somehow got a 47 despite dunking over a 7’5 guy on the first try. Gordon should have two titles by now. Instead, he was beat unfairly by Zach LaVine in 2016 and defeated even more unfairly by Jones this time.

NBA All-Star Weekend is a love letter to the most beautiful superfluousness that we’ve come to associate with basketball, its most successful professional sports league, and all the gravitational characters who make it worth treasuring. It’s a time to celebrate physics-obliterating athleticism, unteachable skill, and every spectacle that dances on the periphery.

The 2020 NBA All-Star Game tipped off with a Kobe Bryant tribute, sung by Jennifer Hudson. Hudson, who has one of the best voices of our generation, pulled off the performance you would expect: flawless, emotional, and moving. She even broke briefly at the start, reminding us how real this situation is.

Los Angeles Lakers center Dwight Howard made his return to the Slam Dunk contest at the 2020 NBA All-Star Weekend, but was eliminated by placing last in the first round despite a cool tribute to Lakers legend Kobe Bryant.

Howard’s second dunk saw him bust out the Kobe Bryant tribute most assumed was coming after Howard had revealed that Bryant was planning to help him in the dunk contest this year before his tragic passing.

Alex Caruso is the best kept secret in the NBA, or at least that was the case when the season started. However, as time has passed, Caruso has shown how he can be a difference-maker in the right role, and people are starting to take notice, including Lakers head coach Frank Vogel.

Picture yourself on a haunted house ride at your favorite amusement park. You’ll be spooked by pop-out faces, fluorescent lights, and ominous sounds, but you don’t know exactly how, where, or when they will hit you. Intellectually, you know there’s nothing to really fear and you’ll eventually finish the exhibit unscathed. But as soon as you enter that front door, those rational thoughts give way to base fears that you can’t escape. You scream. You yelp. You gasp. You lose your nerve. You’re scared shitless. And you forget, for a brief moment, that the ride is all an illusion.

Even with Giannis Antetokounmpo missing due to the joyous birth of his first son, Liam Charles Antetokounmpo, the Milwaukee Bucks still mustered up a victory over the Sacramento Kings 123-111. Now, they have one last game awaiting before most of the team gets a prolonged break during All-Star Weekend.

Steve Stoute was hired by the Knicks to help change the perception of the franchise, but it sounds like his job should be to make sure things like his own interview on ESPN’s First Take don’t happen.

Reasonable minds can quibble about when, exactly, Jayson Tatum became the best player on the Boston Celtics. There’s no official date everyone will agree on, but let’s call Jan. 11, 2020, a safe compromise. That night the Celtics beat the New Orleans Pelicans by 35 points. Tatum, who on Monday was named the Eastern Conference’s Player of the Week, scored a career-best 41 on only 22 shots. He grabbed six rebounds, tallied four assists, stole the ball three times, and did not turn it over once.

The Memphis Grizzlies had to feel good about the state of their rebuild from the moment they hurdled six teams in the lottery to land the No. 2 overall pick in the 2019 NBA Draft. Memphis’ transition out of the Grit-n-Grind era was already in full swing at that point: Zach Randolph and Tony Allen were long gone, and Marc Gasol was sent to Toronto at the trade deadline. The next generation of the Grizzlies would be shaped by 30-year-old general manager Zach Kleiman, and soon 35-year-old head coach Taylor Jenkins. Securing the No. 2 pick was all Memphis needed for the second phase of its bold makeover.