Storylines to Follow From the 2018 NBA All-Star Weekend

Who will be the next big winner?

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LeBron James #23 of the Cleveland Cavaliers and Anthony Davis #23 of the New Orleans Pelicans battle for the opening tip-off at the start of the 2017 NBA All-Star Game. (Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images)
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For some players, a good showing at the NBA All-Star weekend can create momentum that carries over for the rest of the season. More often than not, the winner of All-Star weekend usually comes from the skills events, instead of the All-Star game. Sports Illustrated tried to forecast who the next great star of the weekend will be. Donovan Mitchell’s name was tossed around, but one concern was that he is not going to be creative enough to really sell it on All-Star Saturday night. Dennis Smith Jr. was also brought up, because “the spectacle of watching him get up and be ridiculous is going to probably outshine everyone else.” In a video for Uninterrupted, Kevin Durant and LeBron James repeatedly referred to themselves as the two best players in the game and said that the pressure was essentially on them to set the tone for the rest of the game. Everyone else would follow their lead. However, Sports Illustrated’s Andrew Sharp says the thing to remember is that Steph Curry is a captain and Kevin Durant isn’t.

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