Duke Basketball: All Star Weekend to be filled with former Blue Devils

As the NBA’s All-Star Break approaches, there will be many former Duke Basketball players participating int he various activities of All-Star Weekend.

The the first half of the NBA season wraps up, the focus of the league shifts to Charlotte, North Carolina as the best in the league will assemble for All-Star Weekend.

With many former Duke Blue Devils taking the league by storm, there will be many familiar faces floating around Charlotte this weekend.

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The weekend tips off on Friday night with the NBA Celebrity All-Star Game, headlined by former Blue Devil Jay Williams.

Williams will be on the ‘Home’ team, which is coached by Dawn Stanley, the head coach of the South Carolina Women’s Basketball team.

As a three year player in Durham, Williams was able to help capture a National Championship for Duke as well as receiving The Wooden and Naismith Awards.

Williams’ best season at Duke came in the 2000-01 season where he averaged a career high 21.6 points per game to go along with a 47.3% field goal percentage and 42.7% from 3-point range, culminating in Duke’s third National Championship.

The Celebrity All-Star Game starts at 7:00 pm ET on Friday night and can be seen on ESPN.

Once the Celebrity All-Star Game concludes, it’s time for the Mountain Dew Ice Rising Stars Challenge.

In a match up between the best first and second year players in the NBA representing Team USA and Team World, Jayson Tatum and Marvin Bagley III will suit up for Team USA on Friday night.

In his second season with the Boston Celtics, Tatum is averaging 16.5 points, 6.3 rebounds, and 1.9 assists per game as Boston is looking to climb up the Eastern Conference Standings.

With the surprising and young Sacramento Kings, Marvin Bagley III is averaging 13.3 points, 6.9 rebounds, and 1.0 blocks per game in his rookie season.

Tatum and Bagley will look to down Team World at 9:00pm ET on Friday night on TNT.

Moving to All-Star Saturday night, Tatum is right back in the spotlight, getting things started in the Taco Bell Skills Challenge at 8:00 pm ET on TNT, before Seth Curry will take over in the Mountain Dew 3-Point Contest.

After signing a deal in the off-season with the Portland Trail Blazers, Curry will head back to his hometown this weekend, looking to put on a show along side his brother, Stephen Curry.

Curry is averaging 6.2 points per game with Portland this season, while shooting 46.5% from 3-point range and is a career 44.0% 3-point shooter.

There are no former Blue Devils in the AT&T Slam Dunk Content, but one more former Blue Devils may be in action on Sunday evening.

Kyrie Irving was the only former Blue Devils to be selected to the NBA All-Star Game. Irving is slated to be a starter on Team LeBron, but he has been sidelined in the last two games before the All-Star Break with a knee injury.

Irving’s status for the NBA All-Star Game has yet to be determined.

The NBA All-Star Game will be on TNT, starting at 8:00 pm ET on Sunday, February 17.

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