Watch for These 'Passing of the Torch' Moments at 2015 NBA All-Star Game
The NBA All-Star Game is an exhibition, a celebration, a proving ground and, sometimes, a generational pivot point. Old and new eras collide as greats running out of time wave goodbye, soon to be replaced by boisterous youth shouting their hellos.
The 2015 edition will be one of those rare torch-passing entries in All-Star lore, and we'll see past-to-future handoffs in more ways than one. On an individual basis, there'll be a "changing of the point guard." More broadly, we'll see new trends in style replacing old ones.
Missed Connection
Unfortunately, injury will prevent us from seeing what might have been the most significant transitional moment since the one we got in 1998, when Kobe Bryant and Michael Jordan clashed (Jordan won the MVP in that game, outscoring Kobe 23-18 because, of course, he's MJ).
This year's version of that superstar showdown would have featured LeBron James and Anthony Davis. The former is the best player of his generation, and the latter, at just 21 years of age, has been redefining the ceiling for statistical greatness this season.
But a sprained shoulder will keep Davis from participating in the game.
There's still a chance that a younger superstar will take a run at James—Kevin Durant, Stephen Curry and James Harden are all candidates—but seeing Davis matched up with James, even for just a few possessions, would have been a real treat.
More than that, it could have represented the game's reigning king giving way to the heir to the throne.
We'll have to wait until next year for that.
Breaking Point
Chris Paul has held the unofficial title as the NBA's best point guard for a while now. He's been an All-NBA first-teamer three years running and collected 74.1 percent of the vote for "league's best point guard" in the most recent NBA general manager survey. Even now, at 29, CP3's game is as sharp as it's ever been.
Stephen Curry's is sharper.
The Golden State Warriors' mold-shattering lead guard forces defenses into conundrums Paul has never been able to create. Curry's shooting off the dribble stretches opponents in uncomfortable ways, which spaces the floor and allows for breathtaking dribble drives and slick passes.
What Curry lacks in strength and veteran trickery he makes up for with unparalleled shooting accuracy and free-spirited creativity. All told, he's besting Paul in real plus-minus (Curry leads the league, per ESPN.com), true-shooting percentage and win shares, per Basketball-Reference.com. Not to mention, Curry secured more fan votes than anyone in the entire contest—Paul included, obviously.
Paul has made a career out of refusing to give an inch on the court. He scraps for every advantage, sometimes running right up to the edge of decent sportsmanship in the process. This is a guy who won't willingly relinquish his point guard crown.
Curry, based on performance this season, has taken it anyway.
Now, these two will be on the same West squad on Sunday. That means we won't see a head-to-head matchup.
But this year's All-Star Game will still mark the moment Curry moved ahead of one of the greats.
Treys Over Dunks
No, the Three-Point Contest isn't part of the actual All-Star Game. But it's just too big of a transitional event to leave out.
Just look at this field:
Kyle Korver called it "the best group that's been in the three-point contest since I've been in the NBA," per Shaun Powell of NBA.com.
It's more than that, though.
These aren't specialists. These are MVP candidates and max-salary superstars. Of the four 50-point games in the league this season, the participants in the shootout have three of them. Five of these guys are in the actual All-Star Game, and three (Harden, Curry and Klay Thompson) will start.
When compared to the relative unknowns in the Slam Dunk Contest, which used to be the marquee event on All-Star Saturday, the marksmen in this year's contest are straight-up A-listers.
If that doesn't tell you the NBA is now a shooter's league, I'm not sure what does.
As B/R's Zach Buckley wrote, "The NBA's three-point revolution is real. It has been for a while now. All-Star Weekend will only help hammer that point home."
So long, dunkers. Your time's up.
The Rise of Chemistry
The NBA has long thrived on the strength of its individual superstars, but something may be changing this season. And we'll see evidence of it in the All-Star Game.
Four Atlanta Hawks will participate in the contest, a nod to one of the season's best stories: the elevation of collective play. Atlanta's sterling, East-leading record is the product of talent—there's no mistaking that, and raw skill will always be undeniably vital. But it's also built on a collective system, an unselfishness engineered by head coach Mike Budenholzer, who adopted much of it from the San Antonio Spurs, where he coached under Gregg Popovich for two decades.
"The Hawks’ unselfish, no-nonsense approach works in a place known for celebrating the flashiest things," wrote Sekou Smith of NBA.com. "Budenholzer’s constant preaching of belief in the system, the process and ultimately one another, has forged a bond between this team and players like nothing we’ve seen from the crew with the second-longest playoff streak in the league behind the reigning world champion San Antonio Spurs."
The Hawks share the ball, making each other better in the process. And they're not alone.
The best team in the West, the Warriors, have returned essentially the same core from last year's 51-win team—only now, they've shunned isolation play and kept the rock hopping. The result: a whopping 42 wins at the All-Star break.
Golden State is tied for the league lead in assist ratio after ranking ninth last year, per NBA.com. Nobody averages more secondary assists (the pass that leads to the pass that creates a bucket) than the Dubs do with 8.1 per contest.
Sharing the ball and trusting a system are the new realities in the NBA. And you don't have to look very hard to see evidence of that fact: There'll be six representatives from the Dubs and Hawks in New York, and Steve Kerr and Budenholzer will be on the sidelines calling the shots.
Maybe the game itself will feature as much one-on-one action as it always has. But more and more of the key figures involved are products and evidence of the rise of unselfishness in the NBA.
Sign of the Times
The All-Star Game serves as a time capsule for the season it represents and also points at what's coming next.
This year's version will commemorate the elevated profile of outside shooting and unselfish play. But it's important to remember that we're not at any sort of end point on either front. The league is constantly evolving, and as new stars step into roles vacated by old ones, they'll accelerate the changes.
So as we watch Curry overtake Paul, shooters displace dunkers and ball movement erase isolation, we should recognize we're watching a snapshot of the 2014-15 NBA season.
But we should also keep in mind that this is only the beginning.
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