NBA All-Star Weekend

The NBA All-Star game and its surrounding festivities are always one of my favorite parts of the season. Yes, the weekend doesn’t count for anything in the standings, but that hasn’t stopped the game or the other events from garnering excellent ratings and millions of ad dollars.

There’s not only betting action on the All-Star game itself and the game’s MVP, but plenty of other competitions, such as the Three-Point Contest, Dunk Contest, and Skills Competition.

I will analyze each of these events from a betting perspective. All our odds are from Bovada.lv (Full Review) and BetOnline.ag (Full Review) sportsbooks.

Three-Point Contest

More than any other event in All-Star Weekend, the Three-Point Contest is the most random. It’s not to say the best shooter that evening doesn’t deserve his title, but it often comes down to who gets hot on Saturday night and who gets the right bounces.

Klay Thompson won the Three-Point Contest last year and is once again favored to do so this year. BetOnline offers the best price for Thompson at +150 to win. The rest of the of the field is much more wide open. Kyrie Irving is the closest to Thompson regarding odds to win and can be found once again with the best price at BetOnline at +450.

Often, this contest is won by three-point specialists, rather than stars or elite talents, such as Thompson and Irving. Eric Gordon as has had a resurgent year in Houston as the sixth man and can be found at +900 at Bovada. Nick Young is another guy no one is talking about who can get hot and win this thing. He’s also +900 at Bovada.

Slam Dunk Contest

The Dunk Contest is the biggest event of all All-Star Weekend, aside from the All-Star game itself.

Aaron Gordon of the Orlando Magic firm favorite this year. He can be found at -150 at Bovada compared to -160 at BetOnline.ag. Zach LaVine, who won the title both past two years, was lost for the season a few weeks back. Gordon was nipping at his heels on both years and is justifiably an odds-on favorite.

Derrick Jones Jr. isn’t a popular NBA name for good reason. He’s just a rookie and has only played just over three minutes in seven games this season. However, he’s got some serious hops and has stated that will ‘know who I am’ after the Dunk Contest. Derrick Jones has the best price at BetOnline at +140.

Glenn Robinson III seems to the name that no one is talking about. The Pacers swingman should be able to hold his own in this contest and has the largest difference in odds between Bovada and BetOnline we’ve seen so far. His odds dropped on Bovada from +900 to +750, but he still stands as a great value at BetOnline where bettors can still grab an excellent price at +1400.

DeAndre Jordan is a bit of an afterthought for me in this contest. While he’s a dominant player in the paint, big men never seem to do well in this competition. If you’re still interested, the best price available is +1110 at Bovada.

Skills Competition

The Skills Competition doesn’t receive as much attention as the Three-Point and Dunk contests, but it’s an underrated competition and one of the coolest parts of All-Star weekend. The players involved range from guards to 7-foot big men.

Isiah Thomas and John Wall are neck and neck as favorites, with odds to win at +200 and +225, respectively, at both sites. They’re both good wagers, with the rest of the field considerably harder to predict.

It’s worth noting that Joel Embiid was scheduled to participate in this event, but has now been replaced by Nuggets Center, Nikola Jokic. Jokic isn’t currently listed at BetOnline but is +1400 at Bovada. He’s considerably more agile and quick than Cousins and Porzingis, making him an attractive flier that may come with a big payday if he should win the competition.