The Inside the NBA crew took to the airwaves, prior to Thursday night’s game between to the San Antonio Spurs and the Brooklyn Nets, to draft the BBVA Compass Rising Stars teams and announce the entrants in All-Star Saturday’s feature events—the Footlocker Three-Point Shootout and the Sprite Slam Dunk Contest.
First up, the draft—which had some hilarious bickering between co-GMs Chris Webber and Kenny Smith over the first pick of the draft. Webber selected New Orleans Pelicans big man Anthony Davis without consulting his elder co-GM.
Team Hill, helmed by co-GMs Grant Hill and Charles Barkley, then made the second pick.
With the second pick in the #BBVACompassRisingStars draft, @realgranthill33 selects @Dame_Lillard to #TeamHill.
— NBA (@NBA) February 7, 2014
Let’s go #TeamHill! @realgranthill33#BBVACompassRisingStars
— Damian Lillard (@Dame_Lillard) February 7, 2014
In addition to Friday night’s BBVA Compass Rising Stars game, the Portland Trail Blazers announced (via Twitter) Lillard’s intent to defend his title as champion of the Taco Bell Skills Challenge on Saturday.
No surprise here, @Dame_Lillard will defend his Taco Bell Skills Challenge trophy at All-Star Saturday Night #LillardTime
— Trail Blazers (@trailblazers) February 7, 2014
Additionally, Lillard will be participating in each of the remaining two Saturday night events, the Footlocker Three-Point Shootout and the Sprite Slam Dunk Contest.
.@Dame_Lillard is IN the #FootLockerThree Shootout! #LillardTimepic.twitter.com/kPG30O0JTU
— Trail Blazers (@trailblazers) February 7, 2014
#SpriteSlam at #NBAAllStar #StateFarmSaturday: @Paul_George24 @T_DotFlight31 @John_Wall @HBarnes @Dame_Lillard & @BenMcLemore
— NBA All-Star (@NBAAllStar) February 7, 2014
OFFICIAL: @Dame_Lillard Is First Player To Compete In Three Events At All-Star Saturday Night http://t.co/wZ5Pb8kWrG pic.twitter.com/n3gWNIqXLl
— Trail Blazers (@trailblazers) February 7, 2014
Of course, all of this is in addition to having been voted by NBA coaches as an All-Star reserve for Sunday’s big game. That gives Lillard a full slate for the weekend.
In all 5 events at this year’s @NBAAllStar weekend!
— Damian Lillard (@Dame_Lillard) February 7, 2014
With such an busy schedule, it may benefit both Lillard and the Blazers knowing that they have a total of five nights off leading up to and after the All-Star weekend. That may have even factored into his decision to do it all.
It will most certainly be interesting to see how well he fares in the Slam Dunk Contest after expending both energy and concentration in the Skills and Three-Point competitions.
The question remains, will Lillard find success in any of this year’s competitions?
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Michael writes the Tweet of the Day for SheridanHoops.com and is also a correspondent for BleacherReport.com. Follow @mbrumagin