#star-weekend

#star-weekend

The official announcement of the full class won't come until this weekend, but Adrian Wojnarowski has reported what longed seemed to be a formality: two-time Lakers champion and six-time NBA All-Star Pau Gasol will be inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame as part of a star-studded 2023 class.

The NBA announced over All-Star Weekend the finalists for the 2023 class for the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.Headlining the group is former Laker Pau Gasol along with Dirk Nowitzki, Dwyane Wade and Gregg Popovich.The inductees will be announced during the NCAA Final Four in Houston this year in April.

Former Lakers two-way center and South Bay standout Jay Huff is the latest part of the Wizards-LA pipeline after reportedly signing a two-way contract with Washington on Wednesday.Huff had multiple versions of stints with the Lakers from two-way contracts, Summer League signings and a cameo in the NBA itself.

As the NBA All-Star game occurs in Salt Lake City, the Miami Heat do have representation.With the big man, Bam Adebayo, making his second NBA All-Star appearance they will be well represented on Sunday night.And though they were well represented on Saturday night as well, it wasn't, at all, the best showing.

Welcome to Friday, folks!Hopefully your week has gone OK thus far.If not, hang in there - the weekend is in sight.The Bruins stumbled last night in a 3-2 loss to Tampa Bay, ending their five-game winning streak against the Bolts.Unfortunately, they have to stick around Florida for another couple days, as they'll play the Panthers in Sunrise tomorrow evening.

Feb 9, 2023



Ryan S. ClarkNHL reporter

CloseRyan S. Clark is an NHL reporter for ESPN.Vladimir Tarasenko finally has a new home, and it's with the New York Rangers.Tarasenko and defenseman Niko Mikkola were traded Thursday by the St. Louis Blues in exchange for forward Sammy Blais, defensive prospect Hunter Skinner, a conditional 2023 first-round pick and a conditional 2024 fourth-round pick.

Here are today's news and links:


Mollie Walker chatted with Ben Harpur about how the veteran defenseman has handled going from a lineup regular to a frequent resident of the press box as of late (NY Post)
Andrew Crane notes that although the Rangers weren't able to defeat the Winnipeg Jets on Monday, Vladimir Tarasenko's strong effort is one positive to be taken away from that game (NY Post)
Colin Stephenson details the struggles Igor Shesterkin has experienced since returning from his time at All-Star weekend in Florida earlier in the month (Newsday)
Colton Pankiw lists the Blueshirts as one of three teams that could look to acquire Tanner Jeannot from the Nashville Predators (The Hockey Writers)




Eric Engels ponders whether or not the New Jersey Devils could be in the market for Montreal Canadiens' forward Josh Anderson if he were to be moved (Sportsnet)
Toronto Maple Leafs' forward Ryan O'Reilly recorded a hat trick for his first three goals in Toronto as he led his team to a 6-3 victory over the Buffalo Sabres (ESPN)

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The New York Rangers are 9-2-2 since the start of the calendar year.In their last 27 contests, they've recorded points in 22 of them.The usual culprits have been major reasons why.Mika Zibanejad, Artemi Panarin, Adam Fox, and Igor Shesterkin have shrugged off slow starts to lead a team that is hitting its stride before the trade deadline.

With the Skills Competition in the rear view mirror, the 2023 NHL All-Star Game is set to happen today.The format is the same as its been in previous years with 3-on-3 play being the game state.The Central and Pacific Division All-Stars will clash at approximately 3:00 before giving way to Artemiy Panarin, Adam Fox, Igor Shesterkin, and the rest of the Metropolitan Division team as the square off against the Atlantic Division.

The NHL changed things up a bit this year and announced the first 32 players that will participate in the All-Star weekend on February 3rd and 4th at the Florida Panthers ' home rink, FLA Live Arena.Each team had one player announced and for the Rangers, it was of course the Czar himself, Igor Shesterkin.

When the All-Star Game reserves were announced last week, fans around the league were shocked to find that Pascal Siakam had NOT been voted into the Eastern Conference All-Star reserves.Siakam has been having an incredible season, averaging 25.0 points, 8.0 rebounds and 6.2 assists on the season so far.

Celtics BOSTON (AP) - The Celtics got back their offensive and defensive spark plugs.Together, they gave Boston the jolt it needed to head into the All-Star break on track to accomplish all its goals this season.Jayson Tatum scored 38 points, including 24 in the third quarter, and the Celtics rolled to a 127-109 victory over the Detroit Pistons on Wednesday night.

Poor Auston.The dude probably just wants to spend a week away from hockey and go somewhere to let all the aches in his body heal up for a week before coming back to Toronto for the final push down the stretch.Unfortunately, NHL All-Star voters had different plans for him and he'll now sign autographs and greet sponsors for a week at the NHL All-Star Game.

Kyle Kuzma began his career as a fan favorite for the Los Angeles Lakers but quickly became the scapegoat for all of the issues going on with the organization, and there are a lot.Since he's been on the Washington Wizards following a trade including Russell Westbrook, he has been fantastic.The former NBA Champion has always played a secondary role to other elite players on his team, but this season, he is one of the elite players.

The razzle-dazzle of All-Star weekend is behind us.Back to the reality of pushing for the fantasy playoffs.Hope your leagues combined the last two weeks in head-to-head, as a number of NHL clubs have either crammed in the action or haven't played for a while.And an inconsistent schedule could initially result in decreased performances and/or increased injuries.

SAN JOSE - Following a first half for the ages, San Jose Sharks defenseman Erik Karlsson - to no one's surprise - was selected to play in this year's NHL All-Star Game.Karlsson on Thursday was among 32 players, one from each team, chosen to participate in the NHL's all-star weekend festivities, which take place Feb. 3-4 at FLA Live Arena in Sunrise, Florida.

Mitch Marner will once again be one of the players representing the Toronto Maple Leafs at NHL All-Star Weekend.The 25-year-old, along with one player from each of the other 31 NHL teams, was selected on Thursday night by the NHL to travel to Florida for the All-Star festivities.The announcement came in the first intermission of the Washington Capitals and Columbus Blue Jackets game.

What's with all hell breaking loose in these Next Gen games?In the span of 1:23 in the third, Toronto's three goal lead shrank to one, but that's as close as the visitors would get.At any rate, they found a way to get the job done.That's all that matters.William Nylander notched a goal and two helpers while Mitch Marner had one and one as the Leafs outlasted the Flyers 4-3 to win their sixth in a row at home.

The Premier Hockey Federation announced on Thursday that its 2023 All-Star festivities will be held in Toronto this coming January.This will be the first time that the PHF has held an All-Star weekend in Toronto, and in Canada.The 2022 event was supposed to be in Toronto, but due to Ontario's COVID-19 restrictions, it was moved to Buffalo.

When Quentin Grimes wrecked the competition in Friday night's Rising Stars competition, it looked like the Knicks might have a lot of success during All-Star weekend.Sadly, this was not the case.To be honest, Saturday and Sunday night were a couple of duds.Let's start with the three-point contest.Julius Randle was a last-minute replacement, which earned the ire of many three-point efficiency simps on Twitter.

After a mixed-bag performance from the select New York Knicks at All-Star weekend, the team is again whole as they travel to Washington D.C. to take on the Wizards.They may be wholer than they've been in a while, with Mitchell Robinson listed as questionable; if he can play it'll be his first action since injuring his thumb five weeks ago.

This week host Cathryn Naiker is joined by Toronto's own, Es Baraheni, to discuss the NBA championship hopefuls, the playoff contenders, and the upcoming NBA All-Star weekend.And the Nick Nurse Hottie Highlight is STRESSED.Make sure to check all our Raptors podcasts; all Buckets & Tea episodes are available separately as well.

The Toronto Raptors are fairly well represented at All-Star Weekend for a team that has been mired in chaos and has tons of questions surrounding them.Pascal Siakam will play in the actual All-Star game, but Scottie Barnes got things kicked off at the Rising Stars Game.After being on the wrong end of an embarrassing performance during last year's Skills Challenge alongside Tyrese Maxey, Barnes sought redemption in this game series.

On this episode, we talk about a potentially exciting last quarter of the season, which Raptor will have a strong finish to the season, All-Star Weekend changes and the current state of parity in the NBA.Season 10, Episode 279
FIRST HALF: RAPTORS TALK
Are the Raptors that much better with Poeltl and is that enough to get you excited for the last quarter of the season?

Morning Sports Update "So I say, 'OK, let's go visit Bill Belichick.'"The Bruins dominated the Predators 5-0 on Thursday, running the team's record to 41-8-5.The Celtics are paused for NBA All-Star weekend.Joe Mazzulla, announced as the team's full-time head coach on Thursday (removing the interim tag), will direct Team Giannis in the All-Star Game.

The Washington Wizards won't be featured on NBA All-Star Weekend despite getting hot lately.But we know that at least some of you will watch the events.So here is the schedule for the main events this weekend in Salt Lake City.Friday, Feb. 17
All-Star Celebrity Game (ESPN) at 7 p.m. ET
This game features celebrities in acting, music, former NBA players and WNBA players.

After an active and highlight-filled first half, LeBron James was ruled out of Sunday's All-Star Game for the remainder of the contest with a right hand injury.LeBron scored 13 points in the opening two quarters.The NBA says LeBron is out for the remainder of the game with a hand injury.-Kyle Goon (@kylegoon)
February 20, 2023
Looking at this with a glass-half-full approach, LeBron did not at all seem bothered by his hand during the halftime ceremony honoring him as the new all-time scoring leader.

The Toronto Raptors had some representation during All-Star Weekend in Salt Lake City.Not only was second-year standout Scottie Barnes a part of a Rising Stars team that won their respective competition, but Pascal Siakam w as an All-Star nominee for the second time in his career.Siakam was documenting everything on video, all while doing his best Shaquille O'Neal impression thanks to an old-school camcorder.

While the Lakers may have come away better at the trade deadline, they buried themselves in a rather deep hole in the Western Conference standings, leaving them quite an uphill battle to make the playoffs.It's not an insurmountable hill to summit, but it is one that the team is quickly running out of time to climb.

The Lakers ' late-season push looks set to start off on the right foot...literally.Ahead of Thursday's return to action against the Warriors, LeBron James is listed as probable with left foot soreness.LeBron missed two of the last three games prior to the All-Star break with the same injury.For a number of reasons, this is an encouraging sign.

Since the NBA introduced the current format for the All-Star game that features a pair of captains drafting teams, LeBron James has never not been one of the two selected and 2023 will be no different.For the sixth-straight year, LeBron has been selected as an All-Star Game captain, the league announced on TNT on Thursday.

This NBA season definitely hasn't gone how Chicago Bulls fans had been hoping, but you can flip your fortunes starting this weekend thanks to FanDuel Sportsbook.Bulls fans have access to a risk-free bet worth up to $1,000 when they sign up with FanDuel for the first time.No matter what you wager on, you can't lose your first bet as long as you follow the steps listed below.

The Washington Wizards have 24 games left in the regular season where they have a shot to make it to the NBA play-in round, if not the playoffs altogether.They will come into this game well-rested after spending over a week off due to the All-Star Break.By all accounts, this All-Star Weekend had its moments.

Our latest episode of the Hot Hot Hoops Miami Heat NBA Podcast is here!HHH writers Daniel Riccio, Brandon Di Perno, and Matt Hanifan give their thoughts on another lackluster NBA All-Star weekend, the buyout acquisitions of Kevin Love and Cody Zeller, the varying degrees of what Love's impact could be and making sense of Kevin Lowry's role moving forward for the final stretch of the regular season.

It's no wonder Nic Claxton was running on dead legs.Claxton, the gifted starting Nets center and imposing rim protector, played a total of 1,592 minutes in the 54 games he played before the All-Star break.In his first three seasons in Brooklyn, he tallied just 1,755 minutes across 94 total games.The fourth-year big man who enjoyed a breakout start to the season as an early dark horse candidate for Defensive Player of the Year simply ran out of gas - at an inopportune moment when both Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving orchestrated their respective trades out of Brooklyn.

It could have been worse.The Nets could have left Friday's 131-87 blowout loss to the Chicago Bulls owners of the fewest points scored in a game this season.Instead, they left owners of the fewest points scored in a half all year.The Nets scored just 29 points in the first half behind an offense that sputtered from start to finish.

After hauling in more fan votes than any other Eastern Conference player in each of the first two returns of All-Star votes, Nets star Kevin Durant fell to second place while sitting with a sprained MCL in the third and final vote returns.Milwaukee's All-Star Giannis Antetokounmpo moved ahead of Durant by 132,014 votes on Thursday.

Sara ZieglerReporting for the Sports desk Sara ZieglerReporting for the Sports desk AJ Mast for The New York Times This weekend will be the first since Labor Day without any N.F.L. content (yes, including the Pro Bowl).But the sports world isn't taking any time to catch its breath.In fact, one of the busiest seasons on the calendar is approaching.

Sports equipment manufacturer Wilson has launched a prototype 3D-printed airless basketball that, unlike traditional balls, does not need to be inflated.Made from an elastomeric polymer developed by Wilson, the airless ball has a see-through lattice structure with hexagonal holes that allow air to pass through it.

The Boston Bruins have gained a number of new fans during their historic start including "Happy Gilmore" himself.David Pastrnak was one of the Bruins' representatives at NHL All-Star Weekend in South Florida as he took part in the Breakaway Challenge on Friday night.Drawing inspiration from a historic figure in Bruins history, the 26-year-old donned a retro Bruins jersey with "Gilmore 18" on the back.

It felt like a forgone conclusion due to the way Boston Bruins star forward David Pastrnak has played this season.But it became official Thursday night after Boston's 3-1 win over the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden as Pastrnak is headed back to the NHL All-Star Game.Pastrnak, 26, earned the third All-Star selection of his career by way of fan vote - he was one of 12 players to gain entry into the game in that fashion.

The Bruins will have three representatives at All-Star Weekend in South Florida, as David Pastrnak was unveiled as one of the 12 players voted in by fans.Pastrnak will join Linus Ullmark and Jim Montgomery as fellow Bruins spending the weekend in Sunrise.Pastrnak was really a no-brainer All-Star, and it's silly that it took the fan vote to get him there, but that's neither here nor there.

The PHF announced the lineups for their All-Star weekend in Toronto yesterday.There will be three teams of 15 players each, one US team, a Canadian team and a team of representatives of the rest of the word.The Pride led the way with nine current players selected, Metropolitan also had nine.The Pride also have three alumni playing in the game, Denisa Křížová and Tereza Vanišová representing Team World and Amanda Pelkey will be on the US squad.

Bruins Montgomery and Cassidy have led the Bruins and Golden Knights to the top of their respective divisions.Both Jim Montgomery and Bruce Cassidy have led their teams to the top of their respective divisions during the 2022-23 NHL season.Both Jim Montgomery and Bruce Cassidy's teams sit at the top of their respective divisions at the midway point of the 2022-23 NHL season.

The 2023 NHL All-Star Game will take place on February 4, the second night of All-Star weekend.Before the puck drops, make sure you gear up.The NHL All-Star Game is nearly upon us.We're just over a week from the festivities, which include a dunk tank, a speed skating competition, a golf-hockey hybrid and more.

The Miami Heat have their own regular season games to win and worry about but among it all, NBA All-Star Weekend is coming up, and with that comes All-Star voting.The first two rounds of voting already showed LeBron James and Kevin Durant leading in votes.For the Miami Heat, Jimmy Butler was one of the leading candidates in the Eastern Conference frontcourt.

Here are today's news and links:


     Highlights: CHI 5, NYR 2 (4:55 video via NHL.com)Game Recap: Chicago had entered last night's game having lost their previous eight, but the Rangers were unable to extend that streak to nine as their early season woes continued (CBS)
     Mollie Walker writes that the Blueshirts are unlikely to be a suitor for Patrick Kane when the trade deadline approaches if they aren't able to win more games (NY Post)
     Walker also notes that with Zac Jones' demotion and Ben Harpur's recall from AHL Hartford, Libor Hajek appears to have locked up the sixth defenseman job for now (NY Post)
     Colin Stephenson evaluates the strides Kaapo Kakko and Alexis LAfreniere have made in their pro careers thus far (Newsday)
     Vincent Mercogliano offers his takeaways from last night's embarrassing defeat (LoHud)
     Arthur $taple di$cu$$e$ how big hit$ and a pair of fight$ from Jacob Trouba weren't enough to rally the team back from hi$ atrociou$ play on the ice (The Athletic)




     Detroit Red Wings' forward Tyler Bertuzzi underwent surgery on his left hand and is expected to be out for six weeks (TSN)
     With a potential World Cup of Hockey in 2024 postponed, the city of Toronto has emerged as a potential host for the 2024 All-Star Weekend (Sportsnet)