Unlike recent seasons, there will only be one LA Clippers player at the All-Star Weekend festivities, the rookie point guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
Despite their lack of post-season success, the Clippers’ players tend to be involved in All-Star Weekend every year. Last year was the first time since the 2009-10 season that no LA Clippers were in the All-Star Game itself, with Chris Paul, Blake Griffin, DeAndre Jordan, and Chris Kaman each representing the team in that time frame. In the two-season drought, fans have been forced to watch Lou Williams and Tobias Harris be snubbed from the ASG in 2017-18 and 2018-19 respectively.
Like many aspects of the NBA world, the Three-Point Contest has never been too friendly to the Clippers. Only four players have participated in the Three Point Contest while being on the LA Clippers for a total of five appearances. Norm Nixon was first in 1986, followed by Quentin Richardson in 2002, J.J. Redick in both 2015 and 2016, and most recently Tobias Harris in 2018. Zero of these five appearances resulted in LAC winners.
However, the Clippers have had the opposite luck in the Slam-Dunk Contest. Still, with only five appearances from Brent Barry (1996), Corey Maggette (2001), Blake Griffin (2011), Eric Bledsoe (2013), and DeAndre Jordan (2017), the Clippers have managed to rack up two wins, courtesy of Barry and Griffin.
This season’s All-Star Weekend participant will be in none of these events. Rookie point guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander will represent for the Clippers in the Rising Stars Challenge, or the USA v. World game. SGA will be on team world, as he is from Toronto, Canada. Some of his notable teammates are as follows: Deandre Ayton, Luka Doncic, Lauri Markkanen, and Ben Simmons. This squad of foreign-born hoopers will play Team U.S., which consists of players such as Donovan Mitchell, Jayson Tatum, De’Aaron Fox, and John Collins.
It is sure to be an entertaining game as always, as with all All-Star Weekend events, defense goes on the back burner and the players focus solely on getting buckets. If you would like to watch the Rising Stars Challenge and to support Clippers rookie Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, you can tune in to TNT on Friday, February 15 at 6 p.m. PT/ 9 p.m. ET.