The All Star Weekend is upon us for season 2025-26, with a new-look format designed to spice things up. What can we expect from the All Star Game, and who will take out the Dunk and Three-Point Contest titles?
All Star Weekend Best Bets
There’s plenty of value on offer this weekend, largely because there’s so much uncertainty surrounding this edition of All Star Weekend.
We’ve got four extremely low-profile players in the Dunk Contest, with very little sample size to work from. There are fresh faces in the Three-Point Contest, although they’ve dragged Damian Lillard back despite recovering from a ruptured Achilles. Then there’s the All Star Game itself.
This brand new concept could be a smash hit or another complete disaster for the NBA. Unfortunately, I’m leaning towards the latter. That said, there’s still value to be found.
Dunk Contest
There’s a sense of nostalgia with Jase Richardson following in the footsteps of his dad, Jason, who won this event back in 2003.
Being an explosive guard will definitely work in Richardson’s favour.
He’s got a deep back-catalog of Dunk Contest dunks from his high school days, and there’s no doubt he’ll roll out a Golden State Warriors throwback for bonus points.
Three-Point Contest
This will be Jamal Murray’s first appearance in the Three-Point Contest, but don’t let that deter you. Tyler Herro won as a first-time entrant last year, and eight of the last 15 winners were competing for the first time.
Murray fits the profile perfectly. He’s shooting 43.2% from deep on 7.5 attempts per game this season, placing him squarely in the historical sweet spot for volume and efficiency. At 28 years old, he’s right in the prime-age window where the median winner has sat over the last 15 years.
We’ve seen Murray hit huge shots in the playoffs for Denver time and time again. He won’t be fazed by the moment, and at this price he’s well worth backing.
All Star Game
It’s hard to build a genuine analytical case around such an unusual format, but I’m leaning towards the USA Stars led by Anthony Edwards.
They hold a clear size advantage over USA Stripes, who feature older stars such as Durant and LeBron but no genuine bigs. As for Team World, I’m not convinced they’ll care enough. We’ve seen Luka and Jokic treat these games lightly in the past, and Doncic won’t even take the floor due to injury.
The USA Stars have enough competitiveness between Edwards and Booker, plus the athleticism of Johnson and Maxey, to capitalise if teams decide to take this even remotely seriously for a quarter or two.
All Star Game MVP
Who scores the most for the winning team? It was a coin flip between Anthony Edwards and Tyrese Maxey, but I couldn’t ignore the price on Ant-Man.
If anyone is going to take over, get buckets and play defence in this format, it’s Edwards. If he leads his team into the final, there’s every chance he’s on the floor the entire time with the ball in his hands, playing ultra-aggressive.
I’m genuinely surprised to see the Timberwolves star sitting ninth in the betting. If anyone is going to care about this All Star Game, it’s Ant.
