SI.com's John Hollinger weighs in with his forecast of the weekend's biggest games each Friday. This weekend he forecasts the All-Star Weekend events.
got milk? Rookie Challenge Sat., 4 p.m. EDT I'm having trouble with the name here, since half the players aren't rookies, the competition isn't particularly challenging, and none of them will be lugging milk up and down the court. But I digress. The sophs have the four best players with Pau Gasol, Richard Jefferson, Gilbert Arenas and Andrei Kirilenko, and their advantage at the guard spots is important since the big guys never touch the ball in these games anyway. Pick: Sophomores 104, Rookies 92
989 Sports Skills Challenge Sat., 8 p.m. EDT This is a new event, and it might even be interesting. Four of the league's best point guards -- Gary Payton, Jason Kidd, Stephon Marbury and Tony Parker -- will dribble through an obstacle course with stations for dribbling, passing and shooting. The shooting station should immediately disqualify Kidd, which means for the first time in his life, Marbury will get the best of him at something. Pick: Stephon Marbury
Jeep All-Star Hoop-It-Up Sat., following Skills Challenge Easily the most ridiculous event of the weekend, the Hoop-It-Up features an 'Atlanta' team consisting of Dominique Wilkins, Jason Terry, Sheryl Swoopes and actor Frankie Muniz, going against a 'Los Angeles' team of Corey Maggette, Lisa Leslie, Magic Johnson and actor Ashton Kutcher. You can immediately see the problem here for the Atlanta team -- Muniz is what, like a foot and a half shorter than Kutcher? Suffice it to say Malcolm won't be in the Middle in this game. If 'Kelso' isn't a complete spaz in real life, the L.A. team should romp. Pick: Los Angeles 43, Atlanta 35
1-800-CALL-ATT Shootout Sat., following Hoop-It-Up Finally, we're up to the good part. First, a message to the NBA: NO CARROT TOP. I repreat, DO NOT INVITE CARROT TOP TO THIS EVENT. We're sick of him. Enough already. On to the show. This year's participants are Antoine Walker, Wesley Person, David Wesley, Pat Garrity, Brent Barry and defending champion Peja Stojakovic. Walker was invited by a confused soul who thought it was a 3-point attempts contest, but the other five are legit. I saw on an online poll where 60 percent picked Peja, but I think you'd have to be nuts to pick against Barry. He has the motivation (he wants to be the first guy to win both the Dunk contest and the 3-point contest), and more important his no-jump, flick from under the chin release is perfectly designed for this event. Pick: Brent Barry
Sprite Rising Stars Slam-Dunk Sat., following Shootout Jason Richardson, Amare Stoudemire, Desmond Mason and Richard Jefferson are the only players taking part, so the good news is I have a one-in-four shot of getting this right. Stoudemire would be the first big guy to win it since Larry Nance, another Sun, won the original dunk contest, so he's a long shot. Defending champ Richardson can't jump off one foot and Jefferson is more of a glider than an explosive crowd-pleaser, which is why my money is on Mason to win for the second time in three years. Pick: Desmond Mason
East vs. West Sun., 8 p.m. EDT Finally, the main event: the first-ever prime time All-Star Game, featuring 23 of the greatest players in the game and Jamal Mashburn. There's a tendency to think the West will dominate because of the gaping disparity between the two conferences, but keep in mind that most of the West's best players are big guys, including Shaquille O'Neal and a slew of power forwards. That's key, because the history of All-Star games is that post players have about as much chance of receiving a pass as Janet Reno, and that should even things out quite a bit. However, guards Kobe Bryant and Steve Francis should still pull it out for the West. Pick: West 135, East 127
Last week: 9-1. Overall: 89-41.