LaVine details All-Star experience in season like no other originally appeared on NBC Sports Chicago
Zach LaVine has seen a few All-Star weekends in his career. Four to be exact.
As a rookie with the Minnesota Timberwolves, he co-led Team U.S. with 22 points in the Rising Stars challenge and won his first Slam Dunk Contest under the bright lights of Madison Square Garden. The next season, he nabbed Rising Stars MVP and defended his dunk throne in Toronto. In 2020, he represented the Bulls at the 3-Point Contest in Chicago. And on Sunday night, he'll make his first appearance in the game itself (along with a second 3-Point contest bid).
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Still...
“This is like nothing I’ve ever experienced,” the LaVine said, via Zoom, from his Atlanta, Ga. hotel room in advance of the festivities. “We’re really not doing anything.”
There’s good reason for that, as the NBA is hosting the All-Star 'weekend' amid the COVID-19 pandemic, and with preventative protocols in place to mitigate potential infections and the spread of the coronavirus. LaVine jetted into the city at 2 p.m. Saturday, received testing and has since spent the majority of his time “counting the hours” in his hotel room, with brief breaks to grab food and warm up for the 3-point shootout.
Without fans in the stands and a full weekend’s worth of events crammed into one night, the occasion comes with an unprecedented backdrop.
“Just the atmosphere,” LaVine said of what he feels is missing this season. “You go to All-Star weekend, man, it is packed. I remember my first two years, and it's in Toronto and New York, so just the atmosphere with the crowd, the energy, the city. You have different requirements you have to do. There's places you can go. Your family can enjoy more of the scenery and things like that, because right now we're just sitting at a hotel.
“Obviously you understand because you have to be safe, but I think that's (atmosphere) the main thing you miss with All-Star weekend.”
As LaVine has preached all season, the challenge will be for him to bring his own energy. Luckily, his skill set feeds directly into what makes the exhibition enthralling.
“I just want to go out there and put on a show. I think I have the perfect game and excitement for an All-Star game,” he said. “If I get the right amount of time, I always try to go for the show-stopper.”
While there won’t be any fans in attendance, LaVine’s fiancée, parents and best friend will all spur him on from the stands (participants were afforded four family members or friends to travel with them).
For them, and those tuned in from home, LaVine had a promise.
“If that's making an electric play. If that's shooting, dribbling, whatever it is,” he said. “There's going to be at least one Zach LaVine highlight out there."
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