Starting 5, Feb. 16: Klay Thompson erupts, All-Star 2024 opens

Over the next 3 days, the hoops world’s heading to Indianapolis (even if it’s over Wi-Fi).

Tyrese Haliburton’s glad to have ya. So is TJass, who followed up this trick shot with an exclusive for the Starting 5 fam in Section 5.

We’re here for it. Check out today’s special Sixth Man section, featuring Pacers coach Rick Carlisle and a hobby that’s taken his life to new heights.

THE LINEUP ⭐

⭐ All-Star Friday watch guide

On the ground in Indy

Last night of 1st half

Wind time back with these photos

How’s Tristan Jass do it?

✈️ Rick Carlisle on flying planes (really)

1. WHAT’S COMING TODAY?

All-Star 2024 officially tips off today in Indianapolis with the Ruffles NBA All-Star Celebrity Game and Panini Rising Stars, 39 years after the city, one of the greatest hoops hotbeds on earth, last hosted All-Star weekend.

What should I know? A packed Friday culminates with two main events: the Ruffles NBA All-Star Celebrity Game at 7 ET on ESPN, followed by Victor Wembanyama, Chet Holmgren and reigning Kia Rookie of the Year Paolo Banchero in Panini Rising Stars at 9 ET on TNT.

  • Who’s in the Celeb Game? Jennifer Hudson, Metta World Peace, Micah Parsons, CJ Stroud, Lily Singh, TJass and many, many more. Stephen A. Smith & Shannon Sharpe are coaching. Tap here to see the full list
  • Tell me about Rising Stars:  Four teams play in a mini-tournament, coached by Pau Gasol, Tamika Catchings and Jalen Rose, with Detlef Schrempf coaching a G League team. Wemby went first overall to Team Pau
  • Need a quick breakdown? Let NBA on TNT bring you through the Rising Stars squads

What’s the story with the courts? The Celebrity Game will be the first event to debut on the new, state-of-the-art LED courts in Lucas Oil Stadium. Here’s a sneak peek.

OK, I’m here all day tho: Same. Start by going behind the scenes on Thursday with Pacers star Myles Turner as arrivals began in Indy. Then look out for live streams & coverage all. day. long.

  • Rising Stars practice & availability: Wemby, Chet, Paolo and the next generation of stars from Teams Pau, Tamika, Jalen & Detlef hit the court for the first time, live on the NBA App and NBA League Pass (11 & 11:30 ET)
  • Tyrese times two: Two of the season’s biggest breakouts take center stage from 2-5 ET, as Tyrese Haliburton goes live to talk about his new Pass The Rock episode, then takes on Tyrese Maxey in 2K. Just a little friendly competition before A’ja Wilson joins Maxey for a live recording of his ‘Maxey on the Mic’ podcast (4:45 ET)
  • Hall of Fame news conference: Who are the finalists for the class of 2024? Find out at 5:30 ET

Get personalized, inside access in the NBA App, including today’s Watch Guide — and all you need to know at the All-Star Hub.

2. ON THE GROUND IN INDY

Thursday saw Indy come alive with final All-Star prep, with Rising Stars, All-Stars and All-Star Saturday Night contestants getting into town, portraits and the media circuit going down and Tyrese Haliburton pulling up in an IndyCar.

Stephen vs. Sabrina, coming Saturday: The showdown between the NBA’s 3-point champ and the owner of the biggest 3-Point Contest performance in history has generated buzz around the world. Including in Steph’s locker room. We got a little time with both of them.

  • Klay picks Sabrina! Klay may be a Splash Bro, but he went and picked Sabrina, “The Bay Area’s Finest,” to win. Said Steph: “This is exactly why we should do this. Especially for the shooters.”
  • When you play your idol: Sabrina grew up in the Bay, rooting for Steph. Like this photo (which they both had great reactions to) proves
  • Who did NBA stars pick? Tap here to see who Luka, Ant & some of the league’s biggest names have taking the first-ever NBA vs. WNBA 3-Point Challenge

A few other choice picks:

  • Did you know about the nail? It’s at the free throw line. It’s important. For generations now.
  • Caleb Feemster made this half-court, no-look, over-the-back scoop shot look too easy
  • ‘It’s the most handsome man’  Bennedict Mathurin reacts to seeing a huge picture of himself
  • Mitchell & Ness designer Mike O’Shea talked about his new Pioneers line, honoring barrier-breaking NBA legends
  • What’s Stephen A’s strategy for Friday night?
  • 3 stats to know for every All-Star

3. ROUNDUP: GRIZZ STUN BUCKS, KLAY GOES OFF, WOLVES LEAD WEST

GG Jackson hit a career-high 6 treys en route to 27 points while Ziaire Williams chipped in 27 himself as the injury-depleted Memphis Grizzlies beat the Milwaukee Bucks, 113-110, winning their second straight after nine straight losses. | Recap

  • Giannis had 35 points and 12 assists to rack up his 43rd double-double of the year, while Damian Lillard had 24-5-7
  • Career-highs: Tap to watch breakouts from Jackson and Williams, whose 27 points set new career highs
  • Dunk of the night? Brook Lopez took the feed and absolutely hammered it home in traffic

Klay hits season high: Coming off the bench for the first time since his rookie season in 2011-12, Klay Thompson went for 35 points, his highest mark this season, to propel the Warriors to a 140-137 win over the Utah Jazz. Golden State put up 84 in the first half – tops for any half this year. | Recap

  • Rescheduled game: The game had been postponed since its original Jan. 17 date following the sudden passing of Warriors coach Dejan Milojević
  • Keyonte George’s nine 3-pointers tied the record for the most treys in a game by a rookie, and set a Jazz rookie record
  • Klay was hype to learn he’d scored 15,000 career points, the sixth Warrior to do so

The pack is hungry:  Ant Edwards went for 34, two nights after dropping 41 against the same team, to lift the Wolves over the Blazers 128-91. Minnesota is in first place at the break for the first time in franchise history. | Recap

4. RISING STARS FRAMES GOING BACK TO ’94

Penny Hardaway was MVP of the first Rookie-Sophomore All Star Game in 1994.

Red Auerbach instructs Allen Iverson during the 1997 Rookie Game.

Kevin Durant won MVP for the Sophomores in 2009.

Kyrie Irving shoots against Brandon Knight during the 2012 BBVA Rising Stars Challenge.

Andrew Wiggins was MVP in the 2015 BBVA Compass Rising Stars Challenge.

Jayson Tatum dunks during the Mtn Dew Kickstart Rising Stars Game in 2018.

5. TRISTAN JASS & THE ANATOMY OF A TRICK SHOT

On Friday, one of the biggest names in hoops social media – and a longtime friend of the NBA family – takes the court, when Tristan Jass joins the Ruffles NBA All-Star Celebrity Game.

A baller known worldwide for his trick shots, you may have also seen him throwing a dime in the sneak peek of Mac McClung’s AT&T Slam Dunk workout.

TJass is famous for making magic happen. Exclusive for the Starting 5 crew, here’s how he does it.

Tristan Jass: From the pass, the spin of the ball, the angle of the shot, the force applied, the anatomy of making a trick shot is similar to the basics of physics and geometry. I’m figuring out different angles for each shot and with repetition, I get closer and closer to the target until eventually that target gets hit.

The most important aspect of a trick shot is: Creativity. I got here today by being different. I focus on being as different as possible. I always go back to the question ‘how can I make this unlike any other trick shot I’ve already completed?’ That’s where a lot of my creativity comes from.

Each trick shot depends on the gym setup,  which can be overlooked in the creative process. Every NBA arena is unique so I need to scope out the area. Once I get an idea of what I want to do, I’ll have someone filming, someone rebounding and in some instances I’ll even have multiple people in a line relaying me the ball. If I have 25 minutes to hit something and I have four balls in rotation then it’s a lot quicker than just throwing one.

Nothing feels better than making a tough trick shot. The hardest shot I ever made was when I was in Miami for the 2023 NBA Finals – I did a 360 off the railing on the second concourse of the Kaseya Center. That was the coolest shot I’ve made and it ended up gaining a lot of traction on social media.

Now with some shots you get lucky,  they go in quicker than others. However, I find myself at times taking at least a thousand attempts on one shot. You get to that 600th attempt and you start questioning whether or not you can make it. I always tell myself to keep going.

There’s a cool hidden message for me when it comes to making my trick shots: Similar to life, you need to be okay with failure and you need to learn from your mistakes. If it takes me 600 tries to make a shot then I failed 599 times to do one thing successfully. I try to use that as motivation both on the court and in life.

You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take, so keep shooting.

SIXTH MAN: RICK CARLISLE AND THE ART OF FLYING

Courtesy Of Rick Carlisle

Every so often, a Starting 5 edition gets a special boost in the form of a Sixth Man section.

Today, to tip off All-Star 2024, that boost comes from Pacers coach Rick Carlisle – and a jet engine.

Rick Carlisle had just been through it.

Three years removed from an NBA championship with his Dallas Mavericks, Carlisle’s Mavs had just lost in seven to the eventual champ San Antonio Spurs in the First Round playoff series.

So he took some time away.

“It was time to be challenged in a different way,” said Carlisle, now head coach of the Indiana Pacers and president of the National Basketball Coaches Association.

The results changed Carlisle’s life – taking him, literally, to new heights.

And as tens of thousands descend on Indy for NBA All-Star 2024, where the airport popped-up a full-sized basketball court to celebrate, they’ll be touching down in the only NBA town where the team’s head coach is also an instrument-rated pilot.

“The one thing I’ve learned about the highest levels of professional sports and life is that when you are in situations where you have butterflies and nerves, some people view that as an experience that’s uncomfortable,” Carlisle said. “I’ve learned that this feeling indicates that your senses are absolutely alive and that in this state special things can happen.

“Regardless of which way you see it,  one thing I know to be a fact: in that state of the human experience, you have the ability to achieve beyond your means. … I don’t consider myself an adrenaline junkie by any stretch. But there are certain things in life that are worth doing because they challenge the human experience.”

Read more on NBA.com

See ya tomorrow.

Want to share Starting 5 with a friend? Send them this link. 

Shape the Starting 5. Email us here.

Don’t have the NBA App?  Download it here.

Similar Posts