The Stars Are Out In Cleveland
NBA All-Star has arrived, with festivities taking place in Cleveland all weekend long! After last year’s event was condensed into one super eventful evening of basketball, All-Star Weekend has returned to its usual format, all leading up to the 71st NBA All-Star Game between Team Durant and Team LeBron on Sunday night.
The schedule of events for the star-studded weekend is as follows.
Friday
Ruffles NBA All-Star Celebrity Game – 7 p.m. ET/ 4 p.m. PT, ESPN
Clorox Rising Stars – 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT, TNT
Saturday
NBA x HBCU Classic Presented by AT&T featuring Morgan State vs. Howard University – 2 p.m. E.T./11 a.m. PT, TNT
State Farm All-Star Saturday Night – 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT, TNT
Sunday
NBA G League Next Gem Game featuring G League Ignite vs. Cleveland Charge – 2 p.m. ET/11 a.m. PT, NBA TV
71st NBA All-Star Game – 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT, TNT
Closing Time
And just like that, the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics are coming to an end.
After 19 days of invigorating wintery competition, the 2022 Winter Games will officially come to a close during the Closing Ceremony on Sunday morning at Beijing’s National Stadium (aka the Bird’s Nest).
Along with artistic performances, the Closing Ceremony traditionally features a parade of flags and a parade of athletes, all culminating with a fireworks spectacular to mark the end of the games.
But before the Olympic flame is put out, the Olympic flag will be handed over to Italy, the host of the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Games.
The Closing Ceremony will be broadcast live from Beijing on Peacock Sunday morning at 7 a.m. ET. Not feeling an early Sunday morning wake-up? No worries! NBC will also be re-airing the ceremony Sunday night at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT.
The Latest in Olympic Figure Skating
Usually the most magical of Olympic events, this year’s Women’s Singles Figure Skating was clouded by the ongoing doping investigation into 15 year-old ROC skater Kamila Valieva, who tested positive for TMZ, a banned heart medication, prior to the games in December.
News of the failed test broke last week, just after Valieva helped lead the ROC to a gold medal in the Team Event, where she became the first woman to land a quad on Olympic ice.
In a puzzling turn of events on Monday, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) decided not to suspend Valieva, citing her age and the “irreparable harm” it could cause. Thus, the teenager was cleared to compete in Women’s Singles, which came to a dramatic end on Thursday.
Highly favored to win gold, Valieva held the top spot after Tuesday’s Short Program but ultimately finished in fourth after struggling in the Free Skate on Thursday. If Valieva had medaled, there wouldn’t have been a medal ceremony.
While Valieva’s time at the 2022 Winter Games has now come to an end, the investigation into the situation is far from over. Medals for the Team Event have yet to be awarded.
When Things Get Hard(en)
Last week’s blockbuster trade that sent Ben Simmons to the Brooklyn Nets and James Harden to the Philadelphia 76ers is this week’s entertainment, as both players met with the media for the first time since joining their respective teams earlier this week.
Simmons hasn’t played in a NBA game since last season as he works through mental health issues, so it’s unclear when he’ll make his debut for the Nets. Speaking to the media, Simmons said he felt “welcomed” and “embraced” by his new team.
Like Simmons, Harden has yet to play for his new team, as he continues to nurse a hamstring injury, but he did reveal in his presser that Philly was his “first choice” when he was originally traded from the Rockets to the Nets last season.
The Nets and 76ers will face off for the first time since the trade on March 10, certainly a date our NBA Fangirls will want to circle on the calendar!
Mikaela Shiffrin Is Still Here
The 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics have not gone as expected for Mikaela Shiffrin who’s yet to win a medal, but she refuses to let failure or haters get the best of her.
After recording a DNF (Did Not Finish) for the third time in five events on Thursday, Shiffrin took to social to share some of the harsh comments she’s received, along with her own words of resiliency. “…Just get up. It’s not always easy, but it’s also not the end of the world to fail. Fail twice. Fail 5 times. At the Olympics…,” she wrote.
The 3x Olympic Medalist will ski in her final event of the 2022 Games, the Mixed Team Parallel Slalom, on Friday night, making her just the second woman to ever ski in six events in one Olympics. She’ll team up with five other Team USA athletes for the event.