Celtics F Jayson Tatum last night won the Taco Bell Skills Challenge, and the second-year player nicknamed "Taco Jay" plans to contact Taco Bell, which sponsored the event, and "try to parlay his newest trophy into a sponsorship of his own" (CHARLOTTE OBSERVER, 2/17). Tatum said, "I'm going to call [Taco Bell] tomorrow and tell them I need a deal" (BOSTONGLOBE.com, 2/16). Meanwhile, Warriors G Stephen Curry in the Three-Point Contest was beaten by Nets G Joe Harris to the "general disappointment of the hometown crowd at Spectrum Center" (CHARLOTTE OBSERVER, 2/17).
Thunder G Hamidou Diallo won the AT&T Slam Dunk Contest, but this year's event "will soon be forgotten" as a night "filled with good ideas poorly executed" (WASHINGTONPOST.com, 2/17). Diallo in the final round against Knicks G Dennis Smith Jr. jumped over Shaquille O'Neal for "one beauty" and then another over rapper Quavo to "defeat a tiring Smith" (NYPOST.com, 2/16). Friday night's All-Star Celebrity Game "could have easily been a snooze-fest." The "biggest surprise of the night was that the whole thing was kind of a wonder to behold," and it started with the play of Basketball HOFer Ray Allen (CHARLOTTE OBSERVER, 2/16).
Meanwhile, the CHARLOTTE OBSERVER went with the headline, "Charlotte Is At Intersection Of All-Star Game And Sneaker Culture." The OBSERVER also goes with: "How NBA All-Stars Kemba Walker, Stephen Curry Embody The Power Of Fine Parenting."
