Randle, Sims participate in All-Star Saturday

Julius Randle was eliminated in the first round of the Starry 3-Point contest while Jericho Sims did not qualify for the finals in the AT&T Slam Dunk Contest on Saturday Night at NBA All-Star Weekend in Salt Lake City, Utah.

It wasn’t the showing that fans may have been looking for, but Julius Randle and Jericho Sims did a great job representing the city of New York at All-Star Saturday Night.

LET’S GO JU pic.twitter.com/Wiw5FqZHJJ
— The Knicks Wall (@TheKnicksWall) February 19, 2023

Top-10 in 3-point makes this season, Randle got off to a good start. After scoring 2 points on his first rack, Randle began to get things going on his second, hitting 4-of-5 shots overall, including the money ball.

From there, it was easy to see him was losing steam, beginning to use his legs more, which wasted more time. His adjustment hurt him in the long run, as he finished with just 13 points, and was eliminated in the first round of the contest. Buddy Hield, Damian Lillard, and “fake All-Star” Tyrese Haliburton moved on to the final round. In the final round, Damian Lillard came out victorious, scoring 26 points in the final round. Check out Randle’s best rack from his lone round in the contest:

Randles best rack, finished with a score of 13 in Rd 1 😕 pic.twitter.com/6BsSjNxgns
— The Knicks Wall (@TheKnicksWall) February 19, 2023

Kyden Randle wasn’t happy, to say the least. Check out his reaction after watching his dad finish second to last in the contest:

mood pic.twitter.com/F5W1mJ4hpg
— The Knicks Wall (@TheKnicksWall) February 19, 2023

Dunk Contest

Heading into the Dunk Contest, nobody was sure of what Sims could do. While his leap is undeniable, it was unknown how he would use his leaping ability. As it turns out, the dunks that Sims relied on his sheer jumping ability to wow the fans and most importantly, the judges. Here’s a look at his first dunk, which earned him a 47.6:

Jericho Sims first dunk attempt lands him a 47.6/50 in Round 1 pic.twitter.com/TKB3heYihe
— The Knicks Wall (@TheKnicksWall) February 19, 2023

It was a great dunk, but the judges and the broadcast were not as impressed. They were critiquing how Sims was unable to get his second arm in the rim for the dunk off the backboard. Nonetheless, it ended up being one of the better dunks in the first round. It looked even better in slow motion from various angles, as his athleticism was put on full display for this dunk.

For his second dunk, Sims had a letter attached to the net. He then did a similar move on his second dunk, putting his elbow in the rim as he grabbed for the letter. It looked as if he was supposed to open the letter while he was still hanging in the air. After some struggle opening the letter, he came down from the rim to open it from the ground. He ripped the letter open, and it displayed: “50.” The broadcast was not impressed because of the creativity, and rightfully so. Sims has great athleticism but couldn’t get the creative juices flowing to put together some crazy dunks to entice the fans. With the letter’s reception turning out to be sour, Jericho Sims was left in the first round as Trey Murphy III with eventual winner Mac McClung making it to the final.

Jericho Sims’ 2nd Round dunk was given a 47.8/50 pic.twitter.com/RuIUVmFGfI
— The Knicks Wall (@TheKnicksWall) February 19, 2023

Be sure to check out Julius Randle in the NBA All-Star game tomorrow when it tips off at 7:30 pm. The team draft will happen prior to the game, so stay tuned as to whether Randle will play for Team LeBron or Team Durant.