Kentucky Wildcats Take Center Stage on NBA All-Star Weekend

NBA All-Star Weekend takes place north of the border this year at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto.

The weekend will be full of former Cats as seven of them will participate in at least one event throughout the weekend. Let's start with the three former Cats that were selected to participate in the All-Star Game Sunday, February 14th at 8:30 PM EST on TNT.

The Western Conference team will feature Anthony Davis and DeMarcus Cousins both as reserves. Cousins is having his best season as a professional this year, averaging 26.8 points, 11.1 rebounds, 3.1 assists, and over a block and steal a game. Unfortunately for Boogie, the Kings are just 22-31 on the season and currently would be out of the playoff picture.

Davis has been hindered with a couple of injuries this season to himself and to teammates. These injuries have played a major role in the Pelicans 20-33 record. As for Davis he's had more than a productive season, averaging 23.5 points, 10.2 rebounds, 2.3 blocks, and just under two assists and steals a game.

The Eastern Conference team will feature lone former Cat, John Wall. Wall is averaging 20.1 points, 9.9 assists, 4.5 rebounds, and 2.1 steals a game. The Wizards are having a disappointing 23-28 season and would currently be out of the playoffs as well.

There are also three former Cats that will be participating in the BBVA Rising Stars Challenge on Friday, February 12th at 9 p.m. EST on TNT. The game is set up in a USA versus the World format. The USA team will feature Karl Anthony-Towns and Devin Booker who will be replacing the injured Nerlens Noel.

Noel is averaging 10.8 points, 8.2 rebounds, and just under two assists, blocks, and steals a game on the season. He has started almost every game for the 8-44 76ers in just his third year in the league.

Towns is having an amazing rookie campaign as a double-double machine and is currently favored to win the NBA Rookie of the Year by most. He is averaging 16.7 points, 10.1 rebounds, and just under two blocks and assists a game for the 16-37 T'Wolves.

The World team will feature Trey Lyles, who is replacing the injured Nikola Mirotic of the Bulls. Lyles is averaging 4.7 points and four rebounds a game this season for the 26-25 Jazz and has started 29 games.

The State Farm All-Star Saturday Night takes place February 13th at 8 p.m. EST on TNT. The event features three contests: Taco Bell Skills Challenge, Foot Locker 3-Point Contest, and Verizon Slam Dunk Contest.

The Skills Challenge is an eight-man bracket obstacle course that tests dribbling, passing, agility and three point shooting. This year will be the first time in the 14 year history of this event that there will be multiple non-guards participating. There are three former Cats competing in this event and none of them are guards, which speaks to the talent of Karl Anthony-Towns, Anthony Davis, and DeMarcus Cousins.

The Foot Locker 3-Point Contest will take place following the Skills Challenge and former Cat Devin Booker will be competing against the likes of JJ Redick and even the "Splash Brothers", Klay Thompson and Stephen Curry.

Booker has taken on a much more prominent role for the 14-40 Suns with injuries to former Cats Eric Bledsoe and Brandon Knight. Booker has taken that opportunity and done very well averaging 10.6 points, 2.1 rebounds, and 1.6 assists a game including 22 starts.

Good luck to all the former Cats competing this weekend, and as always: Go Big Blue!