2024 NBA All-Star Weekend: Best bets for MVP, dunk champion, 3-point contest and more

For the first time since 2017, the NBA is going back to an East versus West format for the All-Star Game, and it couldn’t be more exciting.

The experiment with mixed-conference teams and player drafts was fun for a while, but it grew stale after just four different players were named captains over a six-year stretch and bad drafting heightened the nostalgia of past all-stars. And so for the 2024 edition in Indiana, tradition returns … which means the Western Conference is loaded again.

Yeah, remember when all the best players were in the West? That might be a thing again, especially with Joel Embiid ruled out. Don’t get me wrong, the Eastern Conference still has great players like Giannis Antetokounmpo and Jayson Tatum. But when you look at the other side and see Nikola Jokic and LeBron James and Luka Doncic and Kevin Durant and Stephen Curry … you get the point. The Western Conference is favored by 2.5 points, and that’s the side I’m picking to win and cover.

As for the total, I’ll reluctantly take the game to fall under 363.5 points. Though the last two East-versus-West games went over this number, I think we’ll get a little more competitiveness in the first year of the format’s return — even if it fades in the years to follow.

Now, let’s get into my picks for the rest of All-Star Weekend, including an All-Star Game MVP.