The emotional 2020 All-Star Weekend was held in Chicago this year with plenty of happenings. Athletes, musicians, fashionistas and more flooded into the Windy City, braving bone-chilling temperatures to be a part of all the festivities. This All-Star Weekend was further evidence of how sports, music and fashion are woven more and more together each day as sneaker releases almost caused as much buzz as the Slam Dunk Contest. Key word "almost." The tone of All-Star Weekend was balanced between celebratory and somber as the death of Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gigi still resonates throughout the league, the country and the world.
Here are 5 things that gave me FOMO working all these Valentine's Day shifts at a pizza shop in Los Angeles while everything was going down in Chi-Town.
Melody Ehsani x Vic Mensa's Collab
Streetwear maven Melody Ehsani collaborated with Chicago's own Vic Mensa for a limited edition sweatshirt reminiscent of the Chicago Bulls 3-peat run in the 1990s. They held a pop-up shop at renowned store RSVP Gallery to celebrate the strength and resilience of the city. Proceeds went to Common's Common Ground Foundation to empower local high school kids. Ehsani has been making a splash with her simple yet bold designs and her authenticity that endears fans across the world. Mensa has been experimenting with his music through his 93Punx venture, which also includes punk-inspired clothing. It makes perfect sense that these two would partner for such a fun project.
Damian Lillard's Rap Performance
Damian Lillard did not play in his fifth All-Star game due to injury, but he made a statement in a different way by becoming the first player to perform during the festivities. He took the stage on Saturday night as Dame D.O.L.L.A. to spit through a series of tracks. He was joined by a group of backup dancers, Chi-Town's Jeremih and rap legend Lil Wayne. Dame paid tribute to Kobe Bryant by wearing a black "Mamba Forever" jacket. The Oakland native is breaking major ground showing that professional athletes aren't just supposed to shut up and dribble, but are real people who have abilities for personal expression and art. And he actually did a very good job. Let's not sign him up for an arena tour yet, but he engaged the crowd and worked the stage very effortlessly. All without the vocal track.
Side note: Can we please celebrate Lil Wayne's Kobe Bryant's pants that he wore during the All-Star Game halftime show? Thank you.
Jerry Lorenzo's Nike Air Fear of God 1 "The Question" Release
Jerry Lorenzo is staying on the neck of the intersection of fashion and sports and wowed with an incredible campaign for the Nike Air Fear of God 1 "The Question." He partnered with legendary sports photographer Gary Land to recreate iconic images of Allen Iverson aka "The Answer." It's pretty spot-on and Lorenzo's explanation for weaving his faith into the meaning of the shoe while honoring the game-changing point guard is chilling. Streetwear store Saint Alfred held the official drop of the shoe complete with an in-store signing. Oh and they gave out a limited edition magazine with the campaign photos. FOMO forreal.
Slam Dunk Contest
This was a major highlight of the weekend as many thought the Orlando Magic's Aaron Gordon got robbed of his second Slam Dunk Contest victory after a heated dual with Miami Heat's Derrick Jones, Jr. Gordon. This year, both Gordon and Jones leapt ahead of the pack with razzle dazzle dunks and came full force into the final round, both scoring 50 points and then going to the dunk-off where they both got perfect scores again. In the second dunk-off, Jones went for a long leap, dunking from basically the free throw line, which gave him a score of 48. Gordon went for the final dagger by pulling 7'5" Celtics center Tacko Fall to the court. He actually managed to make the dunk over him, which sent the crowd in a frenzy, but because he didn't quite cleanly clear the tallest player in the NBA, he scored 47 and lost the dunk contest yet again. The Miami in me low key is totally fine with a Heat player taking home the trophy. And it's not like Jones didn't get the crowd hyped too because he really did have some pretty amazing slams. I don't know... watch the final rounds below and judge for yourself.
Common's All-Star Game Introduction
Common basically served as the city ambassador for Chicago during 2020 All-Star Weekend. He took home the MVP trophy at the Celebrity All-Star Game and was just around everywhere. He opened the All-Star Game with a moving spoken word piece about the legacy of the Windy City not only with the Chicago Bulls and Michael Jordan's slam dunks, signature sneakers and six rings, but also with three-time champion and hometown hero Dwyane Wade, who was in the building tearing up at the tribute. And of course Common honored Kobe Bryant by saying that the path of greatness that MJ paved was forged deeper by the Laker icon and no matter what city you come from, you can have the Mamba Mentality.
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