The Toronto Raptors are fairly well represented at All-Star Weekend for a team that has been mired in chaos and has tons of questions surrounding them. Pascal Siakam will play in the actual All-Star game, but Scottie Barnes got things kicked off at the Rising Stars Game.
After being on the wrong end of an embarrassing performance during last year’s Skills Challenge alongside Tyrese Maxey, Barnes sought redemption in this game series. Naturally, the reigning Rookie of the Year did not disappoint with the NBA world watching.
Barnes, who was a part of a team overseen by future Hall of Famer Pau Gasol, won the Rising Stars challenge. While Barnes didn’t singlehandedly pull his team to victory, he certainly flashed many of the skills that make him one of the best young players in the league.
Barnes uncorked one of the best highlights of the night by sweeping into the lane, extending his arms in a way that makes Mr. Fantastic blush, and throwing down a ferocious slam. When Barnes decides to turn it on, he is as box office as any second-year player in the league.
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Toronto Raptors: Scottie Barnes stood out at Rising Stars game.
As part of the pregame festivities, Barnes was mic’d up throughout the duration of the Rising Stars practice. Raptors fans know what an outgoing and gregarious guy he can be, but the rest of the league (if they followed along in the NBA app) also got a taste of that personality.
One memorable exchange during this practice was when he and New Orleans Pelicans guard Jose Alvarado argued about Barnes making a half-court shot in warm-ups. Alvarado would later hit a game-winning shot that helped Barnes and Gasol’s team win the exhibition.
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Barnes was also chatting with Orlando Magic neophyte and Rookie of the Year frontrunner Paolo Banchero. While he is naturally right-handed, Barnes recounted how his first made shot in professional basketball was a left-handed skyhook against the Wizards.
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Barnes looked like the standout finisher and dynamic athlete that Raptors fans have come to love in the last few years. The game’s intensity notwithstanding, fans across Canada have to get a kick out of watching their homegrown star flex his muscles and bring his warm personality to the greater basketball world.