NBA All-Star Weekend: 5 Questions We Want Answered

When the NBA decided to move All-Star Weekend from North Carolina to New Orleans, it took things from a situation to a lituation. Now that it coincides with the beginning of Mardi Gras, we can only imagine what will happen at the convergence of alcohol, a ton of rich dudes, the celebs coming to fawn over them, and (ahem) "fan luv."

The 2016 All-Star Game was singular because it was Kobe Bryant's 18th and final appearance. We won't top that emotion this year, but there are still some storylines to watch out for. Will Kevin Love's injury just days before the game spell defeat for the East? Will the cupcake wars continue, or will there be a cease-fire when Westbrook and KD take the court for the West? Here's what we want to know as we head into the Big Easy.

Rappers want to be ballers, we know. We also know rappers damn near turn into groupies during All-Star Weekend. The 6 God himself was egregious when All-Star hit Toronto, crossing the line from ambassador to annoying. He coached in the Celebrity Game, was courtside for the Dunk Contest, and helped introduce players before the main event. He's also been known to taunt players a time or two. Drizzy's on tour in Europe this year, so someone else will have to step up and show out—but who will it be?

Let's get this out the way: No one would call Klay Thompson the most exciting man in basketball. But you can't deny that he's a 3-point assassin. This is his third straight All-Star appearance but first without fellow Splash Brother Steph Curry, who was easily his biggest threat. So just for kicks, we asked Klay if anyone else had him shook ahead of Saturday's JBL 3-Point Contest.

"Kyrie won it once, so he's a big threat," Klay told us. "I think C.J. McCollum's shooting the ball well this year...Nick Young—Swaggy P—can really shoot it well. Those three guys I think are probably my biggest competition."

Of course he wouldn't be Klay "Razzle Dazzle" Thompson if he didn't add, "But everyone can shoot; that's why they're in it."

So who's everyone else? Toronto's Kyle Lowry, Kemba Walker of the Hornets, the Rockets' Eric Gordon, and Wesley Matthews from the Mavs. We'll see who among them gives Klay a run for the crown.

We almost had the Cavaliers' Big Three of Kevin Love, Kyrie Irving, and LeBron James playing together. Sadly it was not to be, as Love had surgery on his knee and will miss six-to-eight weeks.

With Love out, Carmelo Anthony replaces him and with that news resurects the storylines about the two potentially being swapped for each other at next week's trade deadline. Bron recently said he only has three good friends in the league, one being Carmelo, so you can bet those two will be talking behind closed doors about the possibility of being teammates. This marks 10 All-Star nods for Melo and 13 for LeBron, so we'll get another glimpse of their chemistry on Sunday.

The Slam Dunk Contest is rigged, we know. If that were a valid reason not to watch, the WWE wouldn't exist.

Admittedly, it could stand to be less about gimmicks and more about actual dunking. But it's still cool to see 7-foot-tall men leap over cars, mascots, and other people, and that's why we'll be watching Saturday night's face-off between 2016 runner-up Aaron Gordon, DeAndre Jordan, Glenn Robinson III, and Derrick Jones Jr. Some say Jones, the Suns' rookie, could legit give the vets a run for their money, despite the fact that he keeps getting bounced back and forth from the D-League. Or make that G-League.

This is the most important question of All-Star Weekend. It's not a stretch to say all eyes will be on the 66th All-Star Game purely to see whether KD and and Russ can ever be on the same team again.

They can lie and tell us "there's no beef," but we saw the receipts last Saturday when Durant came back to Oklahoma and scored 34 points in Golden State's 130–114 ass whooping of the Thunder. Westbrook is a reserve, so coach Steve Kerr could stagger the PT and make sure the two aren't on the court at the same time. But with four Golden State players on the West's team, Russell will have to play alongside his rivals at some point. Not to make him the bad guy here—all of these guys have taken passive-aggressive shots at each other since Durant switched teams, and the four against one dynamic could get ugly.

We could be blowing this all out of proportion...but what if we're not?