NBA All-Star weekend will feature a heavy dose of a former Oklahoma State standout.
On Friday, the NBA announced the field for the 2025 3-point contest. Among the eight competitors in the field, Detroit Pistons guard Cade Cunningham made the cut.
Cunningham will become the first OSU player to compete in the NBA 3-point contest and is making his second appearance on All-Star Saturday night after being featured in the Skills Challenge in 2022. Before Cunningham’s appearances, no Cowboy had been featured on All-Star Saturday night since Desmond Mason was in the dunk contest three times from 2001-03, winning the contest in 2001.
While Cunningham came up short in the Skills Challenge in 2022 as part of the rookies team, he will be flying solo this time around. Cunningham will compete against fellow 2025 All-Stars Jalen Brunson, Darius Garland, Tyler Herro and Damian Lillard, with Buddy Hield, Cam Johnson and Norman Powell also competing.
Cunningham has the worst odds to win the competition, according to Fansduel Sportsbook at +1300. Meanwhile, Hield, a former Oklahoma Sooner and one-time 3-point contest champion, is second at +460 behind only Damian Lillard at +400.
Cunningham’s spot in the odds is unsurprising, particularly considering the small shock that he was even included in the contest. This season, Cunningham is shooting 6.4 threes per game, which puts him in the top 40 in attempts, but his 35.4% mark from deep is outside the top 100, below league average and easily the worst percentage among participants.
Still, if Cunningham can find a rhythm from beyond the arc, he could be in for a special night and be the first Cowboy to win an All-Star event since 2001. Regardless of his performance on Saturday, it will still be a special weekend for Cunningham, who is set to appear in his first All-Star game.
Playing on Team Kenny, Cunningham will get his first taste of the All-Star Game in his fourth season. While Cunningham might not necessarily be the best shooter, his all-around game is enough to get him some well-deserved national recognition.
Cunningham will compete in the 3-point contest on Feb. 15, with the All-Star Game on Feb. 16.
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There is not a bigger sporting event in North America than the Super Bowl, and tickets are only getting more expensive every year. There is also a ridiculous secondary market for tickets where seats sell for well above the original face value. It is usually fans or ticket resellers going for a quick profit. But as was reported on Friday, sometimes it can be players in the NFL looking to make a profit. According to multiple reports, including the Associated Press and ESPN, more than 100 players are facing fines and potential suspensions for selling their allotment of tickets to this year's Super Bowl between the Philadelphia Eagles and Kansas City Chiefs for above face value. Players are reportedly facing fines of one-and-a-half times the face value they originally paid for the tickets, while they are also prevented from purchasing tickets to the Super Bowl for the next seasons. The Associated Press obtained a memo from the NFL detailing the violation and investigation. That memo was as follows: “Our initial investigation has determined that a number of NFL players and coaches, employed by several NFL Clubs, sold Super Bowl tickets for more than the ticket’s face value in violation of the Policy. This long-standing League Policy, which is specifically incorporated into the Collective Bargaining Agreement, prohibits League or Club employees, including players, from selling NFL game tickets acquired from their employer for more than the ticket’s face value or for an amount greater than the employee originally paid for the ticket, whichever is less. We are in the process of completing our investigation into this matter, but the investigation has revealed that club employees and players sold their tickets to a small number of ‘bundlers’ who were working with a ticket reseller to sell the Super Bowl tickets above face value.” If players are not willing to pay the fine, they could be facing suspension from the league. It seems unlikely that any of the players — none of whom have been named, or their teams — would refuse to pay such a fine. It's also one of those moments where you can say, professional athletes — they're still normal people trying to make a quick buck. The most logical answer here is perhaps some of the players caught up in this are younger players who have not yet struck it rich on a big contract or perhaps even practice squad players who are not making top dollar.
Athletics rookie first baseman Nick Kurtz already had an impressive start to his career. Kurtz entered Friday having posted a .288/.360/.622 batting line in 265 plate appearances, hitting 19 homers and 17 doubles. Despite making his major league debut on April 23, Kurtz has been the A's most valuable player, leading the team with 2.6 bWAR. He appeared to be on the cusp of becoming the superstar the A's needed to sell the team to the residents of Las Vegas. That performance set the stage for what may have been the most impressive game for any rookie in major league history. Kurtz became the 20th player in MLB history to have a four-home run game and the first rookie to achieve that feat. Kurtz's performance also put the 2025 season into baseball history. Diamondbacks third baseman Eugenio Suarez had a four-home run game on April 26, making this the third time that there have been two four-homer games in a season. That had happened in 2002 (outfielders Mike Cameron and Shawn Green) and 2017 (utility man Scooter Gennett and left fielder J.D. Martinez). Kurtz did not stop with those four homers. He was 6-6 in the A's 15-3 victory over the Astros, with a double and eight runs batted in. The favorite to win the AL Rookie of the Year award, Kurtz put an emphatic stamp on an already impressive season with his barrage on Friday.
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