While the Miami Heat and the rest of the league now enters a one-week break, a few Heat players will spend part of that time in Los Angeles representing the organization.
The Heat will be represented by Norman Powell, Kel’el Ware, Keshad Johnson and Jahmir Young at All-Star Weekend in Los Angeles.
At least one Heat player is competing in an event on each day of All-Star Weekend on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
The Heat will resume its schedule following the All-Star break on Feb. 20 against the Hawks in Atlanta.
Here’s an All-Star Weekend viewing guide for Heat fans ...
FRIDAY
Rising Stars (9 p.m., Peacock): The Heat will be represented by two players in this event at Intuit Dome, as Ware and Young are among the 28 participants. The Rising Stars showcase features select NBA rookies and sophomores, and NBA G League players competing in a four-team minitournament that includes three games.
This marks the first time Ware has been selected for Rising Stars after missing the cut last season despite being good enough to be named to the NBA All-Rookie Second Team.
“It’ll be fun,” Ware said. “It’ll be a fun experience. Not too many people get to do it, obviously. So soak in the moment and enjoy it.”
This also marks the first time that Young, a two-way contract player, has been picked to take part in Rising Stars. He was selected as an injury replacement player.
The 14 NBA players were drafted onto three seven-player teams. The seven NBA G League players, selected by the league office, make up the fourth team.
Ware, 21, was drafted onto Team T-Mac, with Basketball Hall of Famer Tracy McGrady serving as the honorary coach.
Young is on the G League team, with most of his minutes this season coming for the Heat’s G League affiliate, the Sioux Falls Skyforce.
How does it work?
Team Carmelo Anthony will face Team G League in one semifinal game scheduled to begin Friday at 9 p.m., and Team Tracy McGrady (Ware’s team) will take on Team Vince Carter in the other semifinal game scheduled to begin at 9:55 p.m. For each semifinal game, the winner will be the first team to reach or surpass 40 points.
For the championship game between the two winning semifinalists (scheduled to begin at 10:35 p.m.), the winner will be the first team to reach or surpass 25 points.
Ware and Young are the 13th and 14th different Heat players in franchise history to be selected for the Rising Stars event. That list includes Khalid Reeves (1995), Kurt Thomas (1996), Caron Butler (2003), Dwyane Wade (2004 and 2005), Udonis Haslem (2004 and 2005), Michael Beasley (2009 and 2010), Norris Cole (2012), Kendrick Nunn (2020), Tyler Herro (2020 and 2021), Precious Achiuwa (2021), Alondes Williams (2024), Jaime Jaquez Jr. (2024 and 2025), Ware (2026) and Young (2026).
SATURDAY
Three-Point Contest (first of three events during All-Star Saturday Night, which begins at 5 p.m. on NBC and Peacock): Powell is one of the two players who will represent the Heat on All-Star Saturday Night at Intuit Dome.
Powell is one of eight participants going for the NBA’s three-point crown this year in the two-round timed shooting competition, along with Devin Booker of the Phoenix Suns, Kon Knueppel of the Charlotte Hornets, Damian Lillard of the Portland Trail Blazers, Tyrese Maxey of the Philadelphia 76ers, Donovan Mitchell of the Cleveland Cavaliers, Jamal Murray of the Denver Nuggets and Bobby Portis of the Milwaukee Bucks.
“It’s really exciting,” Powell, 32, said of being invited to take part in this year’s Three-Point Contest. “When they asked, I instantly said yes. Just for being back at Intuit Dome, back in L.A., where my family can see me for the All-Star weekend. So I’m excited about that.”
With each participant having 70 seconds to shoot as many of the 27 balls as they can, the three players with the highest scores in the first round will advance to the championship round.
This will mark Powell’s second appearance in the Three-Point Contest after being eliminated in the first round of last year’s Three-Point Contest that Herro ended up winning.
Powell will be the 10th different Heat player in franchise history to take part in the Three-Point Contest, joining Jon Sundvold (1989 and 1990), Glen Rice (1991 and 1995), Jason Kapono (2007), Daequan Cook (2009 and 2010), James Jones (2011 and 2012), Mario Chalmers (2012), Wayne Ellington (2018), Duncan Robinson (2020) and Herro (2023 and 2025).
Five Heat players have won the Three-Point Contest in franchise history: Rice (1995), Kapono (2007), Cook (2009), Jones (2011) and Herro (2025). The Heat stands alone as the only NBA team with five Three-Point Contest trophies.
Slam Dunk Contest (third of three events during All-Star Saturday Night): Johnson is the other player who will represent the Heat on All-Star Saturday Night.
Johnson is one of four participants going for the NBA’s Slam Dunk crown this year in the two-round competition, along with Carter Bryant of the San Antonio Spurs, Jaxson Hayes of the Los Angeles Lakers and Jase Richardson of the Orlando Magic.
Each of the four participants will have an opportunity to complete two dunks in the first round, and the two dunkers with the highest composite scores will advance to the final round.
“I take pride in the dunk contest, just going out there and having fun and being creative, seeing everybody use their form of art,” Johnson, 24, said.
Johnson (nicknamed “Showtime”) will be the fifth different Heat player in franchise history to take part in the Slam Dunk Contest, joining Billy Thompson (1990), Harold Miner (1993 and 1995), Derrick Jones Jr. (2020) and Jaquez (2024). The short list of Heat participants who have won the event includes Miner, who claimed the dunk crown in 1993 and 1995, and Jones, who was the dunk champion in 2020.
Johnson is a powerful dunker, as he’s listed at 6-foot-6 and 225 pounds and produced an eye-opening 42-inch maximum vertical leap at the 2024 NBA Draft Combine.
SUNDAY
G League Up Next Game (2:30 p.m., NBA App): The Heat will be represented by Young from the Skyforce, in the G League Up Next Game at the L.A. Convention Center.
The NBA G League Up Next Game features four teams competing in two semifinal games. The winner of each semifinal will face off in the championship game. Young is on Team Red.
Young, who is one of three players who the Heat currently has signed to a two-way contract, has averaged 26.2 points, 5.3 rebounds, 8.9 assists and 1.8 steals per game in 22 appearances for the Skyforce this season. Young, 25, has played in just eight games for the Heat this season.
Young will also take part in Sunday’s G League Three-Point Contest.
NBA All-Star Game (5 p.m., NBC and Peacock): Powell is the Heat’s lone representative in this season’s NBA All-Star Game, which will take place at Intuit Dome. Powell, who will make his first NBA All-Star Game appearance, was voted in as an Eastern Conference reserve.
Powell is the 12th different Heat player in franchise history to be selected as an NBA All-Star (Alonzo Mourning, Hardaway, Anthony Mason, Shaquille O’Neal, Wade, LeBron James, Chris Bosh, Goran Dragic, Bam Adebayo, Jimmy Butler, Herro and Powell).
“It solidified everything I was saying,” Powell said of making his first NBA All-Star Game. “People were looking at me, talking about me crazy on social media when I opened up about that being one of my goals, that I’m an All Star and I believed I am one.”
Under the new NBA All-Star Game format, two teams of U.S. players and one team of international players (the World team) will compete in a round-robin tournament featuring four 12-minute games for this season’s showcase event.
Powell, who has Jamaican roots, is on Team World.
Team World opens the All-Star tournament with a matchup against Team Stars on Sunday at 5 p.m.
After the three-game round-robin mini-tournament, the three teams will be ranked using the following criteria in the following order: record, point differential, total points, and random drawing.
The top two teams based on ranking will play in the championship game and the higher ranked team will be designated the home team.