How much hype did we have to endure leading up to the NBA All-Star Game? There were the weeks of talking about Vegas as the ultimate party destination, and the various ways that the NBA players and countless celebrities would take advantage of larger-than-life aura of the city with blow-out bashes.
Then there was David Stern touting the game as an exceptional opportunity to watch the greatest athletes in the world compete against each other on the largest stage. No matter that late nights, too much alcohol, dozens of parties, and enough gambling to keep even Charles Barkley and Michael Jordan happy would displace the game as the biggest news stories of the weekend.
What could go wrong? Well, arrests and fights, but thankfully that didn't happen. What did happen was a lackluster All-Star Game that provided a chance to watch the "greatest athletes in the world" sprint through stationery defenses on their way to the basket for dunk after easy dunk.
For one, I think that the All-Star Game suffers from a lack of competitiveness. It's not that the East is that much worse than the West, in fact, we don't know that at all, because no one really tried. We never got a true chance to see if the East squad playing at full strength and ability could match up against the West squad playing at full strength and ability.
And there are a couple of culprits for this lackluster effort. Sure, everyone wants to avoid injury in a game that doesn't mean anything (which I'm sure is why LeBron was very careful when trying to throw himself an alley-oop off the backboard) and everyone wants to make sure they are healthy for the second half of the regular season (which I'm sure is why Agent Zero was extremely careful when doing a circus dunk off a trampoline during a television timeout).
What is really to blame is the fact that the NBA has set up this game as a chance for the players to show off for the fans. The NBA isn't promising a competitive game showcasing the best skills of the players, it is promising an exciting game showcasing the athletic skills of the players. There is a big difference. The all-stars are just executing what is expected of them. Show off. Dunk. Laugh. Don't play defense. Who cares who wins?
The atmosphere created for the game has taken away what I imagine is a natural inclination to be competitive in the players. They want to win. They don't want to be embarrassed. But when the culture says that there is no risk of them being embarrassed and no one cares who wins, then everything devolves into playground fun time.
The Major League Baseball All-Star Game is at least a little competitive because at the very core of the game rests the singular competition between the pitcher and the batter. A one-on-one contest in which neither player wants to back down or lose. Pitchers don't toss 70 mph cake pitches down the middle of the plate for guys to whack into the bleachers as souvenirs.
Somehow, the time when Magic Johnson backed down Scottie Pippen all the way down the floor while Pippen played great defense has given way to a time when guys stand around, and if you didn't know better, you would think that the ref's whistle had blown stopping play while somebody dunked for the fun of it, when in fact, play is still live, but no one is moving besides the guy with the ball.
Now, I don't know that the All-Star Game itself can ever be fixed. I'm not sure that we'll ever get away from the A-list version of And 1 that we see during the game itself. However, I think there are some ways that the NBA can change some of the events during the weekend to capitalize on the players' natural drive to compete. Some of these ideas you may have heard before, some you may have not, but I'm convinced any and all of these would make the all-star events more worth watching than they were this year (which wouldn't be hard to do).
Red, White, and Blue
Why is it that we have to endure the NBA trying to incorporate the WNBA into All-Star Weekend? Why not use one of the best basketball treasures we have in this country and invite the Harlem Globetrotters? They have a long tradition of playing some of the best teams in the world, be it NCAA champions, NCAA all-stars, and dozens of national teams? Why not invite them to play a team composed of both the Rookies and the Sophs? Who wouldn't want to watch that game? Hell, have them play a squad composed of the all-stars? This would at least make the NBA players give a little bit of effort, don't you think?
H-O-R-S-E
Why not? If the NBA is going to tout the preternatural athletic ability of its players, why not let them shine in one of the most recognizable and enjoyable games on earth? Every kid has played it, standing behind the backboard in their front yard and heaving a ball over the hoop, standing behind a bush and tossing the ball backward over their head. If anybody has seen Kyle Korver's shot off the wall, you can only imagine the kind of shots we would see in a H-O-R-S-E competition during All-Star Weekend.
One-on-One
Isn't this what the All-Star Game devolves into anyway? LeBron going against Kobe, Kobe going against LeBron, for example. Get rid of the extraneous eight other players on the floor and let two guys go at it. This would at least solve the problem of trying to get the guys motivated to defend their honor, and to defend at all. They wouldn't want to be embarrassed when it's just them out on the court and the mirage of no-culpability is gone. Set it up with three brackets: 1) point guards, 2) guards/small forwards, 3) power forwards/centers, and let them play it out for everyone to see. Watch Tracy McGrady go one-on-one against Wade, watch Yao go against Shaq. Then when all is said and done, let Shaq battle Steve Nash just for fun.
12-Foot Hoop
It was ludicrous that the NBA didn't allow Dwight Howard to dunk on a 12-foot hoop. The dunk contest has gotten more stale by the year because of a lack of innovations. There's only so many things you can jump over and so many historic dunks you can adapt (read: Dee Brown). So, why not have a taller hoop? In fact, why not have a whole separate competition dedicated to raising the hoop. Start it at 10 feet and go up 1/4 or 1/2 a foot each round and eliminate contestants like the Olympic high-jump. I don't know about you, but I'd love to see who could dunk on the highest hoop.
Trampolines
Make the celebrities play a version of trampoline basketball. That might be the only way to make that event watchable. Just a thought.
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