The All-star game was good, but the weekend still needs fixing
The All-star game was good, but the weekend still needs fixing
Written by Jordan Christmas (@SlyHooperX) on 19 February 2018
Written by Jordan Christmas
(@SlyHooperX) on 19 February 2018
The All-star game was an all-around success, but there are still a few more things to make it the best weekend it can be.
The All-star game was an all-around success, but there are still a few more things to make it the best weekend it can be.
West: 192
East: 182
West: 196
East: 173
Before Sunday night, these were the scores of the past two All-star games.
It sent the basketball world and those who follow it into a frenzy, with countless requests to fix the lack of competitiveness in these games.
Everyone knows All-star games have always been glorified exhibition games showcasing the 24 best players on the planet. The quality of play was deteriorating relative to even an all-star game. Players aren't going to compete at the level of a regular season game, but there would at least be a few possessions where players would lock in. The 2012 all-star game was probably the last "competitive" all-star game in recent memory.
Last year we got a lot of this.
Something had to change.
While there has always been a growing "what's the point?" attitude towards the game, having a celebration of the history and culture of the sport is important. It's what made all-star weekend fun for me and a lot of other people growing up as young kids.
Seeing Allen Iverson, Kevin Garnett, Vince Carter and a Milwaukee Buck's version of Ray Allen in the same game was simply awesome for the 10-year-old version of me.
Over the years the totality of All-star weekend has been overly, but in some cases, rightfully scrutinized. Sometimes, One or two of the events stood out more than the others, and some other years the same events that stood out would stink. The full weekend of events was never able to string together consistency.
The All-star game Sunday night, new format and all, was a big step in the right direction.
Team LeBron pulled out a 148-145 victory over Team Stephen, and the game had a few things going for itself to become a better product. Having Steph and LeBron draft the players, having the winning team donate money to the charity of the winning captain's choice, and LeBron and Steph making comments all season, calling for a more competitive game added some incentive that made this game enjoyable for the viewer.
The weekend as a whole still has a long way to go, however. While the game itself was good, the weekend, for the most part, was pretty average with some really low points. You could say the same thing in recent memory too. More tweaks could certainly help improve the weekend. So naturally, what better expert to suggest said tweaks than myself? Sarcasm implied.
Friday Night
Suggestion #1: Scrap the Celebrity Game and replace it with an NBA legends game.
I think it's time we put the celebrity game to rest. Not only is it really bad basketball, it does nothing to celebrate the NBA, it's culture, or it's history. It was a cool idea at first when the J. Coles, Arne Duncans, Ice Cubes, and Snoops of the world played in it, but even then, the novelty of that aspect wore thin quickly.
Not only that, the game continues to have WNBA players playing in these games, which is borderline disrespectful because they are some of the best basketball players in the world being put at risk of injury playing with people who for the most part have no idea what they are doing. Sue Bird, Lindsey Whalen, Tamika Catchings, and Candance Parker are some of the names that have been featured in this game. Those are champions who are well above playing in this type of game. It's the gimmick that irks me the most about this game.
Also, there is no way Kevin Hart should be a 4-time MVP, and that should tell you all you need to know about this game.
I get the whole "Entertainers want to be ballers, and ballers want to be entertainers" angle to this, but the game is worse than the worst possible exhibition game especially because most of them have:
1. Stopped hooping completely prior to this game.
2. Have never hooped before. How are you doing Bubba Watson?; or
3. Got an invite to the game based strictly on their popularity and no proof that they can actually hoop, even a bit.
There is no way this game should be the first event to kick off what is supposed to be a celebration of the game.
In its place, I would love to see the Celebrity game replaced with a legends game. A game with former NBA players who are well known among fans, who have been all-stars, or who are "not too removed" Hall of Famers. Hell, even on occasions I wouldn't mind seeing former athletes from a different sport who have hooped before. Terrell Owens and a few other NFL players have played in the Celebrity game, Owens even had some nice dunks.
25 former NBA players have also played in the Celebrity game since it's inception in 2003, so it can be done. I know there is worry about older players getting injured, but there are ways to mitigate these concerns and make it a safe game
- Each team has to fill 13 roster spots
- Each Quarter is 7 minutes, with longer in between quarter breaks
- Coaches are former players, coaches, etc.
- Overtime is sudden death (the first basket wins)
I can already see 44-year-old Jamal Crawford and 38-year-old Lou Williams having an all-time heat check duel in the Inaugural NBA Legends game in the year 2025.
Suggestion #2: Televise the All-star draft
The Topic has been beaten to death, but it bears repeating. The All-star draft needs to be televised next year. If you hold it on a Friday night, the teams can then practice --but not really practice-- on Saturday as usual. We want to see who gets picked first, who gets picked last, and all of the reactions and interactions from players. Will they have some light-hearted trash talk? Will players bribe captains to make sure they are picked? Will there be trades? Do trades even exist in this format? We don't know because the draft wasn't televised. It would also be the perfect follow-up to the NBA Legends game. Kicking off the weekend right.
Saturday Events
Three-Point Contest:
- The three-point contest should replace the dunk contest as the last event of the night. I know it's tradition to have the Dunk Contest last, but the Dunk contest has been lackluster for a few year now outside of the 2015 Aaron Gordan-Zach Lavine dunk off. And while saving the dunk contest for last raises the ceiling for how successful Saturday night can be, those great dunk contests are getting more farther in between. For consistency sake, we shouldn't wait for the next great dunk contest. There are more great shooters now in the league than ever before, and it's the most competitive event. The night should be capped off with the three-point contest.
- Make sure the top echelon shooters keep coming back to the contest. The 2015 three-point shoot-out might have been the best lineup of shooters in the event's history. You had the Splash Brothers, JJ Redick, Kyle Korver --who was on pace for a 50/50/90 season going into that contest--, Marco Belinelli who was shooting 43% that year, James Harden, etc. It ended with a final of Steph, Klay, and Kyrie which was also awesome. If we keep getting the league's top shooters back by increasing the winnings, that improves what is already a great event.
Skills challenge:
- The 2016 all-star weekend was the first year when the Skills competition decided to spice things up and include big men with guards. I have actually liked the change. It showcases how the big man has evolved in today's NBA, and I wouldn't change a thing right now. Kudos to the NBA for the change.
Dunk Contest:
- Move up from 4 contestants to 6 contestants. Each contest gets two dunks per round.
- Have 3 rounds instead of 2 rounds. The two lowest scores get eliminated in each of the first 2 rounds.
- No more celebrity judges. Please for the love of God. Have former dunk contest winners, current players, whoever. DJ Khaled gave this suggestion a 2 out of 10.
- Judges can't be throwing out 50 scores like it's Halloween candy. Allow the half-point system if need be. We know instantly when a dunk deserves a 50.
- Each contestant can only use props twice for the entirety of the contest.
- Keep the "three chances to complete your dunk" rule.
- As mentioned before, make the Dunk contest the second event of the night. If it happens to be a great dunk contest that year, then so be it. The three-point contest can maintain the buzz as the final event of the night.
Sunday: The All-star game
Suggestion #1: Get rid of the unnecessary trash in the all-star game introduction
The All-star game introductions have added more and more stuff over the last few years trying to bring entertainment value to the All-star introductions. This year, however, was an abomination.
Then it took an extra 12 minutes for Kevin Hart to introduce the all-stars and made jokes about every single player.
The reactions from Basketball Twitter was pretty much just a giant Nick Young Question Marks meme.
But all of that nonsense pales in comparison to how badly Fergie butchered the national anthem.
Obviously, you don't get rid of the national anthem, but who the hell made the executive decision to select Fergie to sing it? It was so bad that Draymond Green and Jimmy Kimmel were trying so hard to hold back their laughter. THE CRINGE. THE CRINGE.
More reaction from Twitter.
And my personal favorite:
I understand wanting to add entertainment value leading up to the all-star game, but this is way too much. No skits with various actors. No long introductions that have three mini-concerts featuring 5000 artists. Just keep it simple with the entertainment and achieve the task at hand. Which is to honor those who were selected to the all-star team.
Then we can swiftly transition to the semi-competitive and fun all-star game to cap off the weekend. Honor the best players in the world, as well as the history and culture of the sport we all love.
West: 192
East: 182
West: 196
East: 173
Before Sunday night, these were the scores of the past two All-star games.
It sent the basketball world and those who follow it into a frenzy, with countless requests to fix the lack of competitiveness in these games.
Everyone knows All-star games have always been glorified exhibition games showcasing the 24 best players on the planet. The quality of play was deteriorating relative to even an all-star game. Players aren't going to compete at the level of a regular season game, but there would at least be a few possessions where players would lock in. The 2012 all-star game was probably the last "competitive" all-star game in recent memory.
Last year we got a lot of this.
Something had to change.
While there has always been a growing "what's the point?" attitude towards the game, having a celebration of the history and culture of the sport is important. It's what made all-star weekend fun for me and a lot of other people growing up as young kids.
Seeing Allen Iverson, Kevin Garnett, Vince Carter and a Milwaukee Buck's version of Ray Allen in the same game was simply awesome for the 10-year-old version of me.
Over the years the totality of All-star weekend has been overly, but in some cases, rightfully scrutinized. Sometimes, One or two of the events stood out more than the others, and some other years the same events that stood out would stink. The full weekend of events was never able to string together consistency.
The All-star game Sunday night, new format and all, was a big step in the right direction.
Team LeBron pulled out a 148-145 victory over Team Stephen, and the game had a few things going for itself to become a better product. Having Steph and LeBron draft the players, having the winning team donate money to the charity of the winning captain's choice, and LeBron and Steph making comments all season, calling for a more competitive game added some incentive that made this game enjoyable for the viewer.
The weekend as a whole still has a long way to go, however. While the game itself was good, the weekend, for the most part, was pretty average with some really low points. You could say the same thing in recent memory too. More tweaks could certainly help improve the weekend. So naturally, what better expert to suggest said tweaks than myself? Sarcasm implied.
Friday Night
Suggestion #1: Scrap the Celebrity Game and replace it with an NBA legends game.
I think it's time we put the celebrity game to rest. Not only is it really bad basketball, it does nothing to celebrate the NBA, it's culture, or it's history. It was a cool idea at first when the J. Coles, Arne Duncans, Ice Cubes, and Snoops of the world played in it, but even then, the novelty of that aspect wore thin quickly.
Not only that, the game continues to have WNBA players playing in these games, which is borderline disrespectful because they are some of the best basketball players in the world being put at risk of injury playing with people who for the most part have no idea what they are doing. Sue Bird, Lindsey Whalen, Tamika Catchings, and Candance Parker are some of the names that have been featured in this game. Those are champions who are well above playing in this type of game. It's the gimmick that irks me the most about this game.
Also, there is no way Kevin Hart should be a 4-time MVP, and that should tell you all you need to know about this game.
I get the whole "Entertainers want to be ballers, and ballers want to be entertainers" angle to this, but the game is worse than the worst possible exhibition game especially because most of them have:
1. Stopped hooping completely prior to this game.
2. Have never hooped before. How are you doing Bubba Watson?; or
3. Got an invite to the game based strictly on their popularity and no proof that they can actually hoop, even a bit.
There is no way this game should be the first event to kick off what is supposed to be a celebration of the game.
In its place, I would love to see the Celebrity game replaced with a legends game. A game with former NBA players who are well known among fans, who have been all-stars, or who are "not too removed" Hall of Famers. Hell, even on occasions I wouldn't mind seeing former athletes from a different sport who have hooped before. Terrell Owens and a few other NFL players have played in the Celebrity game, Owens even had some nice dunks.
25 former NBA players have also played in the Celebrity game since it's inception in 2003, so it can be done. I know there is worry about older players getting injured, but there are ways to mitigate these concerns and make it a safe game
- Each team has to fill 13 roster spots
- Each Quarter is 7 minutes, with longer in between quarter breaks
- Coaches are former players, coaches, etc.
- Overtime is sudden death (the first basket wins)
I can already see 44-year-old Jamal Crawford and 38-year-old Lou Williams having an all-time heat check duel in the Inaugural NBA Legends game in the year 2025.
Suggestion #2: Televise the All-star draft
The Topic has been beaten to death, but it bears repeating. The All-star draft needs to be televised next year. If you hold it on a Friday night, the teams can then practice --but not really practice-- on Saturday as usual. We want to see who gets picked first, who gets picked last, and all of the reactions and interactions from players. Will they have some light-hearted trash talk? Will players bribe captains to make sure they are picked? Will there be trades? Do trades even exist in this format? We don't know because the draft wasn't televised. It would also be the perfect follow-up to the NBA Legends game. Kicking off the weekend right.
Saturday Events
Three-Point Contest:
- The three-point contest should replace the dunk contest as the last event of the night. I know it's tradition to have the Dunk Contest last, but the Dunk contest has been lackluster for a few year now outside of the 2015 Aaron Gordan-Zach Lavine dunk off. And while saving the dunk contest for last raises the ceiling for how successful Saturday night can be, those great dunk contests are getting more farther in between. For consistency sake, we shouldn't wait for the next great dunk contest. There are more great shooters now in the league than ever before, and it's the most competitive event. The night should be capped off with the three-point contest.
- Make sure the top echelon shooters keep coming back to the contest. The 2015 three-point shoot-out might have been the best lineup of shooters in the event's history. You had the Splash Brothers, JJ Redick, Kyle Korver --who was on pace for a 50/50/90 season going into that contest--, Marco Belinelli who was shooting 43% that year, James Harden, etc. It ended with a final of Steph, Klay, and Kyrie which was also awesome. If we keep getting the league's top shooters back by increasing the winnings, that improves what is already a great event.
Skills challenge:
- The 2016 all-star weekend was the first year when the Skills competition decided to spice things up and include big men with guards. I have actually liked the change. It showcases how the big man has evolved in today's NBA, and I wouldn't change a thing right now. Kudos to the NBA for the change.
Dunk Contest:
- Move up from 4 contestants to 6 contestants. Each contest gets two dunks per round.
- Have 3 rounds instead of 2 rounds. The two lowest scores get eliminated in each of the first 2 rounds.
- No more celebrity judges. Please for the love of God. Have former dunk contest winners, current players, whoever. DJ Khaled gave this suggestion a 2 out of 10.
- Judges can't be throwing out 50 scores like it's Halloween candy. Allow the half-point system if need be. We know instantly when a dunk deserves a 50.
- Each contestant can only use props twice for the entirety of the contest.
- Keep the "three chances to complete your dunk" rule.
- As mentioned before, make the Dunk contest the second event of the night. If it happens to be a great dunk contest that year, then so be it. The three-point contest can maintain the buzz as the final event of the night.
Sunday: The All-star game
Suggestion #1: Get rid of the unnecessary trash in the all-star game introduction
The All-star game introductions have added more and more stuff over the last few years trying to bring entertainment value to the All-star introductions. This year, however, was an abomination.
Then it took an extra 12 minutes for Kevin Hart to introduce the all-stars and made jokes about every single player.
The reactions from Basketball Twitter was pretty much just a giant Nick Young Question Marks meme.
But all of that nonsense pales in comparison to how badly Fergie butchered the national anthem.
Obviously, you don't get rid of the national anthem, but who the hell made the executive decision to select Fergie to sing it? It was so bad that Draymond Green and Jimmy Kimmel were trying so hard to hold back their laughter. THE CRINGE. THE CRINGE.
More reaction from Twitter.
And my personal favorite:
I understand wanting to add entertainment value leading up to the all-star game, but this is way too much. No skits with various actors. No long introductions that have three mini-concerts featuring 5000 artists. Just keep it simple with the entertainment and achieve the task at hand. Which is to honor those who were selected to the all-star team.
Then we can swiftly transition to the semi-competitive and fun all-star game to cap off the weekend. Honor the best players in the world, as well as the history and culture of the sport we all love.