NBA All Star Weekend

From Dimemag.com

The upcoming NBA All-Star weekend is something that I usually would be looking forward too. Not anymore. Over the years I have always been excited to watch the dunk contest, 3 point contest, and of course the main event – the all star game. There are many other events, but most are just minutely entertaining. However, outside of football (the pro bowl is an absolute joke) the NBA has the worse all-star weekend, at least logistically speaking. The problem with the NBA all star weekend is that we have nothing to look forward to anymore.



This year’s contestants in the dunk contest are all unknowns. Back in the day the biggest stars would compete against each other. I am a huge Lebron fan, but not doing the dunk contest is a huge problem to me. He is the best the league has to offer and he would instantly renew interest in the dying contest. Kobe has done it, Vince Carter did it, Dominique, MJ, and Irving, they are all dunk champions. Most of them are also Hall of Famers. It's almost a rite of passage, or at least it use to be. Why the best players don’t do the contest anymore, is beyond me. Also the format of the contest keeps changing year after year, and it's just becoming boring. The fans voting make it even less entertaining because of bias. For example, how is Nate Robinson the only three time dunk champion there is? I am really hoping this year the young guys spice it up and really bring it, or maybe the NBA should step in and just give us all what we want to see. Lebron, Howard, Durant, Griffin? Sounds amazing to me.

Another problem with the all-star game is the format. I would love to see the NBA adopt and NHL inspired format. Elect two captains and let them pick the squads. It would create much more interesting matchups, and would keep us from seeing the same game we've watched for the past ten years, plus/minus a few new players here and there. On top of it, another solution would be to do what MLB does. Make the winner of the all-star game have home court advantage. It would at least give the game some meaning.

Overall, the weekend is still entertaining, but it is not what it used to be. I can watch ESPN Classic and see old all-star game footage and be completely captivated. I watch the last 10 years or so and I am bored. Something needs to happen; some kind of change needs to spark new interest in the NBA all star weekend.