When you’ve been a fan of NBA basketball as long as I have, you will have been through some really high highs, and some really low lows of All-Star Weekend. It could just be me (or the passage of time is really taking a toll on me), but I feel like All-Star Weekend used to be much better than what we’ve been getting the past 7 years or so.
Don’t get me wrong, there have been some good moments for sure: Mac McClung single handedly revived the Dunk Contest for one year, we saw Damian Lillard go back-to-back in the 3 Point Contest, and we have had multiple memorable moments in the All-Star Game. However, with all of those memorable things I can reminisce on, I still feel hollow inside.
Adam Silver himself has alluded to needing to make chances to the All-Star Game, but I want to take it a step further. I have some ideas that I believe would revamp the All-Star Weekend I once loved. It will be radical, and some of my changes may directly impact your favorite event, but I do believe that it is for the greater good. Hopefully, at the end of the article, you will agree.
No More Skills Competition
I wanted to ease into the changes; not too extreme of a change to make to start out. Fifteen years ago, I would have been really impressed by an honest to goodness 7 footer pulling out dribble moves like a guard, and being able to shoot the longball at a respectable clip. Now though? Every single night I’m watching one of those 7 footers have a dribble package like the And1 mixtape guys and shoot the 3 like Steph Curry. In today’s NBA, everyone does everything. Sure, you have some specialist, but unless they’re going to incorporate more unique skills into the competition, I have seen everything I will ever need to see. The Skills Competition is obsolete.
3×3 Tournament
I will be transparent with you about something: I love 3×3 basketball. Almost as much as I love 5v5. I’ve been playing basketball my entire life, and I don’t know how else to explain it to you other than to say that 3×3 might as well be an entirely different sport than 5v5. Defense matters more because there aren’t as many people to help you if you get beat; your iso game needs to be elite because when an offensive set breaks down, it is up to you to get the bucket; and 3×3 usually has a target score, so every single possession matters.
We could incorporate a tournament into the weekend; maybe start it on Friday and have the Final be on Sunday before the All-Star Game. We could open the competition up to the guys who didn’t make the All-Star Game too. We’d get to see the more human side of basketball players because they would want to team up with their friends. Maybe the hosting city’s team get a group of three to hype the home crowd up. Maybe we get to see the three biggest stars in the game team up and dominate. No matter the outcome, we would be glued to the TV (or our phones) to see how it plays out.
1v1 Tournament
Who doesn’t love a good ol’ fashion King of the Court? Every day at lunch time when I was in high school, me and my friends (and sometimes my enemies) would hop on the court to find out who won that day.
Part of the reason I wanted to join in was because I enjoy playing basketball amongst my peers. The other reason was pride. I wasn’t a superstar basketball player by any means. Hell, I didn’t even start on my team my senior year. I was good enough to bust my friend’s ass in a 1v1 though. Beating them, whether they were my teammates or not, gave me some sort of vindication for my coach’s decision to not give me any playing time.
NBA players aren’t so different in that aspect. There is always someone disrespecting them, always some other player they have beef with, and always some fan in their Twitter (are we all committed to calling it X now, or is it still Twitter?) DM’s saying that they’re a bum. Why not take it to the court to settle it once and for all? Take all of that frustration on the hardwood to be crowned the 1v1 King.
Have a field of 16 players, first to 8 to honor Kobe Bryant, every make is worth 1 point, and have guys like Kevin Durant, Devin Booker, and Paul George come out to find out who the real King of the Court is.
Change the All-Star Game Completely
This is admittedly the most drastic of the changes, but it needs to be done.
- Make the official All-Star team be only 13 players total. No more East and West.
- The other team needs to be the All-Snub team. Instant chip on their shoulder to beat the so-called “All-Stars.”
- Introduce a target score, or an Elam ending to the All-Star game.
The biggest complaint over the last five years or so has either been “the game is too high scoring” or “the players don’t care, so why should I?” Those three simple changes listed above can fix both of those problems.
The snubs are going to play their asses off to make sure that they decimate the All-Stars. No one likes to be underestimated, and almost as importantly, no one likes to be beaten by someone who’s trying to take their spot. Both sides will play harder to assert dominance over the other.
The target score, I believe, needs to be by quarter. First to 24, first to 30, whatever the number ends up being, it will ensure that we won’t see either team score near 200 points ever again.
Good for the game, good for the fans, good for the advertisers and the commissioner. Win-win-win.
Get Rid of the Dunk Contest
Changing the All-Star game was the most dramatic change. This, however, is the most dramatic omission. There is quite literally nothing that we haven’t seen in the Dunk Contest: Windmills, Eastbays, 360s, 12′ rims, jumping over a car while a choir sings. Everything has been done. Long gone are the days where we see guys like Tracy McGrady and Vince Carter come up with dunks on the spot that get 50s across the board. We have reached an apex of the artform known as dunking, and until there is a breakthrough, it needs to be put to rest.
There is an alternative: turn the dunk contest into a showcase. NBA players need not apply.
NBA players are required to be good in multiple facets of the game: playmaking, rebounding, shooting, defense. They don’t have time to be elite in non-game dunking. There are, however, professional dunkers in the world. You can go on Instagram and find guys who are pulling out things we have never seen every single day. Bring those guys in, have a prize pool of $500,000, and let them put on a show.
Round The Game 
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