There may be no way to fully salvage the NBA’s annual All-Star Game. The league elected to get rid of several tweaks created to make the annual exhibition game more competitive by making it like a regular NBA game, only to see the tilt become almost unwatchable.
The same can be said for the events leading up to it. But we decided to throw out a few of our own half-baked ideas that could spice up the event we all love to complain about around the season’s two-thirds mark. They could also play the same way the NBA’s changes for this All-Star Game went (read: bad), but we figured we’d put them out into the ether just the same.
It’s not like it could get that much worse…right? So let’s take a look at each of our three ideas, then.
Looking back on the Boston Celtics in the NBA's 2024 All-Star Game https://t.co/2OkTssWaRf pic.twitter.com/VNtB2qTCfG
— The Celtics Wire (@TheCelticsWire) February 19, 2024
Part I - Expand WNBA crossover competition
The idea to have Stephen Curry and Sabrina Ionescu go head-to-head in a separate 3-point shootout was a masterstroke, and might have been the one thing that kept this year’s All-Star festivities a positive. There were negative aspects — we’re looking at the broadcasters here — but it was hugely popular, entertaining, and represents an area of potential cross-promotion for the WNBA and NBA in ways that should grab fans of both.
It should be expanded to more rounds and participants, but they should be pitted against each other as individuals, not as a battle of the sexes or leagues. And there might be room for mixed competition in the other events as well. Could the concept be expanded further in time to include players from other leagues around the world as well? This could really take off if done right.
Kai Cenat explains how he ended up in the dunk contest with Boston's Jaylen Brown https://t.co/PrtDt2k18Y pic.twitter.com/BGoezRzcsz
— The Celtics Wire (@TheCelticsWire) February 19, 2024
Part II - Formalize the Slam Dunk Contest
On a recent episode of the CLNS Media “Celtics Lab” podcast, we had an epiphany of sorts. If all the dunks, more or less, have been done, why not create dunk types with specific criteria to judge in the same way gymnastics or figure skating is done, and treat it as a more formal and less fluid and emergent event?
As Boston’s Jaylen Brown shared, dunking is something of an art form, and in the context of a dunk contest, can also carry deep meaning as well, as we saw in the Terrence Clarke dunk. Refining what actually counts as a good dunk combined with honoring those who created them seems a wise decision for the sport. And for the purists, we can keep a ‘freestyle’ category open in the contest, just in case someone DOES think of a novel flush technique.
Celtics Lab 141: Breaking down the good, bad, and irretrievably broken of All-Star Week with Clemente Almanza https://t.co/1p4SPh5j59 pic.twitter.com/htIsVR2fBK
— The Celtics Wire (@TheCelticsWire) February 19, 2024
Part III - Instead of East vs. West or playground style, starters vs. reserves
This could go gangbusters, or very badly. But we all know most starters agree with their being so honored, and that many reserves think they should have been starters. So why not use that as a crux for the motivation absent in other formats?
Pit the East Starters vs. the East reserves for one quarter, and the West starters vs. the reserves the next. Runners-up take the court for quarter No. 3, and East vs. West winners to take all. Too weird? Maybe! But it could also be a lot of fun without shaking up the record books as playground style did, and it won’t need us to keep track of a target score, for those irked by that element.
PHOTOS: Best moments from Jaylen Brown in the NBA's 2024 Slam Dunk Contest https://t.co/KNIiedKIqw pic.twitter.com/hEZK7fZOBY
— The Celtics Wire (@TheCelticsWire) February 19, 2024
Conclusions
We’re not sure if any of these ideas would make the league’s All-Star Week and All-Star Game any better. But the NBA needs to get creative here if it wants broadcasters to want the product — and more importantly, it wants fan eyeballs on it.
Whether these harebrained ideas prove worthy or not, the league has its work cut out for them after what felt like a bit of progress being made in the annual event in terms of fan engagement being wiped out in just one year.
Whatever the future holds for All-Star Week, we’re pretty sure it won’t look like this year’s — and that’s probably for the best.
PHOTOS: Best moments from Celtics' Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown in the NBA's 2024 All-Star Game https://t.co/aZPIyEV3uq pic.twitter.com/p5sSNASktV
— The Celtics Wire (@TheCelticsWire) February 19, 2024
Listen to the “Celtics Lab” podcast on:
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