Renck: Every action is a confession. The NBA continues to tell us the All-Star Weekend stinks by continually tweaking the format. The skills competition featured a disqualification for cheating. The slam dunk contest highlighted Mac McClung, the NBA’s version of Punxsutawney Phil, pulled from the G-League to save stars from having to see this shadow of an exhibition every February. And the game was a Kevin Hart standup routine disguised as a single-elimination tournament. In totality, it is not working. It raises the question: Can All-Star Weekend be saved?
Keeler: Only if they raise the stakes. Or put actual, real, tangible stakes on the table. Why do the NBA and NHL have the best playoffs in North America? The players care — and it shows. The gloves are off, the egos are raging, the theater is captivating. I don’t need Kevin Hart to tell me that something’s important. I need SGA and Giannis leaving it all on the floor to tell me that something’s important. That something matters.
Renck: Assemble focus groups, study the demographics, analyze the ratings, and none of it matters if this simple truth does not change. If the players don’t care, why should we? The NBA is a players’ league that fosters a country club mentality of stars turning the schedule into their day planners and too many no-names on max contracts. This point was driven home Saturday night. As Team USA and Team Canada dropped the puck and dropped the gloves three times in the NHL’s 4 Nations Face-Off, San Antonio’s Chris Paul and Victor Wembanyama were rigging the shooting in the skills event. That about sums it up. If the best players are not going to try to shoot, if they are not going to try to dunk, then shelve it and show highlights of the 1980s Lakers-Celtics NBA Finals.
Keeler: Only stars can save an all-star game. And there’s only one way to get stars to care: Hit ’em in the pocketbook. Let’s start with the game itself. First, we go back to West vs. East. Then we add this carrot to the mix: The winning conference gets an extra 25% bump to its collective playoff bonus pool. The Nuggets reportedly shared a postseason bonus pot of roughly $1.6 million for their efforts last spring. You’re telling me they wouldn’t kick it up a notch in the middle of February for an extra $400,000 to play with over the summer? If you want a visual representation, stick a big treasure chest behind one or both of the baskets, then stuff it with fake gold doubloons. Or real doubloons. You can even have Hart sit on one chest and have Shaboozey sit on the other. Whatever works.
Renck: As for the game(s). Here is what current player and TNT’s Draymond Green said on the broadcast. “Ten being the best. A zero. It (stinks). This ain’t basketball.” It is so contrived, from Hart telling jokes to Mr. Beast on the mic during a fan shooting contest. The new try-too-hard format was a flop. Next year demands Team USA vs. The World, $5 million in prize money for the winner, stars only in the slam dunk exhibition, and Steph Curry vs. Caitlin Clark in the 3-point contest.
Keeler: Amen. His/Hers 3-point contests from here on out. And only players who’ve finished among the top 5 in 3-point makes in either of the two most recent seasons are eligible for the competition. Dunk rules? No more G-Leaguers. No more scrubs. Raise the bar. Raise the prize money, too. Play for one of Adam Silver’s yachts, for all I care. A rising tide lifts all boats. And only the NBA’s biggest stars can keep All-Star Weekend from drowning in a sea of bombast and irrelevance.
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