This year’s All-Star Weekend featured an underwhelming Slam Dunk Contest, a confusing Skills Challenge, and a revamped Rising Stars competition. Although the events provide a showcase for current stars and a few NBA legends, there’s a sense that the entertainment value has slipped from past years.
The biggest offender was the dunk contest, where Cole Anthony, Jalen Green, Juan Toscano-Anderson and Obi Toppin missed more dunks than they made, and no one provided a memorable highlight to excite the crowd. Toppin was the winner with a combined score of 92 in the finals, but his dunks were relatively safe as Toscano-Anderson misfired on his final three attempts.
Dwyane Wade, who was part of the TNT broadcast of the event, said afterward that the dunk contest rated a “solid 6,” which is the score competitors get when they miss all their dunks, per Cydney Henderson of USA Today. Broadcast partner Kenny Smith added, “We always have an off year. Even LeBron James has off games.”
The hometown Cavaliers captured the Skills Challenge when Evan Mobley sank a half-court shot on his first attempt. It was the most crowd-pleasing moment of an All-Star Weekend that is usually filled with high points.
The Antetokounmpo brothers admitted to not fully understanding the rules in the three-point shootout part of the competition that determined whether they or the Cavs would advance to the finals, writes Jim Owczarski of The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. They believed all three members of the team would get a shot, so they had Thanasis go first. He missed, and when Darius Garland sank his attempt, the Antetokounmpos were eliminated. They said Alex would have shot first if they had been aware of the rules.
Reviews were much more positive for Friday night’s Rising Stars event, which featured a single-elimination tournament involving four teams of first- and second-year players. The Elam ending was employed in all three games, and in honor of the league’s 75th anniversary, the semifinals were both played until someone reached 50 points and the finals were played to 25.
“I like this,” LaMelo Ball told Tim Bontemps of ESPN. “I feel like this was dope. Having something new, with the 75 and the 50 and the 25, I feel like it was creative.”
There have been suggestions that changing the order of events might help in the future, with the dunk competition moved up and the Three-Point Contest saved until last. There have also been proposals to freshen up the weekend with new events, such as a one-on-one tournament or a H-O-R-S-E competition.
We want to get your opinion. What needs to be done to improve All-Star Weekend? Please leave your responses in the space below.
Announce the participants but don’t actually do anything but have a week vacation. Just as exciting.
It’s actually not though
It’s by far the best all-star event of any of the sports/leagues anywhere in the world that I know of. Miles ahead of the NFL’s pro bowl. We got 1 of the worst dunk contests ever but also the best rookie game(s) ever so that’s just the way things go. All-star game is what it is, a lil fun & league promotion in the middle of the season
For me, I prefer the Major League Soccer All Star game, and NHL. For those that do not care for those sports, I understand disinterest, but the formats are much better than NBA, NFL, and MLB.
MLB is the best all star game/ event by far.
How about not inundating hard working basketball fans who pay lots of money to see basketball. Crap segments about the life of the Curry family and couple. Absolutely ridiculous!
I agree completely but unfortunately this is a voyeuristic, social media addicted society and the NBA wouldn’t do those segments if people weren’t watching.
True. But I think the fans largely were turned off by that.
I’m a Curry fan but that segment was unnecessary. It felt out of place.
Team Antetokounmpo was a joke. Thanasis & Alex do not belong on the court for all-star weekend. Nepotism at its finest.
Also, DJ Khaled is insufferable. You’ve got the Rock & Roll HoF in Cleveland and that’s the “entertainment” they chose.
NBA fans don’t want rock and roll
I say it every year and I will say it again. Each team chooses 3 reps, 1 for each contest: (1) Fri night 3 pt shot (2) Sat night dunk (3) Sun afternoon all star game. You get pts for how high you finish. Team that finishes 1st gets something valuable (a draft pick/ home court advantage throughout playoffs, for example). You consolidate the rounds, so 3 pt shootout tourney – 2 go at a time instead of 1. Dunks – you limit to best of 2 attempts (make/miss). Axe the rookie game and skills. This would bring back star power. LeBron would be dunking, for example. Fan interest would skyrocket bc they would be able to root for their own players.
If the top players aren’t going to do the dunk contest, ditch it altogether
The All Star game itself is unwatchable for fans of basketball. The dunk contest should have been benched long ago. I would rather see a tournament style series that has multiple teams (7 man rosters) with 30 minute running clock, fouled players get free throws and ball out of bounds (perhaps half court) — double elimination with significant bonus for players who win the tournament.
Skills competition has to go. Reformat the dunk competition. I’d rather see pro dunkers than the ish they put out each year. Larger pool like maybe 10 guys, 1 attempt, make it or go home. Get it down to 5 for round 2. Then the last 2 and you get 2 attempts.
The only All Star Game that resembles a game in that sport is the Baseball All Star Game. I don’t even watch the others.
My favorite sport is baseball, but the All Star game has morphed into a popularity contest with players laughing their way through the game.
They never should have scrapped the home field advantage in the World Series stipulation. It made the ASG actually feel important.
Yeah, I always liked that. It was a neat quirk.
Everyone here suggesting things to remove. The question was how to improve.
It is one thing to shuffle the deck or limit participants to increase scarcity and demand, but just getting rid of the AS weekend all together is A. Not happening and B. Just trashing an opportunity for something cool because u can’t think of something better
Elam ending is already paying dividends. This isn’t rocket science people. Get creative.
Do away with all star weekend. Give the players a two week vacation to get healthy instead of shortening the season. Extend trade deadline til March 1st to keep people interested in goings on while there’s no basketball being played. Begin back end of season March 2nd.
The NBA should get the NBA All-Star weekend events off TNT/TBS and put them on broadcast TV.
On CBS including the Playoffs that also means MLB to.
Buyout Tradedeadline like MLB Wavier one was so either can let the Player go to Team for nothing or work out Trade or pull back. Regular one midnight of All-Star Game and have it been like Winter Meetings/NHL Draft where GMS like to talk about Trades.
Include Retired guys in Game on Friday because MLB does. Also Slank Dunk,3 Point Shootout were missing like Curry and to make to them more funner like this year a past CAVS Player in 3 Point Shootout meaning Retired guy same with Slam Dunk aka SHAQ.
Events to add Free throw Contest or so on.
You turn it into a team event. One team is the Tallest NBA players. The other team is the smallest players. Add a WNBA team just for the jokes. To make it interesting there’s a big trampoline before the basket. They all have to dress in clown costumes and pound 6 beers before the contest. Winning team gets 1 million.
I could see it being the NBA all stars vs the Globetrotters.
Ditch the three point and dunk contests.
Replace it with a series of 1 on 1 and 3 on 3 competitions.
The 3-pt contest is the only interesting event of the weekend, it should stay
Pretty boring when the contest isn’t between the top 5-10 shooters in the league at the current time. Congrats to KAT for winning it but is there really anybody who would rather watch him shoot 3s then someone like curry (who I personally dislike but can acknowledge is the best shooter today)
I mean, let’s not act like it was a bunch of scrubs competing. I understand Curry wasn’t there, but you had players like Young, Bane, and McCollum still. Luke Kennard is leading the league in 3-point percentage, and he participated
Being named an all star is important for the HOF but after that it is just entertainment. I like:
1. The current young player format.
2. 3 v 3 all star tournament with either round robin groups or double elimination. Eight 4 player teams (3 NBA + 1 WNBA).
3. Each of the 30 teams sends a player to compete in a speed Around The World tournament.
After last night’s failure I went back and watched the final rounds of 16 and 20 and my god AG might be the best dunker to ever live. D wade cursed the dunk contest with his robbery of Air Gordon.
Its more than just missed dunks too. The pandemic killed the showmanship of this event. Blake Griffin had a choir at half court singing I Believe I Can Fly and jumped over a Kia. Cole Anthony….. put on Timbs…..
With the exception of 2016 and 2020, the dunk contest has been lackluster for the past couple of years.
They should monitor and select. The dunk contestants better. First they should get only the high fliers. And they should select the best. Not just the ones who want to do it. It should be an honor to be selected for this. Make it more entertaining. Forget the regular crew. Bring on past winners to judge. Add more glamour. Make it more eventful. Go more Hollywood ….. Dunk Contest should be Iconic …. NBA has to give it more respect.
Congratulations to Obi1 …….
We want to see more dunks for yrs to come bro. MSG needs highlights. It’s also time for Obi to move into starting lineup. Let Randle keep putting up his stats. Sit him and Obi close out season. Trade Randle on draft night. Plenty of young 4s n 5s there.
There should be at least one non-basketball event. Maybe show Luka and Jokic playing COD or Counterstrike.
It doesn’t just have to be video games. Imagine giant Jenga played by giants. And every jenga tile has a dare on it or a place on the court they have to shoot from. If they make the shot $x goes to charity. If they miss they have to pay to the other charity.
These could be low contact games so no risk of injury. These guys are competitive. Get them out of their comfort zone and build camaraderie.
Longest tetris streak. Sudden death 2k tournament. Mini golf. Checkers with dares on each one. Imagine an NBA bake off where they have to bake a cake for Adam Silver.
Get ya popcorn ready!
Absolutely not. The problem with allstar weekend is how over produced it is. All this hype and hysteria pre game and then the events are ultimately a let down. Got to give credit to DJ Khaled though for leaning on the same song for almost 15 years at this point
Well I think it would be fun and breezy. Plus you teach kids about sportsmanship.
Also if the events are less demanding maybe you get more ACTUAL all stars participating (KAT? Cole Anthony? Give me a break). If its video games the players could do it from their house.
Imagine this – we are watching Luka and Jokic teaming up in a game of domination. Then Luka is merked with a head shot. What is the tag of the player who did it? ITS LARRY BIRD! LARRY BIRD IS PLAYING CALL OF DUTY! make it like a wrestling match.
You say overproduction is the problem. I disagree. I think they need to inject a narrative into the proceedings. There are no stakes, just random players mixed together.
bring back the mascot dunk contest. “bug on a windshield” super hugo, hornets.
All all star games have become a complete joke. MLB had it right for the few years it actually meant somthing but as someone else pointed out it’s just a popularity contest to get in now. Then when it comes time to elect people to the HoF you hear about how many all star games or pro bowls they made which really shows you how much of a sh*tshow sports are
Maybe we should just get rid of sports all together then and give all the players a vacation.
Is that what you want??
I get it’s hard to read but nowhere did I say that. How about we start by scrapping the voting process completely and we just go with the guys with the best stats. Hope your 3rd grade reading comprehension can keep up with me this time
It’s just supposed to be for fun and fans. Fantasy basketball exists so you can obsessively track stats. How about instead of complaining about or watching the all star game you go memorize an almanac.
I’d bet my entire stock portfolio that you are first and foremost a baseball fan.
Just my uninformed suggestions:
Have the captains pick their teams on Friday Night at the event.
Dunk Competition needs a major overhaul or needs to be removed. Its foolish and nobody really cares. Has any new dunks been attempted in say 2 decades? Nope. Or have your opponents pick the dunk you have to do.
Addition: Old Timers Game. Retired players get to choose up sides and then go at each other for something, not $$$, but maybe charity.
G League Competition: The best G league players in a game and the winner gets $100k each or a contract extension.
Thats the best i got.
I think the old timer game where guys like Barkley and Bird pick the teams in a draft would be fun to watch.
I like this idea, except for old timers and g leaguers the prize should be a guaranteed roster spot for at least 1 game. Give them some chance to show themselves. Then we see who’s hungry…
The best thing they could do is cancel the game but have the rest of the contests and fan fest.
Jello wrestling, single elimination tournament.
If people hate all of these events than they dont need to watch them. dont demand the league eliminate events that are clearly being watched by someone.
3 point contest is great, skills and rising stars has become better and more interesting, all star game is great. Only issue is the dunk contest and maybe adding a 1v1 comp or horse comp.
Dunk contest has needed changing for ages tho.
Judges are crap, would be better doing fans in attendance voting like it’s a game show.
Just drop the dunk contest and give the trophy to whoever has the best in game dunk during the allstar game. It might make the game more exciting if there is actually something for them to compete for.