With All-Star Weekend upon us, I needed to vent about the current state of what has become a nearly unwatchable debacle. As a basketball fan - moreover, as an NBA fan - it hurts to watch the NBA shoot itself in the foot every year with ridiculous events, meaningless games and stupid selection processes. I want to see change because I want to see the NBA succeed. I want it to showcase itself for what it is - the greatest game on earth - and I want the fans to be able to get excited every year for intriguing matchups and renewed rivalries. Instead, it fails to draw in even the most passionate of its fans (such as myself) and turns into a forgettable mess that is as ostentatious as it is boring (which is hard to do simultaneously). Here two things the NBA could do that would make me watch it again...

 

• Give the players incentive to win the game: switch up the Eastern Conference vs. Western Conference format.
• Problem: Players don't really care that much if they're representing the Eastern Conference or the Western Conference. This keeps them from being competitive and competition is what makes basketball such a great game. The fans see the same thing every year and pretty much know before hand what matchups they're going to see year after year - matador defense and highlight dunks.
• Suggested solution: Do a rotating cycle of different matchups. Keep the East vs. West, but only do it every 4 years. The other three years you do something like American vs. International (kind of like hockey), 28+ vs. 27- (old guys vs. young guys), and Westerners vs. Easterners (Players who were raised west of the Mississippi, Western Europe, S. America and Pacific Islands vs. players who grew up east of the Mississippi, in Eastern Europe, Africa, the Caribbean and Asia). This way you get different mixups of different lineups and its not the same lineups every freakin' year. These could have been this year's matchups - it's a fan's dream...

 

Internationals            vs.        Americans

Steve Nash                              Chris Paul

Manu Ginobili                         Kobe Bryant

Dirk Nowitzki                         LeBron James

Tim Duncan                            Kevin Garnett

Yao Ming                                Dwight Howard

Tony Parker                             Baron Davis

Leandro Barbosa                     Allen Iverson

Hedo Turkoglu                        Caron Butler

Pau Gasol                                Chris Bosh

Zydrunas Ilgauskas                 Amare Stoudemire

Jose Calderon                          Chauncey Billups

Andrei Kirilenko                    Paul Pierce

 

Old Guys                    vs.        Young Guys

Steve Nash                              Chris Paul

Kobe Bryant                           Gilbert Arenas

Paul Pierce                              LeBron James

Kevin Garnett                         Amare Stoudemire

Tim Duncan                            Yao Ming

Baron Davis                            Deron Williams

Allen Iverson                          Dwyane Wade

Tracy McGrady                       Caron Butler

Dirk Nowitzki                         Chris Bosh

Marcus Camby                        Dwight Howard

Manu Ginobili                         Carmelo Anthony

Chauncey Billups                    Carlos Boozer

 

Westerners                 vs.        Easterners

Steve Nash                              Chris Paul

Manu Ginobili                         Kobe Bryant

Paul Pierce                              LeBron James

Dirk Nowitzki                         Kevin Garnett

Al Jefferson                            Tim Duncan

Baron Davis                            Devin Harris   

Gilbert Arenas                         Allen Iverson

Antawn Jamison                     Carmelo Anthony

Chris Bosh                              Amare Stoudemire

Pau Gasol                                Yao Ming

Chauncey Billups                    Dwyane Wade           

Joe Johnson                             Dwight Howard

 

(this last one made me realize how many good point guards came from the west of the Mississippi or from Western Europe - Tony Parker, T.J. Ford, Deron Williams, Jose Calderon, Andre Miller, Jason Terry, Jason Kidd... it's crazy. I had to choose between Devin Harris (Wisconson) and Mo Williams (Alabama) who both barely make it as well)

 

• Allow more freedom in the dunk contest.
• Problem: We're getting close to having seen all the dunks that can possibly be done - without props that is. Every year a guy does a jump from the free throw line or between the legs dunk that everyone has seen 100 times. Guys like Tyrus Thomas show up only for the cash and don't put any originality into it. Hell, when a guy shows creativity (Dwight Howard, Andre Iguodala), they don't get any love.
• Solution: I don't think you get rid of the dunk contest entirely - it's a classic part of All-Star weekend - but I think you need to let the players be as creative as they want. Dwight Howard was denied in his request to raise the rim to 12 feet. Why?? Every NBA fan would love to see that. They've outlawed props of any kind (no blindfolds, chairs, etc.) but I think you let them do as they please, as long as it's part of the actual dunk, not some pre-dunk nonsense like pumping up your shoes or doing a back flip. Let a guy bring a cell phone and actually dial it in the air before dunking. Guys could be really creative and it could be fun for the fans.

 

• Get rid of the Rookie-Sophomore game, the Shooting Stars, and the Skills Challenge.
• Problem: These events suck and everyone knows it. The attempts at getting the WNBA off its feet have failed and will continue to fail, so just let the WNBA go do its own thing somewhere where it won't damage our retinas.
• Solution: Let the fans come up with the ideas for new events. The NBA League Office can choose its top 10; then the fans can vote on the top 3.

 

Beyond these points, I also think the All-Star voting process could stand to be changed and the half-time shows could be artists NBA fans would actually want to hear, but these aren't as important as the other things I listed. But is Stern too entrenched in the current format to make drastic changes? My best guess is yes, but I hope that I'm wrong. If Stern wants to keep it the way it is, well, at least this isn't the Pro Bowl.