IMO the NBA ASG has hit rock bottom

[SalmonsSuperfan]

they should be suspended if they don't take it seriously. i really can't stand the contemporary base of nba players, they're some of the richest men who ever lived for the sole reason that they can entertain people with a ball. these massive contracts have coincided with players forgetting their civil role.

[HomoSapien]

Scrap the ASG and replace it with a 3 on 3 tournament. Randomly selected teams with one guard, one forward, and one center. Give the winning team $1M each.

Funny enough, I was thinking about the same thing but was wondering if it'd be more interesting have each franchise participate in a 3 on 3 tourney (plus one sub?). Winner gets home-court advantage in the 1st round of the playoffs, assuming they get in?

Honestly, the only way to make these games interesting is to assign real stakes. I also think having every team represented gives more fans an incentive to watch. I'm always a little less interested when no Bulls are participating.

The thing about expanding it to all teams is that it’s no longer an event for All Stars. The game definitely needs stakes though. “Too cool to care” has destroyed AS weekend. If Anthony Edwards bricking left-handed threes in the skills challenge doesn’t wake Silver tf up, I don’t know what will.

That is true, but at this point it’s so bad that what value is the “All-Star” name/branding even providing? I know there’s contractual implications here, but the weekend is just a joke at the moment.

[prolific passer]

Yeah it sucks. The weekend overall was awful.
My favorite all star events through the years.
2003 Slam Dunk Contest
2005 Rookie/Sophomore game
1990 East all stars as my favorite squad.
Favorite all star game? 93 and 01 as the best games but the best matchup was Kobe vs Jordan in 98.
Don't really have a favorite three point contest.
2009 Skills Challenge when a rookie Rose finished it off with a dunk.

[ThisGuyFawkes]

I didn't realize they went back to the East/West format. Upon hearing this, it immediately reminded me of the opening scene from BASEketball.

"The Oakland Raiders moved to L.A. and then back to Oakland. No one in Los Angeles seemed to notice."

That movie was pretty mediocre, but that opening sequence was hilarious.

"Soon it was commonplace for entire teams to change cities in search of greater profits. The Minneapolis Lakers moved to Los Angeles where there are no lakes. The Oilers moved to Tennessee where there is no oil. The Jazz moved to Salt Lake City where they don't allow music."

I must have watched it like 10 times when I was 16 or so, and I have fond memories. I'm sure if I watched it again in my 40's, I would have the same conclusion haha.

[ThreeMileAllan]

Scrap the ASG and replace it with a 3 on 3 tournament. Randomly selected teams with one guard, one forward, and one center. Give the winning team $1M each.

Funny enough, I was thinking about the same thing but was wondering if it'd be more interesting have each franchise participate in a 3 on 3 tourney (plus one sub?). Winner gets home-court advantage in the 1st round of the playoffs, assuming they get in?

Honestly, the only way to make these games interesting is to assign real stakes. I also think having every team represented gives more fans an incentive to watch. I'm always a little less interested when no Bulls are participating.

The thing about expanding it to all teams is that it’s no longer an event for All Stars. The game definitely needs stakes though. “Too cool to care” has destroyed AS weekend. If Anthony Edwards bricking left-handed threes in the skills challenge doesn’t wake Silver tf up, I don’t know what will.

I'll take a lotbof flack for this. But give the winning conference home court advantage in the finals. Stupid? Maybe. But we will see people try that's for sure.

Sent from my SM-S918U1 using Tapatalk

[AshyLarrysDiaper]

Funny enough, I was thinking about the same thing but was wondering if it'd be more interesting have each franchise participate in a 3 on 3 tourney (plus one sub?). Winner gets home-court advantage in the 1st round of the playoffs, assuming they get in?

Honestly, the only way to make these games interesting is to assign real stakes. I also think having every team represented gives more fans an incentive to watch. I'm always a little less interested when no Bulls are participating.

The thing about expanding it to all teams is that it’s no longer an event for All Stars. The game definitely needs stakes though. “Too cool to care” has destroyed AS weekend. If Anthony Edwards bricking left-handed threes in the skills challenge doesn’t wake Silver tf up, I don’t know what will.

That is true, but at this point it’s so bad that what value is the “All-Star” name/branding even providing? I know there’s contractual implications here, but the weekend is just a joke at the moment.

If enough of the public has permanently lost interest in All Stars as a concept, then I agree, the NBA should move on. For me, there’s enough nostalgia around the event that I’d rather see it fixed.

[HomoSapien]

The thing about expanding it to all teams is that it’s no longer an event for All Stars. The game definitely needs stakes though. “Too cool to care” has destroyed AS weekend. If Anthony Edwards bricking left-handed threes in the skills challenge doesn’t wake Silver tf up, I don’t know what will.

That is true, but at this point it’s so bad that what value is the “All-Star” name/branding even providing? I know there’s contractual implications here, but the weekend is just a joke at the moment.

If enough of the public has permanently lost interest in All Stars as a concept, then I agree, the NBA should move on. For me, there’s enough nostalgia around the event that I’d rather see it fixed.

That’d be my preference too for sure. I’m just afraid it’s too long gone.

[weneeda2guard]

The dunk contest needs a full make over.

A 5 minute 1 song halftime show with a choir is not going to work for any all star ever

The all star game itself was no more than a reflection of the game play of today's NBA. For all those trying to go viral on hot takes that want to argue today's game is more competitive and there is more talent, the end results are piss poor performances from who is supposed to be the best in the world. No continuity from the stars, no fancy passes, no one playing with pride or energy even though millions are watching, entire offense was basically 1 pass 3pt shot, 1 pass 3pt shot. Iso 3pt shot, open lay up, soft dunk then more 3s. For all the talk of the upgrade in talent you have guys missing basic dunks and couldn't make simply alley oop passes. West got down 25 and had no fire or desire to even try to get back in it and compete. It was just more travels and triples.

This is supposed to be the game play that wipes the 80s and 90s out if they played? Really? I can still re-watch all star games from the 80s and 90s even today not that they were the most competitive but they at least played hard in the 4th quarter. Got some 1 on 1 match ups, got a lot of alley oops etc.

I will never watch the game last night again. That might have been the worst all star game of all time. Smh

[t-time]

These prima donna’s can barely be bothered suiting up or trying for their teams during the regular season - it’s no surprise they struggle to put effort in an exhibition game.

The whole thing needs to go. Just give everyone a week off.

[MGB8]

Expand the teams but have them split into 4 7-man squads each, who can only play 1 quarter. Coach then can allow one player each quarter back in from prior squads, Prize money tied to both winning your quarter (just for the squad) and the game, and home court advantage from the game.

Shorter amount of time, more guys looking for exposure….

[MGB8]

Expand the teams but have them split into 4 7-man squads each, who can only play 1 quarter. Coach then can allow one player each quarter back in from prior squads, Prize money tied to both winning your quarter (just for the squad) and the game, and home court advantage from the game.

Shorter amount of time, more guys looking for exposure….

Thinking about it overnight, the above probably too many people, but I think I could be on to something.

Make it 21 player teams from each conference. The 5 voted-in starters, 1 player voted in by the conference’s players, and 1 player voted in by the conferences coaches, along with 1 player selected by the ASG coach (from the rest of the roster) would be the only ones allowed to play in Quarters 1 and 4 (or alternates if the voted in guys can’t show up). The other 14 players play in quarters 2 and 3, but only 7 in each quarter, plus one “coaches pick” (which can change each quarter).

Then have prizes for the players who “win the quarter” (say $25 k per person) on top of a smaller amount just for being an all star, an additional though smaller bonus for the players whose team wins the game ($10 k per person), plus home field advantage in the finals for the winning conference.

That encourages playing harder in each quarter, also encourages a guy to be the “coaches pick” and get extra money for playing in other quarters, etc.

[GetBuLLish]

The heart of the problem is the prevailing attitude amongst modern NBA players that leads to them not caring about putting forth any effort for the fans and in respect of the legends that came before them. And if you think this attitude doesn’t also permeate into the real games, then you’ve got your head in the sand.

Also, people talking about the risk of injury being the issue overlook that prior generations were able to play with a resemblance of effort in the ASG. The fact that players today make way more guaranteed money than ever before should make players more incentivized to play harder in the ASG since (a) they have way more guaranteed money and therefore financial security and (b) they have much more reason to play with effort simply out of appreciation for how good they have things.

[MGB8]

The one other thing that might increase effort is to have a veterans vs. young guns split, say first 5 seasons in league vs. more than 5 seasons. So this would be Luca’s first year as a veteran. Could also line up with first round drafted rookie contract - first 4 years vs. 5th and after…. Or line up with the CbA and the different levels of MAX contracts (the top level vs. everyone else).

[Jeffster81]

I'll take a lotbof flack for this. But give the winning conference home court advantage in the finals. Stupid? Maybe. But we will see people try that's for sure.

So let's say the East wins the ASG, in this scenerio, and in the Finals the lowest seed in the East plays the top seed in the West. Does this seem right to you that the #1 seed in the West will have to start the NBA Championship on the road against the lowest seed in the East?

HCA on the line in an ASG is not an option for me. I'm not sure if there is a viable option to make the AS Weekend watchable.

[Jahensle]

Haven't watched the ASG or dunk contest in years, they are absolutely terrible. The 3 point contest is somewhat interesting due to the clock. The NBA product is just bad. If I didn't care for the Bulls, I would likely not watch it at all.

[ChiefILL53]

The 3 point contest, Steph vs Sabrina, and PART of the skills challenge were the only watchable thing. I didnt tune into the dunk contest and the game itself didnt even START ON TIME. It was advertised as starting at 7pm but didnt start until almost an hour later. So I finished meal prepping and jumped in bed. Come to find out the east scored 200 points. I think they need to get rid of it all together but the only good things from the weekend were the shooting contests. They can just move forward with announcing the all-star as an accolade and that's it. It's clear the players dont care so just give them the accolade and a week off.


Also, am I the only one who remembers all-star weekend taking place close to the actual mid point of the season when most teams played 40-45 games? Because for the last few years everyone has been at like 60 games played.

[Bandit King]

Why bother playing the game at all!!!?


I miss the old days where they use to play competitively.

[jacoby1us]

Haven't watched the ASG or dunk contest in years, they are absolutely terrible. The 3 point contest is somewhat interesting due to the clock. The NBA product is just bad. If I didn't care for the Bulls, I would likely not watch it at all.

All facts.

[kodo]

I don't know what people are talking about, this looks like playoff intensity to me.

[Michael Jackson]

I don't know what people are talking about, this looks like playoff intensity to me.

Ha!!!! Hilarious I haven't watched any of it nor do I care...

So this is to me is really geared for kids and newbie meme NBA fans etc. I mean the 1988 dunk contest (although maybe not the best of best dunks of all time) was so amazing but I was 12.

Mostly the All-Star Game in any sport to me is Rocky vs Thunderlips in Rocky 3. Granted at least Thunderlips took it serious.

I don't blame these guys not wanting to get injured for this. It is more of an awards ceremony than a game. At the Oscars I don't expect people to give their best performance.