This format would make game sparkle
I know it’s hard for younger fans to believe, but I have actually covered some exciting, competitive, and entertaining NBA All-Star Games, as opposed to the embarrassing farces we’ve been subjected to in recent years.
I’m not saying they were all gems in Ye Olden Days. They were not. The
1973 game in Chicago was a lackluster affair. The East won it by a 104-84 score and people wondered why the West even bothered to show up.
The only thing good about it, from my point of view, was that the MVP was Dave Cowens.
But I covered some very good ones, most notably the 1987 game in Seattle. The game was an overtime thriller, with the West prevailing, 154-149. It was a supreme moment for Tom Chambers, the game MVP with 34 points, leading him to proclaim that, for this one day at least, he was the “best basketball player in the world.”
You would think that these great pros would approach the game with pride and passion, eager to showcase their great skills to the world in competition with the best players on the planet.
I’ll refrain from suggesting they should necessarily be motivated by any East-West issue of supremacy. I do think all they should need is a desire to outdo the great players on the opposition.
Clearly, that is not the case. The current stars seem to have no respect for their own game. The only things on their minds are dunks and 3pointers. In the six games since the switch from East vs. West to the captains choosing sides, the average final score has been 167-158.
In last year’s Team Giannis 184-175 triumph over Team LeBron, the teams attempted a total of 126 3-pointers. Is that, you know, “basketball”?
The 1980 game was the first NBA All-Star Game involving threes. The East took it, 144136. Somehow the teams managed to combine for those 280 points while attempting six threes and making one. Who made that one lonely three, you ask? Larry, of course. I know which game I’d rather pay to see.
They are returning to the East vs. West format for this year’s game, and I doubt it will change anything. Either the players are going to care about the product or they aren’t. They will most likely continue to make a mockery of their own sport.
Until...
Until we implement an idea whose time has most definitely come, that is. It really doesn’t take any marketing genius to know that what the NBA All-Star Game should be from now on is Team USA vs. Team International.
Consider the possible 12-man rosters:
International
Modern bigs — Nikola Jokic, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Joel Embiid, Kristaps Porzingis
Just plain guards — Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jamal Murray
Rim protector — Rudy Gobert
Wings — Pascal Siakam, Lauri Markkanen Positionless freaks — Luka Doncic, Domantas Sabonis, Victor Wembanyama
I mean, come on. You wouldn’t want to see a front line of Jokic, Giannis, and Embiid? Or maybe Doncic starting, with reigning MVP Embiid coming off the bench? Yes, there are only two pure guards, but with the ballhandling bigs you’d have, it hardly matters. No, Wemby hasn’t really earned anything yet, but we all want to see him play, and you can bet he would make at least one spectacular block.
USA
Modern bigs — Anthony Davis, Jayson Tatum, Karl-Anthony Towns
Assorted guards — Tyrese Haliburton, Steph Curry, Kyrie Irving
Wings — Anthony Edwards, Jimmy Butler, Kawhi Leonard
(Aging) Positionless freaks — LeBron James, Kevin Durant
???? — Zion Williamson
We don’t have to take Kyrie out to dinner. He can still play. Hate to leave out young flashes Tyrese Maxey and Trae Young, or even Mr. Solid, Jalen Brunson. I suppose I could keep one and drop Edwards. Do you know how shrunken the pool of talented American-born old-fashioned bigs has become? Bam Adebayo over Towns? Perhaps. I almost took soon-to-be-36-year-old Brook Lopez. I even (briefly) considered Jaren Jackson Jr.
What do you think? OK, by you? Or do you want to see 127 threes hoisted up this year?