A Competitive All-Star Format

 

Basketball fans love to ponder what it would look like for the very best players in the world to team up together, and elevate the game to its highest possible level. To combine the most gifted talents on earth for a legendary matchup, and watch them work their magic against each other. 

The NBA All-Star game is about the farthest thing from that fantasy that you could possibly dream up. The 2023 edition just finished with a strange game format that sees players pursuing point totals rather than playing until the clock is up. It's an attempt by the league to make the game more competitive. And it isn't working. If you want an idea of the level of defense played in the All-Star game for instance, take a look at Stephen Curry from a few years ago in the picture above. 

But what to do about it? The problem is clear: no one cares. The talent is there, the venue is there, the hype is there. But much more important to the players is the real NBA season and the approaching playoffs, and all focus is on staying healthy and rested for the games that matter. All-Star weekend could not be further disconnected from their day-to-day cares.

So logically, the NBA needs to connect All-Star weekend to the things that matter most to the players, in order to incentivize the best possible performance. The whole weekend has turned into a joke at this point. Michael freaking Jordan used to participate in the dunk contest. But none of the best players care anymore.

 All that could change with the following modifications:

1: Make home-court advantage in the Finals contingent on the All-Star Game Winner

This is the big one. Any player who thinks their team has a shot at going all the way is looking for every possible edge come playoff time. Return the All-Star game to an East vs West format. Whichever conference wins the game, the team that comes out of that conference gets home-court advantage in the NBA Finals. Playing at home matters statistically, and all of a sudden guys like LeBron, Giannis, and the rest will have good reason to show us more effort in the dream matchups we would all love to see.

Along with this change, you would want to put more control back in the players' hands because they have skin in the game now, and have the players' votes be public. Have the All-Star roster vote go 1/2 to the players, 1/4 to the coaches and 1/4 to the fans. Voting in this way I think would generate much more interest and investment from players and fans alike, who actually get to have some direct influence over the potential success of their team in the Finals.

2. Bring in the Top 5 Dunkers and Top 5 Three-Point Shooters in the League

Unlike in the All-Star game itself, these two well-established contests do not draw the best players in the league. We end up with maybe one or two guys who should really be there, and the rest are often footnotes by NBA standards. Instead, have 5 participants in each contest: The 5 healthy players with the most dunks in the league so far this season, and the 5 healthy players with the most made 3's in the league so far this season. Write it into every new NBA contract - you can't just skip these contests for "load management". Participation by the best players should be just as expected here as in the All-Star Game.

3. Get rid of the Skills Challenge.

Nobody cares.

4. Replace it with One-on-One

Now here's something that fans would love to see. Imagine if we had gotten to see Kobe vs LeBron. Or Bird vs Magic. Today, we could get to enjoy rivalry matchups like LeBron vs Curry or center battles like Embiid vs Jokic. Giannis vs Dončić. It's a star-driven league. How have we not tried this already.

The challenge would, of course, be to get players invested. Set up a single-elimination, 8-man bracket, with players seeded 1 through 8 based on quantity of fan and media votes (50% each). Play to 11, win by 2, half-court. Just like you did when you were a kid. The winner is crowned the best 1-on-1 player in the world along with a fancy new trophy. It's not as big a thing as the All-Star Game, but the March-Madness style tournament might be enough to motivate some players' competitive side and awaken some nostalgia for them. These types of matchups would also likely get personal, and I think NBA egos would be more than enough to make the players try to prove themselves top dog.

With these four changes together, I think All-Star weekend would transform from a footnote to a highly-anticipated part of the NBA season.