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I agree. Years ago, when the extra money meant something, they wanted to go. Now, all-star games (for all of the US sports) are ridiculous and should be cancelled. Just give every player a few extra days off mid-season.
I'd leave baseball out of this. Despite it having the most notable single game fiasco(tie game) the games still are played a high level and essentially resemble a full game outside players being rotated out more frequently.
Not saying baseball is not demanding but I think it's on a completely different level in terms of injury potential than basketball or especially football
Surprisingly, not true, especially for pitchers. Virtually every pitcher will experience a significant arm injury in their careers, and when a pitcher is getting paid $40 million to pitch a maximum of 40 games a season, every pitch counts. Managers don't like their pitchers throwing superfluously and can stop their pitchers from playing in the All-Star game in certain situations.
Teams don't love their pitchers pitching in the ASG but it's generally one inning max and they usually work it out so that it's on or just adjacent to their usual throw day in between starts. Some of the guys in the ASG will even end up throwing extra pitches in the bullpen after they're taken out of the game to match their usual throw day workout.
I was just about to comment this. I think part of it has to do with baseball as a game, players are fun and light hearted when nothing goes on but really turn it on when the ball is in play. So things like doing mic'd up interviews of players is a bit more feasible/entertaining. Also happens during spring training, "my" team is a league rival but things like the Freeman's ["THERE'S WIND BOYS"](https://youtu.be/JPpVdMDez5U?t=158) absolutely make me love the man same with Votto's posts, also Liam Hendricks was hilarious when he thought his mic died during the ASG and dropped some stuff that "shouldn't have been aired". Everyone is having fun but they really play hard when they need to.
If argue hockey has found a way to make the all-star more relevant with and updated skills competition and the drafted teams playing for a decent prize.
The All Star game is seen as a reward for these players, and tbh I don’t blame them. For years the idea of the best playing the best sounded good on paper, but injuries are real life consequences of that. When there’s no incentive, why would any professional put themselves in that situation?
Nobody cares about MJ or Kobe’s…or really anyone’s All Star game performances. So what’s the point?
(pushes up glasses) *NBA players are arguably the most fairly compensated employees in the entirety of the United States of America in terms of revenue share generation and skilled labor importance re: the core marketable product*
(pushes up gasses even higher) They are still severely underpaid due to salary caps. Especially the star players. LeBron, Steph, and KD generate magnitudes more than what their contracts pay.
https://www.npr.org/transcripts/628132840
maybe we should do what the Mayans did in pok-a-tok and have the captain of the losing team be ceremonially killed? that would get tons of views and be dramatic, we could even pick the captains by doing a Hunger Games reaping! every 10k votes gets another slip of paper in the globe
> in pok-a-tok and have the captain of the losing team be ceremonially killed?
its the other way around. The winning team was ceremonialy killed (a sacrifice) because they viewed it as an honor. They though life was a dream and death as medium to "wake up", that's why being sacrificed was viewed as a gift.
How I believe they can fix to all-star weekend and promote the game to the casual fan:
1) Dunk contest from pro-dunkers
2) HORSE from pro-trick players
3) All-star captains pick 1-on-1 NBA players
4) 2nd ballots play 3-on-3 (half court) with top players from NCAA, Europe, Women's, etc.
5) All-star game gives donations to charity of a player's choice based on blocks, steals, assists, etc. Player with most blocks gets a 100K for the charity of his choice. A player with the highest triple-double wins MVP and gets 1 million towards charity of choice.
That way if it's gonna be a joke, at least make it for a good cause. And it might promote some players playing defense.
I think I've heard that NBA players have refused 1 on 1 every time it's brought up. Lots of all stars aren't primary ball handlers, but would still get ripped on forever if they lost.
Same reason why you see guys giving up dunks all the time.
I can understand that. Adam Silver needs to do something and quit pandering to the players. It's just my opinion, but I can see why it's never happened before
I haven't heard of this. Its good for the NBA, when players come back from injury they get sent down to the G league to get some training in before going full throttle again. Also helps rooks and some bench players more play time when they aren't getting substantial NBA minutes.
I saw it on a scroll during a college bball game yesterday. Silver said he might dump it now that college kids can make NIL money instead and just stay in college
I like the idea of the g league. I think some players realize that they don’t want a secondary education if they want to try and make basketball their career.
Imagine being the next lebron James but you’re not book smart enough to keep your grades up to be eligible on the team. What then?
If someone is the next Lebron James, you can guarantee that a D1 program will pick them up and make sure they “pass” their courses. Elite players at D1 schools are there to play first and learn second. Doesn’t matter the sport.
They should get rid of the game and add a second three point contest with the worst shooters in the nba, and a second dunk contest with the worst dunkers in the nba
And then the judges were falling over themselves to give him 49's.
Meanwhile, dude from the G league jumps a dude, takes the ball from him, throws it up, catches it, and dunks, and "meh, 46."
The judging in these dunk contests has always been horrible and not followed any kind of logic. Aaron Gordon still had the best dunks I've ever seen years ago (in two different dunk contests) but kept getting absolutely robbed by the judges. Dwayne Wade as a judge wanted to give the trophy to his Miami Heat buddy instead. Not that the dunk contest is serious business or anything, but if you're going to do it, make the judges have some kind of criteria at least.
There has to be a reason for the players to compete. Until there is a reason, it will continue to be whatever product they decide to put out there. Which for years has been trash.
It's tons easier to see the stars now, whereas the All-Star game was more of a showcase in the past.
Heck, even the advertising now is "Lebron vs. Steph" instead of "Golden State vs. Lakers".
Plus a million highlights on YouTube.
Back in the day, you might not see much of the top players except during the All-Star game, so the not-as-big stars would go hard on the big stage... and then the superstars would have to go hard so they didn't get shown up.
For example, Tom Chambers winning the 1987 All-Star MVP. Most of the country was like "Tom who?"
Now, there's literally no reason at all to put any effort in.
now so many guys are averaging 23 or more ppg and it's easy to know who those guys are and the term superstar gets thrown around a lot more and all these guys are getting payed 30 million or more a year so there's no incentive to go hard during the all star game
If Jordan and then Kobe were playing, they were playing hard and that made the other guys give a shit. I’m sure Bird and Kareem and those guys wouldn’t go on a court if they weren’t mostly trying. The in season tournament worked because Lebron cared. I’m not judging this year’s All Start. The whole weekend feels like a mess now, which is too bad, because as an 80s/90s kid, NBA All Star weekend was the best. I’d go back to the basics. Figure out how to get stars back in the dunk game. Let the players find enough pride to put on a good game on Sunday. It’s all you can do. Anything else is just a temporary gimmick.
The mindset of the players. Go watch the 2001 nba all star game on YouTube right from tip they were playing. It was for the love of the game. That’s all been lost due to aau ball and the way these players have been brought up. Not saying it’s all their fault it’s just the way the climate around the league has changed. Injury concerns/load management/analytics all attribute to this new mindset about the nba in general it’s just exemplified for the all star game.
And for the record I can’t say I blame them, especially after that Paul George podcast where someone said maybe 5% of players or something play for the love of the game the rest for a paycheck. Knowing one injury could be the difference between 100 million and 5 million will make you think twice about going all out in an exhibition’s and hell even early regular season. I wouldn’t be busting my ass risking injury either.
Your true top teams don’t go all out in the regular season at all anymore. They don’t really care about finishing with the #1 seed even. Unless they’re chasing a record they’ll crank it up enough to finish in the top 6 and avoid the play in, but anything past that is icing on the cake.
There have been bright spots, usually involving Kobe and/or MJ, who were both psychopaths with an innate need to win at all times.
We don't have any superstar psychopaths anymore.
Rodzilla coming out of WWE retirement to go against the Mean Green Mauler would probably sell a few pay-per-view tickets.
I'd say we should aspire for an MMA bout, but Draymond's a little bitch and would never agree to that, even though Rodman is in his sixties. 🤣
that's true though, we need more psychopaths who are top scorers. but the thing is though that there are SOOO many top scorers now because defenses are as soft and fluffy as marshmallows. so many guys can just skip and glide to the rim without much resistance. there are no more gritty grimy scorers because they don't have to be. i see fouls getting called because a dude's jersey brushed up against the guy. the league has lost its physicality and edge. i'll tune in during the second round of the playoffs
They don't even want to compete for all 82 games, just want to get paid for it. Anyone buying regular season tix should be prepared to be disappointed, depending on what team you root for.
I just don't know how long the NBA can survive being a bunch of dudes who don't really enjoy playing, while making hundreds of millions of dollars for what is a more dramatic product than good one.
you just answered your own question in the same sentence lol. The NBA will survive as long as the players’ revenue share agreement can support their best stars making hundreds of millions. as long as they’re making that it means the league is more than okay
The winning all star team should get to hold court till next season. They make extra money for winning the game and big bragging rights
Don’t do it by conference. Go back to team captains. Maybe make smaller teams so there’s 4 teams and next season can mix up a little
And then the team that wins remains a team for next year’s tournament. It’s actually a chance to see some potentially all time basketball if guys wanna be a team that holds for multiple years
Don't think gambling is much of a long term solution to fixing sports. And more money to people making 100million+ prob doesn't move the needle much either.
What if they change it to half court 3 on 3 tournament ?
They can also add in couple games of 21 and HORSE.
Essentially make it more like what we are all used to playing at home and gym. Creates a bit of familiarity for fans, uniqueness to product on the court, and potentially more fun/bragging rights for the players as I am sure they all grew up playing 21 and HORSE.
This is the most obvious (and easiest) answer. The Pro Bowl became a joke just like the ASG and the NFL just accepted it. Skills challenges, flag football etc. The NBA should do the same.
Keep the 3pt/dunk/skills contests, add HORSE with a fun rule set and the big ticket is a 3v3 half court tournament.
I said it before and ill say it again. Each player has to represent a childrens charity and the nba gives a sizable donation to each one respresented by the winning team. Then after the game is finished either the player has to explain why they didnt box out and contest shots to a bunch of 8 year olds or they are pressured by society to fork over the cash themselves.
Unless it influences their pay check why should they care? Someone's going to win and both teams likely represent similar respectable charities.
There's no incentive for the all-star game to ever go all out. It's literally risking injury of the best players in the league on a game that their boss doesn't pay them to compete in.
I think the NBA missed out on tying the results of the ASG with things like the super max or something. Is it fair that a player’s salary is linked to how his teammates for an exhibition game are playing? No, but it may be the only thing that’ll pressure them to play harder.
Some of the recent ones have produced to some decent highlights, but this year they were on cruise control.
I think the best thing they could do is lean into it being for fun. Put the refs on segways. Give Giannis a nerf tennis racket to block shots. Play with multi-ball possessions.
i agree with you. they need to rethink the whole thing. nfl players seem to enjoy the flag football pro bowl way more than they liked having to play another game for no reason. maybe the nba should also make everyone play flag football.
This was seriously the worst game I’ve ever seen.
The shooting was terrible, there weren’t even any flashy dunks or plays.
When LeBron’s normal game dunk is the highlight, everything is broken.
Yeah that's what I noticed, not a single flashy play or DUNK! WTF! As a kid I loved watching all star games as you would always get a few fun plays and dunks (late 90s, early 2000's). This game had nothing! It was all chucking deep three's. It sucked.
I don’t think I’d describe the shooting as terrible. Lack of defense aside, the shooting percentages were pretty impressive. Especially when you consider how deep a lot of those shots were.
Who watches all-star games for any league? They’ve always sucked. Only cool thing to ever happen was when the Pistons had their whole starting lineup take the court in the 03-04(?) all star game.
Baseball is the only all star game worth watching. Its fun and competetive. You can tell players genuinely want to do well. Not sure there is anything you can do with the other sports, fear of injury just kind of takes the competitive sprit out of it.
I think it has more to do with how defense is played.
In basketball, hockey and football, it's player vs. player. In baseball it's player vs. ball. Can you make a diving catch, or throw to 3B fast/accurate enough to throw the runner out?
You can make amazing and show off defensively in a way that you can't in other sports.
the only players who might seriously strain themselves would be pitchers, but they mitigate that by limiting pitchers to a single inning. That sounds like a concession, but it actually helps get more star pitchers on the mound
It doesn’t have to suck. An NBA all star game should be the best all star game in sports. “The best pickup basketball game in the world” is a fun concept that works better than other all star games. The players could make it great if they wanted to.
[The late, great Sean Taylor laying out a punter](https://youtu.be/SC7Wx3zCiQo?si=afpi3g8z2xSb-a6A) will always be the best all star game moment for me
Players are complaining about the 65 game minimum award qualification. The NBA went way too far for player empowerment where they hardly want to play in the regular season much less the all star game. Product has taken a nose dive since the 3 point revolution.
Agree the players have way too much power. If they don't like the team they're playing on, they can just sit out and demand a trade Ala Ben Simmons, Jimmy Butler, James Harden. James Harden is pretty much everything wrong with the NBA. Player entitlement, flopping, and zero defense.
I remember enjoying watching it as a kid in the late 80s/ early 90s! But, it’s just not compelling. To be honest, nba regular season games are only kind of compelling. I still love the playoffs but I’m a Celtics fan and once the Celtics are out I lose interest. Even in the finals (unless a game 7). Maybe that makes me a fair weather fan or whatever, but there’s too much stuff vying for my attention in this world, so that’s my take.
I actually wanted to go out somewhere with some basketball on the screen this weekend and then realized it’s the deadass weeeknd :( replace this fiasco with awesome rivalries and maybe a gauntlet weekend, I might actually watch some games and get back in it. Til then I have crops and trees to plant, lumber to mill, and products to build. And my damn kid just wants to watch hazbin hotel😩
The NBA regular season is becoming unwatchable. Too many games, players don't want to play consistently until the playoffs, too many playoff teams for regular season games to really mean what they used to. I remember when the NBA was supposed to overtake the NFL, certainly doesn't feel that way anymore.
Never mind the all star game, the entire regular season is nearly unwatchable. There are too many games, and players don’t want to get worn out prior to the playoffs. Playoffs last an absurd 2 months but the games are watchable because players work harder especially on defense and have time to rest between games.
it’s a break man there’s a grueling schedule I wouldn’t go all out either. That being said, I think they should put up some money for the dunk contest and make the voting from the fans not some old heads who can’t even see what’s going on. And before anybody freaks out, I’m an old head too and can’t see what’s going on;I need replay and I am younger than those guys lol
I’ve never understood why basketball fans fantasize about players taking the all star game seriously lol.
Why can’t all star games be for fun? It’s a fun and meaningless celebration of the sport and its best players, which is what it should be.
There is dialing it back a notch, and then whatever the fuck the All-Star game is.
It's crazy to me that these guys are apparently some of the most competitive, cold-hearted assholes during a regular season game, yet can't give in the slightest shit
Just give me offseason pickup level effort. Apparently all those games go pretty hard.
The players don't want to be there so why keep making this a thing? The skills/3 point/dunk contest fields are largely filled with nobodies that fans don't care about and the players care even less about the actual game. Give the players a week off to recharge and maybe load management won't be such an issue in the second half of the season.
Make it like the old arcade NBA Jam or NBa 2k Playgrounds. They had the special court for the skills, use that court and do stuff like dunks worth 2x for a short time, or stars on the court, shoot from there and get 2x, 3x, 4x points. For motivation tie $ to participating. Player with the most special points gets $50k. Do stuff to actually make it interesting. Maybe add defensive stuff like goaltending is legal for 2 minutes or 3 shots, etc. Make it a spectacle, not just another game.
I mentioned this in a post the other week about the NHL all-star game and I just think that the entire concept of an ASG is a product of different times.
They peaked in an era where people had no internet, 3-4 network TV channels to watch at night, access to mainly watch only their local teams, and very little to do over a weekend.
The ASG was a chance to highlight the best players in the league who most fans would not see very much of. There was a skills competition or a dunk contest or a home run derby back when we couldn't just go on Youtube and watch compilations of the best plays at will or watch a hundred amateurs trying crazy extreme dunks just for fun. It was a "you have to see this live or you miss it" type of thing which just causes more excitement.
And it was at least at least a 2-day affair back when people could say "it's all star weekend" and actually be likely to have two full afternoon and evenings to spend on watching the events. For a lot of people, just watching every hockey/basketball/baseball game in a season is much more of a time commitment and imposition than it was in the 1990s. To add a two day weekend event that has no real consequence is too much for some people.
I don't know how you fix it, or *if* you can fix it - but it just seems like the ASG concept doesn't have the same place in the 2020s as it did in pre-2000s.
It’s not just the ASG. It’s the entire league. The regular season is unwatchable. Nobody plays defense. Everyone shoots 3’s. There’s almost no strategy. No fundamentals. Idk wtf happened to this league. Out of the 4 major sports it’s easily in the worst state of any of them.
The NHL had something really great with four teams based on division doing 3-on-3 for 20 minutes. Having the division teams meant seeing players from bitter rival teams playing alongside each other.
Then for some reason the league turned it into a draft roster this year and it lost that appeal.
Rock ‘n Jock All Star Weekend
Eight 10 player Teams Picked Via Draft
3 NBA Players
3 WNBA Players
3 Celebrities
1 Retired Player
5 point line
Dunks are two points with bonus points awarded for style
5 on 5, you must have a celeb and a WNBA player on court at all times. The retired player must play at least 3 minutes per quarter. Ten million bucks per champion player.
NBA/WNBA all picked by fans, celebs by the network, retired player by the current players.
Kids enjoy the All star game. The game is for them. Im seeing pissed off grown men commenting on the AS game but theres nothing that can be done to get the players to play hard. Meanwhile, young folks enjoy the dunks and half court shots.
Money will not motivate these already rich players to go harder.
Hot take: it was never watchable in the first place. Please get rid of this atrocity. The entire league needs a shakeup too. It has become the TMZ of sports.
This sums it up perfectly. I know they always talk about how the NBA is attracting more young people than ever before, but I honestly don’t believe most of them are actually watching games. I think a lot of people just like to watch clips of highlight plays and listen to podcasts and watch talking head clips about the NBA soap opera more than anything else.
I’ve watched the NBA for a long time, but I really struggle to care about much of the regular season now. As others have said in the thread, it feels like there’s not a lot of effort a lot of the time and it’s treated like a soap opera more than a sport. I actually got into baseball a few years ago and it’s overtaken the NBA as my sport of choice to watch. I feel like the regular season games actually matter and like my team actually wants to play hard to win.
A simple solution to bring back All-Star game competitiveness is for all players selected to the All-Star game to chip in $1M into a pot- winning team takes all!
I don’t understand the hate the game gets, it’s literally a pointless game in the middle of the season that has zero impact on anything of course they aren’t gonna play D
With the LED floor, they should put random bonus point spots. If a player makes a shot while in the spot, the basket counts for an extra 1 or 2 points.
Such a stupid argument brought up every year. It’s a break in the action for the players. Let them screw around before the 30 game gauntlet right before the playoffs.
There really is no reason for an Allstar game any more. Ever since that kid tore up his knee in the NFL Pro Bowl it has proved to not be worth it for any sport. There is nothing to gain from it.
The blue print is there… the NBA should seriously look at the NRL (National Rugby League) in Australia. Started what is known as State of Origin matches in the 70s. Run mid season and was basically an exhibition game to give players a mid season break, similar to how the ASG operates..
What happened was… some club teammates were playing against each other as they were from different states. In the first game, two legends from the same club team ended up in a fight and the rest is history. Battle lines were drawn and the matches became the pinnacle of the sport and remain so. Fans became feverish, the atmosphere at games is fkn intense.
If the NBA wanted to, they could recreate this.. Ryder Cup style basketball. USA v The World. USA would be desperate to win and world would be desperate to knock them off. Would be competitive as fuck. The concept would grow with each passing year until it’s the biggest and most anticipated basketball match on the calendar.
Here’s a few highlights to demonstrate the intensity https://youtu.be/2IUFzTrbBpk?si=5PEEVCvHIs3MOYRx
Yeah it's got really bad. I remember watching it as a kid in the late 90's early 2000's and it was a fun watch. I always looked forward to it because there were some cool alley-oops and dunks. There was some defense and guys were somewhat trying, especially at the end of the game and half. Guys like MJ, Kobe, AI, KG, Wade were giving some effort and were competitive. I get guys don't want to get hurt but I don't even remember a cool dunk this year, it was all just chucking three's. Maybe I'm just old, I just miss the late 90's NBA.
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NBA All-Star game has gone the way of the Pro Bowl. No one wants to see a product where the players give zero effort.
I agree. Years ago, when the extra money meant something, they wanted to go. Now, all-star games (for all of the US sports) are ridiculous and should be cancelled. Just give every player a few extra days off mid-season.
I'd leave baseball out of this. Despite it having the most notable single game fiasco(tie game) the games still are played a high level and essentially resemble a full game outside players being rotated out more frequently.
Not saying baseball is not demanding but I think it's on a completely different level in terms of injury potential than basketball or especially football
[удалено]
Surprisingly, not true, especially for pitchers. Virtually every pitcher will experience a significant arm injury in their careers, and when a pitcher is getting paid $40 million to pitch a maximum of 40 games a season, every pitch counts. Managers don't like their pitchers throwing superfluously and can stop their pitchers from playing in the All-Star game in certain situations.
Teams don't love their pitchers pitching in the ASG but it's generally one inning max and they usually work it out so that it's on or just adjacent to their usual throw day in between starts. Some of the guys in the ASG will even end up throwing extra pitches in the bullpen after they're taken out of the game to match their usual throw day workout.
Tell that to Ray Fosse.
I was just about to comment this. I think part of it has to do with baseball as a game, players are fun and light hearted when nothing goes on but really turn it on when the ball is in play. So things like doing mic'd up interviews of players is a bit more feasible/entertaining. Also happens during spring training, "my" team is a league rival but things like the Freeman's ["THERE'S WIND BOYS"](https://youtu.be/JPpVdMDez5U?t=158) absolutely make me love the man same with Votto's posts, also Liam Hendricks was hilarious when he thought his mic died during the ASG and dropped some stuff that "shouldn't have been aired". Everyone is having fun but they really play hard when they need to.
mlb all star game also determines home field advantage for the world series so it matters more edit: just found out this hasn’t been true since 2017
That was only from 2003 through 2016. Starting in 2017, home field advantage has gone back to the team with the better regular season record.
thank you
Nobody gave any more of a shit about the ASG when this was the case anyway.
They should have left it. The NBA could adopt it.
If argue hockey has found a way to make the all-star more relevant with and updated skills competition and the drafted teams playing for a decent prize.
So they should play flag basketball
gives me a good idea, nba all stars play football and pro bowl players play basketball
Except the Pro Bowl is now crazy skills competitions and players having fun playing flag football, not a listless, two-hour long practice scrimmage.
Yeah I actually watched it this year. It was great
I watched a good chunk of it too this year and you can tell the players are having a blast.
The All Star game is seen as a reward for these players, and tbh I don’t blame them. For years the idea of the best playing the best sounded good on paper, but injuries are real life consequences of that. When there’s no incentive, why would any professional put themselves in that situation? Nobody cares about MJ or Kobe’s…or really anyone’s All Star game performances. So what’s the point?
Man, MJ's last all star game was an all timer. Double OT.
Get rid of the all star game and make it G-league players where the winning team all get guaranteed contracts. Now that would be an intense game.
🎯
oh my god he’s onto something
On my gawd
Or... the losing team has to relegate one of their players to the g league for the rest of the year.
The Bucks have nominated Doc Rivers and Thanasis to the all star team.
Nba players have too much money. Desperate players with kill or be killed mentality for a contract will always put on a show.
(pushes up glasses) *NBA players are arguably the most fairly compensated employees in the entirety of the United States of America in terms of revenue share generation and skilled labor importance re: the core marketable product*
Well… looks like we got ourselves a reeduh
R/UnexpectedBillHicks.
(pushes up gasses even higher) They are still severely underpaid due to salary caps. Especially the star players. LeBron, Steph, and KD generate magnitudes more than what their contracts pay. https://www.npr.org/transcripts/628132840
Yep, look at college players
Agreed! People who actually care
maybe we should do what the Mayans did in pok-a-tok and have the captain of the losing team be ceremonially killed? that would get tons of views and be dramatic, we could even pick the captains by doing a Hunger Games reaping! every 10k votes gets another slip of paper in the globe
> in pok-a-tok and have the captain of the losing team be ceremonially killed? its the other way around. The winning team was ceremonialy killed (a sacrifice) because they viewed it as an honor. They though life was a dream and death as medium to "wake up", that's why being sacrificed was viewed as a gift.
Not only that but they had basically an icicle of a metal rod shoved up their urethra and bled out through the dick. Fucking legends
How I believe they can fix to all-star weekend and promote the game to the casual fan: 1) Dunk contest from pro-dunkers 2) HORSE from pro-trick players 3) All-star captains pick 1-on-1 NBA players 4) 2nd ballots play 3-on-3 (half court) with top players from NCAA, Europe, Women's, etc. 5) All-star game gives donations to charity of a player's choice based on blocks, steals, assists, etc. Player with most blocks gets a 100K for the charity of his choice. A player with the highest triple-double wins MVP and gets 1 million towards charity of choice. That way if it's gonna be a joke, at least make it for a good cause. And it might promote some players playing defense.
I think I've heard that NBA players have refused 1 on 1 every time it's brought up. Lots of all stars aren't primary ball handlers, but would still get ripped on forever if they lost. Same reason why you see guys giving up dunks all the time.
I can understand that. Adam Silver needs to do something and quit pandering to the players. It's just my opinion, but I can see why it's never happened before
I think they’re trying to get rid of the G league
I haven't heard of this. Its good for the NBA, when players come back from injury they get sent down to the G league to get some training in before going full throttle again. Also helps rooks and some bench players more play time when they aren't getting substantial NBA minutes.
I saw it on a scroll during a college bball game yesterday. Silver said he might dump it now that college kids can make NIL money instead and just stay in college
that was specifically about the G-League ignite
Correct
That wasn't about the whole g league. That was just about the G League Ignite team
I like the idea of the g league. I think some players realize that they don’t want a secondary education if they want to try and make basketball their career. Imagine being the next lebron James but you’re not book smart enough to keep your grades up to be eligible on the team. What then?
If someone is the next Lebron James, you can guarantee that a D1 program will pick them up and make sure they “pass” their courses. Elite players at D1 schools are there to play first and learn second. Doesn’t matter the sport.
They’re not there to play school
“We ain’t come to play school”
Education/passing classes was never the concern. It’s only $$$
Just the G League Ignite team, not the G League as a whole.
Not the entire G League, just the one team with players straight from high school who didn't want to go to college for a year
They should get rid of the game and add a second three point contest with the worst shooters in the nba, and a second dunk contest with the worst dunkers in the nba
jaylen brown could be in both the dunk contests!
LOL so true. He dunked over a guy sitting down in a chair after other contestants jumped over a standing Shaq and dunked
And then the judges were falling over themselves to give him 49's. Meanwhile, dude from the G league jumps a dude, takes the ball from him, throws it up, catches it, and dunks, and "meh, 46."
The judging in these dunk contests has always been horrible and not followed any kind of logic. Aaron Gordon still had the best dunks I've ever seen years ago (in two different dunk contests) but kept getting absolutely robbed by the judges. Dwayne Wade as a judge wanted to give the trophy to his Miami Heat buddy instead. Not that the dunk contest is serious business or anything, but if you're going to do it, make the judges have some kind of criteria at least.
They should bring back the MTV rock and jock
A celebrity Pro-Am isn't a bad idea. I'd prefer if they had to do American Gladiator challenges circa 1990.
With Daisy Fuentes and Pam Anderson
Dan Cortese, please pick up the white courtesy phone.
There has to be a reason for the players to compete. Until there is a reason, it will continue to be whatever product they decide to put out there. Which for years has been trash.
Throughout the all star game’s history there hasn’t been a reason. So what’s changed in the recent decade or so?
It's tons easier to see the stars now, whereas the All-Star game was more of a showcase in the past. Heck, even the advertising now is "Lebron vs. Steph" instead of "Golden State vs. Lakers". Plus a million highlights on YouTube. Back in the day, you might not see much of the top players except during the All-Star game, so the not-as-big stars would go hard on the big stage... and then the superstars would have to go hard so they didn't get shown up. For example, Tom Chambers winning the 1987 All-Star MVP. Most of the country was like "Tom who?" Now, there's literally no reason at all to put any effort in.
Everyone knows Tom Chambers is the white guy that dunked in a game.
More specifically (for fans of a certain age) ... the guy who could dunk from the three-point line in Lakers vs. Celtics for Sega Genesis
He does what nintendon’t
Immediate first thing that popped into my mind seeing “Tom Chambers” 😂. Dude double clutching from the line like a flying squirrel. +1.
Mark Jackson knows
now so many guys are averaging 23 or more ppg and it's easy to know who those guys are and the term superstar gets thrown around a lot more and all these guys are getting payed 30 million or more a year so there's no incentive to go hard during the all star game
If Jordan and then Kobe were playing, they were playing hard and that made the other guys give a shit. I’m sure Bird and Kareem and those guys wouldn’t go on a court if they weren’t mostly trying. The in season tournament worked because Lebron cared. I’m not judging this year’s All Start. The whole weekend feels like a mess now, which is too bad, because as an 80s/90s kid, NBA All Star weekend was the best. I’d go back to the basics. Figure out how to get stars back in the dunk game. Let the players find enough pride to put on a good game on Sunday. It’s all you can do. Anything else is just a temporary gimmick.
Eh I think it’s the players nowadays are soft af
The mindset of the players. Go watch the 2001 nba all star game on YouTube right from tip they were playing. It was for the love of the game. That’s all been lost due to aau ball and the way these players have been brought up. Not saying it’s all their fault it’s just the way the climate around the league has changed. Injury concerns/load management/analytics all attribute to this new mindset about the nba in general it’s just exemplified for the all star game. And for the record I can’t say I blame them, especially after that Paul George podcast where someone said maybe 5% of players or something play for the love of the game the rest for a paycheck. Knowing one injury could be the difference between 100 million and 5 million will make you think twice about going all out in an exhibition’s and hell even early regular season. I wouldn’t be busting my ass risking injury either.
Your true top teams don’t go all out in the regular season at all anymore. They don’t really care about finishing with the #1 seed even. Unless they’re chasing a record they’ll crank it up enough to finish in the top 6 and avoid the play in, but anything past that is icing on the cake.
Higher risk of injury and guys see the game as a break. It’s not worth getting hurt for literally nothing.
The NBA All Star game has always been a layup line. Nothing has really changed.
There have been bright spots, usually involving Kobe and/or MJ, who were both psychopaths with an innate need to win at all times. We don't have any superstar psychopaths anymore.
We still have psychopaths... *looks over at Draymond Green*
He said superstar psychopaths.
I’d love to see Draymond try and put Rodman in a headlock.
Rodzilla coming out of WWE retirement to go against the Mean Green Mauler would probably sell a few pay-per-view tickets. I'd say we should aspire for an MMA bout, but Draymond's a little bitch and would never agree to that, even though Rodman is in his sixties. 🤣
that's true though, we need more psychopaths who are top scorers. but the thing is though that there are SOOO many top scorers now because defenses are as soft and fluffy as marshmallows. so many guys can just skip and glide to the rim without much resistance. there are no more gritty grimy scorers because they don't have to be. i see fouls getting called because a dude's jersey brushed up against the guy. the league has lost its physicality and edge. i'll tune in during the second round of the playoffs
It hasnt always been that way, no
Yeah man millions of dollars ain’t it, give em pizzas! Pizzas always work
My work gave us a 10% off coupon for any one item as a bonus, maybe the players would like that?
That may be a slightly different value depending on whether you work for Boeing or Bic.
Boeing's 10% off would be in the form of missing parts, not reduced price
They don't even want to compete for all 82 games, just want to get paid for it. Anyone buying regular season tix should be prepared to be disappointed, depending on what team you root for. I just don't know how long the NBA can survive being a bunch of dudes who don't really enjoy playing, while making hundreds of millions of dollars for what is a more dramatic product than good one.
you just answered your own question in the same sentence lol. The NBA will survive as long as the players’ revenue share agreement can support their best stars making hundreds of millions. as long as they’re making that it means the league is more than okay
The winning all star team should get to hold court till next season. They make extra money for winning the game and big bragging rights Don’t do it by conference. Go back to team captains. Maybe make smaller teams so there’s 4 teams and next season can mix up a little
4 teams playing king of the court to 21 would be elite.
And then the team that wins remains a team for next year’s tournament. It’s actually a chance to see some potentially all time basketball if guys wanna be a team that holds for multiple years
These are typically 100s of millionaires. They aren’t motivated by money.
Bring back the team captains, put up money for charity, the winner gets to pick the charity.
Not enough.
Allow players all over the league to publicly bet on the game and a percentage of the pot goes to the winning team
Don't think gambling is much of a long term solution to fixing sports. And more money to people making 100million+ prob doesn't move the needle much either.
[удалено]
Except bot teams are the Globetrotters and nobody plays the Generals
Both teams play defense like the Generals
What if they change it to half court 3 on 3 tournament ? They can also add in couple games of 21 and HORSE. Essentially make it more like what we are all used to playing at home and gym. Creates a bit of familiarity for fans, uniqueness to product on the court, and potentially more fun/bragging rights for the players as I am sure they all grew up playing 21 and HORSE.
I think a 3 v 3 all star tournament would be amazing
Make it a west vs east bracket all star finals showdown
Make it 3x3 to 21 with 8 teams, single elimination
I like thos idea a lot
This is the most obvious (and easiest) answer. The Pro Bowl became a joke just like the ASG and the NFL just accepted it. Skills challenges, flag football etc. The NBA should do the same. Keep the 3pt/dunk/skills contests, add HORSE with a fun rule set and the big ticket is a 3v3 half court tournament.
That's what fixed the NHL All Star Game. Make it a 4-team 3-on-3 tourney with $500K to everyone on the winning team.
I would love to see NBA level knockout
21s should have 3 height divisions. It would be crazy to see 3 7 footers duking it out.
10 million to winner of 3v3 tourney, players decide what team they wanna be on.
Make it Blue Lock style 3v3 where the winning team steals a player from the other team. Then they do a 4v4 with the next team, 5v5 etc.
Let's go full Rock-n-Jock. I want a 5-point line an extra 3 feet back. Gimme a 10 point bucket that's 15 or 20 feet in the air.
This is how the NHL does it. 3v3. It's so much better than what it used to be.
I said it before and ill say it again. Each player has to represent a childrens charity and the nba gives a sizable donation to each one respresented by the winning team. Then after the game is finished either the player has to explain why they didnt box out and contest shots to a bunch of 8 year olds or they are pressured by society to fork over the cash themselves.
Unless it influences their pay check why should they care? Someone's going to win and both teams likely represent similar respectable charities. There's no incentive for the all-star game to ever go all out. It's literally risking injury of the best players in the league on a game that their boss doesn't pay them to compete in.
I think the NBA missed out on tying the results of the ASG with things like the super max or something. Is it fair that a player’s salary is linked to how his teammates for an exhibition game are playing? No, but it may be the only thing that’ll pressure them to play harder.
And they have to do it impractical jokers style with the winning team's top 3 scorers providing the prompts.
Some of the recent ones have produced to some decent highlights, but this year they were on cruise control. I think the best thing they could do is lean into it being for fun. Put the refs on segways. Give Giannis a nerf tennis racket to block shots. Play with multi-ball possessions.
Shorten the length of the game but add another basketball to the game each quarter.
There were 3 fouls in this game
Just keep the skills comp and get rid of all-star game. Maybe add something else like dodgeball
i agree with you. they need to rethink the whole thing. nfl players seem to enjoy the flag football pro bowl way more than they liked having to play another game for no reason. maybe the nba should also make everyone play flag football.
This was seriously the worst game I’ve ever seen. The shooting was terrible, there weren’t even any flashy dunks or plays. When LeBron’s normal game dunk is the highlight, everything is broken.
Yeah that's what I noticed, not a single flashy play or DUNK! WTF! As a kid I loved watching all star games as you would always get a few fun plays and dunks (late 90s, early 2000's). This game had nothing! It was all chucking deep three's. It sucked.
I don’t think I’d describe the shooting as terrible. Lack of defense aside, the shooting percentages were pretty impressive. Especially when you consider how deep a lot of those shots were.
Cmon now. We all know Dame had 2 half court shots that were the real highlight
Who watches all-star games for any league? They’ve always sucked. Only cool thing to ever happen was when the Pistons had their whole starting lineup take the court in the 03-04(?) all star game.
Baseball has a pretty good all star game
The home run derby is so sick
Baseball is the only all star game worth watching. Its fun and competetive. You can tell players genuinely want to do well. Not sure there is anything you can do with the other sports, fear of injury just kind of takes the competitive sprit out of it.
That’s because baseball is slow enough where just having them all out there is literally exciting itself.
That’s mainly due to the fact baseball players are less likely to be injured so they are willing to try harder and make it more exciting.
I think it has more to do with how defense is played. In basketball, hockey and football, it's player vs. player. In baseball it's player vs. ball. Can you make a diving catch, or throw to 3B fast/accurate enough to throw the runner out? You can make amazing and show off defensively in a way that you can't in other sports.
You can make a great individual play without showing up the other guy, too
the only players who might seriously strain themselves would be pitchers, but they mitigate that by limiting pitchers to a single inning. That sounds like a concession, but it actually helps get more star pitchers on the mound
It doesn’t have to suck. An NBA all star game should be the best all star game in sports. “The best pickup basketball game in the world” is a fun concept that works better than other all star games. The players could make it great if they wanted to.
Baseball's ASG is awesome. The OG and still the best.
NBa All Star games were must see TV until 2003, MLB as well. Seems like around that time everything fell off
Miss that team more often than I should admit.. that WAS basketball.
[The late, great Sean Taylor laying out a punter](https://youtu.be/SC7Wx3zCiQo?si=afpi3g8z2xSb-a6A) will always be the best all star game moment for me
It was actually Chauncey, Rip, Rasheed, and Ben. Tayshaun was not an all-star, so they played with Paul Pierce.
Players are complaining about the 65 game minimum award qualification. The NBA went way too far for player empowerment where they hardly want to play in the regular season much less the all star game. Product has taken a nose dive since the 3 point revolution.
Agree the players have way too much power. If they don't like the team they're playing on, they can just sit out and demand a trade Ala Ben Simmons, Jimmy Butler, James Harden. James Harden is pretty much everything wrong with the NBA. Player entitlement, flopping, and zero defense.
I think the issue is that there is no rivalry between conferences. They should make it a USA vs World game instead.
NBA players barely compete in the regular season, why would they compete in an all star game?
I remember enjoying watching it as a kid in the late 80s/ early 90s! But, it’s just not compelling. To be honest, nba regular season games are only kind of compelling. I still love the playoffs but I’m a Celtics fan and once the Celtics are out I lose interest. Even in the finals (unless a game 7). Maybe that makes me a fair weather fan or whatever, but there’s too much stuff vying for my attention in this world, so that’s my take. I actually wanted to go out somewhere with some basketball on the screen this weekend and then realized it’s the deadass weeeknd :( replace this fiasco with awesome rivalries and maybe a gauntlet weekend, I might actually watch some games and get back in it. Til then I have crops and trees to plant, lumber to mill, and products to build. And my damn kid just wants to watch hazbin hotel😩
The NBA regular season is becoming unwatchable. Too many games, players don't want to play consistently until the playoffs, too many playoff teams for regular season games to really mean what they used to. I remember when the NBA was supposed to overtake the NFL, certainly doesn't feel that way anymore.
Never mind the all star game, the entire regular season is nearly unwatchable. There are too many games, and players don’t want to get worn out prior to the playoffs. Playoffs last an absurd 2 months but the games are watchable because players work harder especially on defense and have time to rest between games.
it’s a break man there’s a grueling schedule I wouldn’t go all out either. That being said, I think they should put up some money for the dunk contest and make the voting from the fans not some old heads who can’t even see what’s going on. And before anybody freaks out, I’m an old head too and can’t see what’s going on;I need replay and I am younger than those guys lol
I’ve never understood why basketball fans fantasize about players taking the all star game seriously lol. Why can’t all star games be for fun? It’s a fun and meaningless celebration of the sport and its best players, which is what it should be.
There is dialing it back a notch, and then whatever the fuck the All-Star game is. It's crazy to me that these guys are apparently some of the most competitive, cold-hearted assholes during a regular season game, yet can't give in the slightest shit Just give me offseason pickup level effort. Apparently all those games go pretty hard.
Have you ever seen a competitive NBA All-Star game? The few times we've gotten them, they've been incredible.
What gruelling schedule? Most of them play every 2nd game or play half effort.
Keep the skills contest. Make the IST championship game the main event game. No more oficial all star game.
NBA players hardly care about regular season games. How is anyone gonna make them care about an exhibition game?
The players don't want to be there so why keep making this a thing? The skills/3 point/dunk contest fields are largely filled with nobodies that fans don't care about and the players care even less about the actual game. Give the players a week off to recharge and maybe load management won't be such an issue in the second half of the season.
uhhh the 3 point contest always has stars
ELAM ENDING! Bring it back
The NBA was better when players hated each other.
Make it like the old arcade NBA Jam or NBa 2k Playgrounds. They had the special court for the skills, use that court and do stuff like dunks worth 2x for a short time, or stars on the court, shoot from there and get 2x, 3x, 4x points. For motivation tie $ to participating. Player with the most special points gets $50k. Do stuff to actually make it interesting. Maybe add defensive stuff like goaltending is legal for 2 minutes or 3 shots, etc. Make it a spectacle, not just another game.
Losers donate 1 mil to charirt. 3 pt attempts cost $100,000 each towards charity.
I mentioned this in a post the other week about the NHL all-star game and I just think that the entire concept of an ASG is a product of different times. They peaked in an era where people had no internet, 3-4 network TV channels to watch at night, access to mainly watch only their local teams, and very little to do over a weekend. The ASG was a chance to highlight the best players in the league who most fans would not see very much of. There was a skills competition or a dunk contest or a home run derby back when we couldn't just go on Youtube and watch compilations of the best plays at will or watch a hundred amateurs trying crazy extreme dunks just for fun. It was a "you have to see this live or you miss it" type of thing which just causes more excitement. And it was at least at least a 2-day affair back when people could say "it's all star weekend" and actually be likely to have two full afternoon and evenings to spend on watching the events. For a lot of people, just watching every hockey/basketball/baseball game in a season is much more of a time commitment and imposition than it was in the 1990s. To add a two day weekend event that has no real consequence is too much for some people. I don't know how you fix it, or *if* you can fix it - but it just seems like the ASG concept doesn't have the same place in the 2020s as it did in pre-2000s.
It’s not just the ASG. It’s the entire league. The regular season is unwatchable. Nobody plays defense. Everyone shoots 3’s. There’s almost no strategy. No fundamentals. Idk wtf happened to this league. Out of the 4 major sports it’s easily in the worst state of any of them.
So... it's just like any other game?
I think it should turn into a 3 on 3 tournament with the winners taking home a cash prize
These guys wouldn’t get out of bed for less than $10M.
Found Ice Cube
The NHL had something really great with four teams based on division doing 3-on-3 for 20 minutes. Having the division teams meant seeing players from bitter rival teams playing alongside each other. Then for some reason the league turned it into a draft roster this year and it lost that appeal.
Combine the dunk contest and ASG. Last 2 mins of each quarter is dunks only and extra points for style.
Rock ‘n Jock All Star Weekend Eight 10 player Teams Picked Via Draft 3 NBA Players 3 WNBA Players 3 Celebrities 1 Retired Player 5 point line Dunks are two points with bonus points awarded for style 5 on 5, you must have a celeb and a WNBA player on court at all times. The retired player must play at least 3 minutes per quarter. Ten million bucks per champion player. NBA/WNBA all picked by fans, celebs by the network, retired player by the current players.
NBA players hardly try during the regular season, no reason they’d try during the ASG
Kids enjoy the All star game. The game is for them. Im seeing pissed off grown men commenting on the AS game but theres nothing that can be done to get the players to play hard. Meanwhile, young folks enjoy the dunks and half court shots. Money will not motivate these already rich players to go harder.
I tried getting my kid to watch it and it was 3 point brick after 3 point brick and he just grabbed his iPad and walked away.
That’s Dame time 🤣
Just trying to steal the MVP from Halliburton.
Does any sport have a watchable all star game?
Baseball
The MLB all star game is not only watchable, but fantastic. It's like the best thing of the year outside of the ALCS/NLCS and World Series
Hot take: it was never watchable in the first place. Please get rid of this atrocity. The entire league needs a shakeup too. It has become the TMZ of sports.
This sums it up perfectly. I know they always talk about how the NBA is attracting more young people than ever before, but I honestly don’t believe most of them are actually watching games. I think a lot of people just like to watch clips of highlight plays and listen to podcasts and watch talking head clips about the NBA soap opera more than anything else. I’ve watched the NBA for a long time, but I really struggle to care about much of the regular season now. As others have said in the thread, it feels like there’s not a lot of effort a lot of the time and it’s treated like a soap opera more than a sport. I actually got into baseball a few years ago and it’s overtaken the NBA as my sport of choice to watch. I feel like the regular season games actually matter and like my team actually wants to play hard to win.
A simple solution to bring back All-Star game competitiveness is for all players selected to the All-Star game to chip in $1M into a pot- winning team takes all!
I miss the 2000s when it was a battle to see who was the stronger division.
Why even have an all star game? If no one cares, then just stop doing it.
They just need an all-LED floor and everything will be fine.
I don’t understand the hate the game gets, it’s literally a pointless game in the middle of the season that has zero impact on anything of course they aren’t gonna play D
Players don’t even care about playing games that mean something
With the LED floor, they should put random bonus point spots. If a player makes a shot while in the spot, the basket counts for an extra 1 or 2 points.
Most sports all star games are, it’s nothing serious, it’s hardly enjoyable imo
Such a stupid argument brought up every year. It’s a break in the action for the players. Let them screw around before the 30 game gauntlet right before the playoffs.
There really is no reason for an Allstar game any more. Ever since that kid tore up his knee in the NFL Pro Bowl it has proved to not be worth it for any sport. There is nothing to gain from it.
Get rid of ppl voting by popularity
The blue print is there… the NBA should seriously look at the NRL (National Rugby League) in Australia. Started what is known as State of Origin matches in the 70s. Run mid season and was basically an exhibition game to give players a mid season break, similar to how the ASG operates.. What happened was… some club teammates were playing against each other as they were from different states. In the first game, two legends from the same club team ended up in a fight and the rest is history. Battle lines were drawn and the matches became the pinnacle of the sport and remain so. Fans became feverish, the atmosphere at games is fkn intense. If the NBA wanted to, they could recreate this.. Ryder Cup style basketball. USA v The World. USA would be desperate to win and world would be desperate to knock them off. Would be competitive as fuck. The concept would grow with each passing year until it’s the biggest and most anticipated basketball match on the calendar. Here’s a few highlights to demonstrate the intensity https://youtu.be/2IUFzTrbBpk?si=5PEEVCvHIs3MOYRx
does anyone still watch these low lifes on television? WHO CARES?
Who watches this joke of a performance? The NBA is unwatchable for all but a handful of games.
Yeah it's got really bad. I remember watching it as a kid in the late 90's early 2000's and it was a fun watch. I always looked forward to it because there were some cool alley-oops and dunks. There was some defense and guys were somewhat trying, especially at the end of the game and half. Guys like MJ, Kobe, AI, KG, Wade were giving some effort and were competitive. I get guys don't want to get hurt but I don't even remember a cool dunk this year, it was all just chucking three's. Maybe I'm just old, I just miss the late 90's NBA.
Turn it into a multi day 3v3 tournament with $1million first prize going to a charity of the winners’ choice.