This year’s NBA All-Star Weekend festivities were — to put it bluntly — terrible.
The All-Star Game has become a glorified layup line with zero effort, zero stakes and a growing disconnect from what made it great in the first place. From the failed experiment of this year’s All-Star draft to the uninspiring Dunk Contest and the desperate attempts at gimmicks, the event has strayed far from what fans actually want: real competition.
The league’s constant tinkering — whether it’s the draft format, the target score, or the endless celebrity cameos — has made the game feel more like a content factory than an actual basketball event.
Here’s where they went wrong and how to fix it.
RETURN TO EAST VS WEST
In seven of the last eight All-Star Games, the NBA deterred from the long-standing tradition of the Eastern Conference playing against the Western Conference and instead implemented a draft system to pick teams. In most of these drafts, the top vote-getters from each conference became captains and selected their teams, similar to how teams are chosen at the YMCA or on the playground. Well, that’s where it should stay.
This year’s draft was not dictated by two team captains but by NBA on TNT analysts and former NBA players Shaquille O’Neal, Charles Barkley, and Kenny Smith. Former WNBA player and TNT analyst Candace Parker took ownership of a team comprised of the winners of the Rising Stars Game. Just like virtually every NBA fan, I adore the “Inside the NBA” crew, but having them draft teams is too gimmicky.
The All-Star Game was also split into a three-game tournament with no running clock, and games ending at a target score of 40.
Also why do the Rising Stars get to play in this tournament? They are not All-Stars. If they needed a fourth team, they should’ve just picked more All-Star caliber players — there sure wasn’t a shortage of those who were snubbed. Domantas Sabonis and LaMelo Ball were for sure more deserving than rookies like Dalton Knecht and Zach Edey.
From the moment NBA commissioner Adam Silver announced this tournament, some NBA players knew what was in-store. “I absolutely hate it,” Kevin Durant said. “We should just go back to East-West. Just play a game.”
The draft format and the absence of a game clock strip all identity from the event, turning it into 10 players chucking up uncontested threes and cherry-picking wide-open dunks.
With the success of the NHL’s 4 Nations Face-Off, many fans and pundits have suggested a matchup between NBA players from the U.S. and those from other parts of the world.
However, this wouldn’t work the same way. In hockey, there is a level of pride and competitive fire that just doesn’t exist in the NBA.
Let me put it this way: the most popular basketball player on the planet, LeBron James, pulled out of the All-Star Game 90 minutes beforehand due to “left foot and ankle discomfort.” In the round-robin game of the 4 Nations Face-Off, when the U.S. played Canada, there were three fights in the first nine seconds of play.
That’s the difference.
I don’t blame James for sitting out of this pointless All-Star tournament. He’s 40 years old, and has nothing left to prove. It just represents a larger problem: the lack of importance placed on the All-Star Game.
The solution is to return to the East vs. West format. To incentivize players to compete, the winning conference should receive home-court advantage in the NBA Finals. This used to be in place in the MLB, and was largely successful in making players compete. Stars on contending teams would have no choice but to play competitively, especially if it impacts their championship aspirations.
I wonder how James’ ankle would feel then.
The drafts were fun for the first couple of years, but fans are tired of gimmicks. They just want competitive basketball.
THE DUNK CONTEST
The Dunk Contest has reached an all-time low in recent years due to a lack of creativity, actual All-Star participants, and overall entertaining dunks.
Mac McClung, who plays in the NBA G-League, is the only reason the Dunk Contest has been somewhat watchable in recent years.
To put McClung’s participation into perspective — he has more Dunk Contest titles than actual in-game dunks in the NBA.
Yes, you read that correctly.
That’s like if no MLB All-Stars wanted to participate in the Home Run Derby, so they brought in a minor leaguer who crushes balls in batting practice.
Despite McClung bringing back some excitement to the Dunk Contest, one key element is still missing.
Star power.
In the past seven Dunk Contests, only one All-Star has participated: Jaylen Brown in 2024. Brown, however, had arguably the most pathetic dunk in recent memory.
In his attempt to advance to the final round, Brown brought out teammate Jayson Tatum and streamer Kai Cenat as props. Tatum tossed an alley-oop, which Brown caught and dunked while jumping over Cenat — who was sitting in a chair. For reference, Cenat is about 5-foot-4. Just imagine how short he was while sitting.
Is that really the best the league’s top players can offer? Jumping over a short guy sitting down? Not to mention Brown actually missed the first attempt. That dunk just embodies what All-Star Weekend has become.
The Dunk Contest used to be a rite of passage for All-Stars, but with superstars like LeBron James never lacing up, a precedent was set: that the contest is beneath them.
If McClung is just going to dominate nobodies for the next decade, the event should be scrapped. However, NBA stars like Giannis Antetokounmpo, Ja Morant, and former back-to-back Dunk Contest champion Zach LaVine have expressed interest in challenging McClung.
NEW/OLD BUSINESS
Beyond the Dunk Contest and the game itself, there is more work to be done to make All-Star Weekend more enjoyable.
First, there needs to be a crackdown on pointless gimmicks and excessive commercial breaks. Why does Kevin Hart have to be involved every year? Why did we need MrBeast doing a 10-minute YouTube video in the middle of the program? These are questions we shouldn’t have to ask, yet here we are.
Beyond the poor basketball, simply watching the program was a struggle.
Enough with the skills competition. They tweak it every year, and every year it falls flat. It’s time to replace it with something fans will actually watch.
What All-Star Weekend needs is a one-on-one tournament.
The buzz around this would be insane. And if All-Stars won’t do the Dunk Contest, why would they participate in a one-on-one tournament?
The answer: cash prize.
A prize of maybe $5 million would be more than enough to court multiple All-Stars into throwing their name in the hat. It’s a large sum of money, but the return on investment for the league would be huge.
The one event that doesn’t need fixing is the Three-Point Contest. However, the matchup between Stephen Curry and Sabrina Ionescu during the 2024 festivities was electric. Ionescu even tied the all-time points record for a Three-Point Contest while shooting from the NBA line, nearly two feet farther than the WNBA arc.
Each year, the winner of the NBA Three-Point Contest should face off against the WNBA winner. Or, the league could set up special matchups, such as Klay Thompson vs. Caitlin Clark or James Harden vs. Diana Taurasi. This would be great for growing the WNBA and boosting All-Star Weekend viewership.
If the NBA wants to salvage All-Star Weekend, it needs to return to what made it great: real competition.
The last true competitive match was in 2020, after the death of Kobe Bryant. When both teams were encroaching on the target score of 157, it truly felt like the NBA finals. They were running plays, taking charges and even arguing with the referees.
Part of me thinks the players were honoring Bryant by leaving it all on the court. A salute to one of the most competitive juggernauts of all time.
Man — I wish they would play like that all the time.
