Jamie Samuelsen: Three Absurd Ideas to Fix NBA All-Star Weekend
If you're under the age of 30, you're sick and tired of hearing guys my age tell you how big the NBA All-Star weekend USED to be. And honestly, it makes me feel old to start any story with, "Back in my day…" But when I think about the big sports events of my youth, the slam dunk contest ranks right up there. We'd get together at friends houses. We'd draft players. We'd try to emulate the dunks on my friend Mike's 8-foot rim. We'd videotape the day just so we could watch it again and again and again. It truly was one of the biggest sporting events of the year.
Now it sucks.
Last week, the NBA announced the list of dunk contestants and only the most loyal NBA fan would be able to identify half the contestants. Derrick Willams of the T'Wolves, Jeremy Evans of the Jazz (an injury replacement for household name Iman Shumpert of the Knicks), Chase Budinger of the Rockets and Paul George of the Jazz. Forget what I said about naming half…most NBA fans couldn't name one of those guys. The slam dunk contest doesn't constitute the whole weekend, but it did become the centerpiece in the 80s when Michael Jordan, Dominique Wilkins and Spud Webb ruled the day.
Most people will tell you that the contest is dead. It should just be canceled. There's no way to revive it. But I'll admit that last years contest won by Blake Griffin did constitute appointment TV. Griffin was and is one of the biggest stars in the game, and the thought of him jumping over a car was intriguing to say the least. So instead of killing the contest and killing the All-Star weekend – I instead offer three simple ideas for reviving it. Understand that none of these will ever happen, but perhaps it can spur a little conversation.
1) Put Jeremy Lin in the game.
I wrote about this last week. To me it's a no-brainer. When Joe Johnson of the Hawks bowed out, David Stern had the perfect chance to get Lin in there but instead replaced him with Rajon Rondo of the Celtics. Rondo is more deserving, but Lin is the story of the year. Stern blew it, which is surprising given his knack for good P.R.
2) If you are invited to All-Star Weekend, you're expected to participate in All-Star Saturday.
In other words, can we PLEASE get LeBron and Kobe in the slam dunk contest. Kobe won it as a rookie. LeBron never did it. I know all the excuses about injuries and fatigue. Blah, blah, blah. Has ANYONE ever gotten hurt in the contest? All the NHL players take part in the skills contest. Many of the best hitters in baseball hit in the Home Run Derby. Why are NBA players exempt? LeBron, Kobe and Blake in the slam dunk contest this year would be the highest rated cable event of the year.
3) One-on-One Tournament.
Okay – THIS would be the highest rated cable event of the year. Kobe versus LeBron to decide who the best player in the game is? What about Kevin Durant? Could Dwight Howard match up against Rondo? Everybody defers to everybody else in the All-Star Game itself. There would be no deferring in this. You could have a bracket. You could matchup the different positions. Or you could just pit James against Bryant for all the marbles. This idea is simply too good.
But of course, none of this will happen. We'll get the Rising Stars Challenge and we'll get the usual no-names trying to throw down a dunk. The sport already alienated the fans during the lockout. Why not keep doing it in one of the showcase weekends of the year? This never would have happened back in my day.
