Into the Fire: The New NBA All Star Game

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The NBA’s annual All Star Weekend is about to get under way in Los Angeles and this year we are being told that the actual All Star Game itself should finally be interesting and competitive after over a decade of non-defensive free-for-alls. Many people get angry about the All Star Game because it involves virtually no defense, no animosity, and no drama. The NBA and the players union decided to tweak the format a little bit this year and they are hoping that the buzz it generates will actually give fans a payoff with a more competitive basketball game. I have to say that I am very intrigued but seeing how we have gotten to this point, I highly doubt this game actually looks any different.

The idea with the new format is actually pretty brilliant because it is playing off so many things that can make the game interesting just because of the nature of the NBA. For instance, the fan selection of the “team captains” allows fans, players, and the league to know who their two top dogs are and it pits them against one another. Rarely on All Star Weekend do we actually get to see the two best players in direct competition whether it is in the dunk contest, the skills challenge, or on the court in the actual All Star Game playing like they actually want to win. By pitting LeBron vs. Steph as part of the marquee, the new All Star format forces the two top dogs in the NBA to put at least a little bit of competitiveness and effort into this game, lest they be known as second banana.

The other inherent factor the new format utilizes is the extreme sensitivity and pettiness of the modern NBA player. The NBA is America’s answer to soccer. While the world mostly enjoys seeing brilliant athletes dance, flop, and make miracles on a pitch, in the United States we prefer to witness super athletes display speed, power, and severe chest puffing. NBA players take everything very personal. More and more these days, many of them take the soccer approach and when they get mad they flop and get opponents in trouble, but the majority still fight back and attack in some way when they take offense to something. The drama in the NBA is usually laid on thick when things get personal. Great players “take over” when they play angry, while some hot heads will start a pier six brawl. It is all great fun and part of the NBA lure. The new All Star game format feeds into the notion that these players are giant bags of emotion forcing them to be drafted in an order by their peers. I would be so confident that this game was going to be super interesting on Sunday if the NBA had only taken the new format one step further and aired the All Star Draft.

NBA commissioner Adam Silver has said recently that the cries for the draft to be televised have been loud, but he agreed to not air the first one at Steph Curry’s suggestion, because it was the first go-round under the new format. We all should have seen this coming since NBA players are self-aware and know that a great many of them easily “get all up in their feelings.” But the tidal wave has already washed across this game and the fans have spoken. I have no doubt next year we will see these magnificent players on a stage pouting when they don’t get drafted, celebrating when they do, and holding major grudges going into All Star Weekend. Until then we will just have to dip our toes into the new format with lower expectations.

– Alan Michael