Good God, the NBA All Star game blows. As a fan of all four major American sports, the only All Star game that should stay is the MLB one. The Pro Bowl is a slap and tickle fest, the NBA All Star Game looks like one big shoot around, and the effort in the NHL All Star game has dropped big time.
The limited minutes of the NBA All Star game I watched last night were PATHETIC. Guys were jogging up and down the floor, cherry picking, and missing dunks. The fact that that was on national television last night is awful.
Now, I do agree that there should be some sort of competition at the midway point of the season for the NBA so, here is my proposition. A single elimination, 3 on 3 tournament. One side of the bracket is the Eastern Conference and one side of it is the West.
The teams would be decided by each NBA team picking four players to represent their teams. They need to have at least one guard, and one forward, and would have the option for a center and that fourth player they pick could be any position.
This tournament would take up the whole weekend with two games going on at the same time, half court rules. The teams would play to either 15 or 21 with 1’s and 2’s. Each team can make one substitution per game unless there is an injury.
In between games, you can put in the three point competition, dunk contest, and skill competition. They need to get rid of the rising stars game as well as the celebrity game because those are way worse than the actual All Star Game.
Now, here is where the significance of this 3 on 3 tournament comes into play. Once two teams are in the finals, one that represents the East and one for the West, the winning team earns home court advantage for their conference in the actual NBA Finals. This would be similar to the way the MLB models their incentive for the All Star Game.
For example, if Brooklyn and Phoenix were to face off in the finals of this 3 on 3 tournament on All Star weekend and the Nets won, then whatever team makes it to the finals out of the East, gets the Game 7 advantage on their home court.
Look, I have a feeling that Adam Silver and the NBA won’t read this blog but, if they do, they can email me and we can talk about making All Star weekend entertaining for the first time in five years.