The 2024 NBA All-Star game ended with a bloated score of 211-186 with the East defeating the West, and many have said that the NBA needs to either make major changes or eliminate the game in general.
The term ‘load management’ has been used especially amongst the game stars to rest when necessary even if it means some fans don’t get to see a once-in-a-lifetime chance to see LeBron James.
The All-Star game has changed so much in the last 30 years. In comparison, the 1994 NBA All-Star game ended with the East beating the West 127-118.
The game has changed dramatically in the last quarter century but the players are just playing basketball like they would as a kid on their driveway at home as many NBA players can still recall those moments to this day.
The NBA is still sticking to this antiquated model under the belief that fans will watch and get extremely involved while watching the game from home. Many NBA fans prefer games where it is almost guaranteed that both teams will score 100 plus but to see any game where one team scores 200 looks really bad for the NBA.
It makes sense that stars in this game play with a different mindset vs. a regular season game. In general, All-Star games have become a liability for professional sports, everyone knows what to expect when watching these games and for the sake of the players, they have bigger plans than just a ceremonial game that means nothing and has turned off fans for years.
For the benefit of the players, making Steph Curry and Jayson Tatum play an extra game with no meaning could be better served by giving them rest and helping them perform better as the playoff push intensifies.
Instead, the NBA should continue doing what it did this year by embracing the WNBA-NBA crossover. Curry, the NBA all-time leader in three-pointers and Sabrina Ionescu, the single-season 3-point record holder, competed against each other in a 3-point shooting contest.
“This was so authentic for the both of us to be here,” Ionescu said, via ESPN. “Obviously very thankful to kind of make this dream that we both had a possibility, and knowing that it’s changed the landscape of how people are going to view what we’re doing, and we’re very excited to see what the future has to hold with more people having the opportunity to do stuff like this.”
Curry edged Ionescu 29-26 where Ionescu took her shots from the NBA 3-point line, which is different than the WNBA line. This competition was separate from the traditional 3-point shooting contest.
Most NBA fans would prefer watching the game’s best stars play in a game that matters such as for playoff positioning. The intensity of a game with every player being an all-star isn’t quite what a March regular season game resembles.
The NFL eliminated the Pro Bowl recently and replaced that weekend with skills competitions and the NBA would be wise to follow in their footsteps. The best way to recruit young people to pursue dreams of playing in the NBA is to have skills competitions such as dribbling contests. Most fans don’t see what NBA players do to make it to the association and more people would be impressed by players dribbling the ball behind their back or between their legs rather than play an extra game just for being a superstar and being voted in.
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