Shaking the dust

NBA All-Star Weekend has lost some of its pizzazz

ATLANTA -- Trivia question: Who won the Slam Dunk Contest last year?

If you said Jason Richardson, you’re correct. You’re also an NBA fan.

Here’s one that’s a little tougher: Who won the 3-point Shootout?

If you said Peja Stojakovic, you’re right again. You’re also an NBA junkie.

What about this one: Who was MVP of the Rookie/Sophomore Game?

If you said Richardson again, you’re right again. You also need to get a life.

OK, so maybe true NBA fans still get a kick out of the All-Star Weekend festivities. But judging from the increasing number of yawns seen at arenas the past few years, we’d say the midseason classic has lost some of its pizzazz.

From the Slam Dunk Contest to the game itself, the All-Star show is in need of some new ideas. Even the NBA seems to feel All-Star Weekend could use a spark. Over the past few seasons, the league has tweaked it repeatedly, shelving the Slam Dunk Contest in 1998 and '99 and adding such novelties as 2-ball and the 3-on-3 celebrity game.

This year, thankfully, they’ve scotched the dreaded 2-ball and added a Skills Competition in its place.

Give David Stern & Co. credit for not being afraid to shake things up. But here are five additional ways the NBA could enhance its All-Star Weekend:

Pump up the dunk

Many believe the dunk contest should be mothballed for good, left for the Hall of Fame time capsule or ESPN Classic. It’s hard to argue with them. The event has lost its buzz.

It’s just too difficult for guys to come up with creative dunks anymore. After all these years, we’ve seen just about every slam imaginable. Other than Vince Carter’s hang-on-the-rim-by-an-elbow dunk back in 2000, how many truly original offerings have we seen in recent years?

Still, the dunk contest has become part of All-Star tradition, right there with the NBA Jam Session and all the groupies who hang out in hotel lobbies. So rather than let it go down without a fight, we offer a few ideas on how to resuscitate it (see Five Ways to Pump Up the Dunk).

U.S. vs. The World

With the rising number of foreign-born players in recent years, the NBA truly has gone global. To reflect the international flavor, it should have some kind of event pitting the U.S. players against their foreign-born counterparts.

We’re not recommending the NBA follow the NHL’s lead and make the All-Star Game a U.S. vs. the World competition. At least not yet. But it could combine the rookie-soph rosters into such a format. Imagine an international team led by Nene Hilario, Pau Gasol, Andrei Kirilenko, Gordan Giricek and Tony Parker matched up against a U.S. squad of Carlos Boozer, Amare Stoudemire, Richard Jefferson, Jason Richardson and Jamaal Tinsley. It might not be the Dream Team vs. Yugoslavia, but it would be a fun measuring stick.

H-O-R-S-E, anyone?

Forget the Skills Competition. If the NBA really wanted to have a cool one-on-one event, it would get eight stars to compete in an old-fashioned game of H-O-R-S-E, just like those old CBS halftime segments. Put four guys on each side of the court and let them go at it. No dunking allowed. All the creativity that has been sapped out of the dunk contest would be found here.

To make it even better, include a couple of WNBA players. We’re betting they could more than hold their own. Like Michael and Larry in those old McDonald’s ads, this event would be an over-the-backboard, nothing-but-net hit with spectators.

Draft 'em up 3-on-3

OK, so the league has to have an event that includes celebs and retirees. Fine. But instead of just putting some boy-band singer with Magic Johnson, Lisa Leslie and Marko Jaric in the same boring competition, add a twist.

Make it eight teams. Throw all 24 names in a hat. Pick eight. Those are the captains. Then stage a "draft" in front of the crowd, with the requirement that the captains add three players from the required categories. Then let 'em play. No dunking allowed. We all know Justin Timberlake can shoot over Kenny Smith, but can he beat Jerry Krause at his own game, too?

Don't touch the shootout

Hey, sometimes the best trades are the ones you don’t make. That certainly applies to the 3-point shootout, as fun an event as there is over All-Star Weekend. It has all the requirements: It’s competitive, brief, easy to follow and it’s got that cool red-white-and-blue, tribute-to-the-old-ABA, money ball.

The only way the NBA could make this better is if it let former champs like Larry, Mark Price and Craig Hodges take a twirl through the racks for old time’s sake.

Marty Burns covers pro basketball for CNNSI.com. Click here to send Marty a question or comment.

 

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