As we arrive at the final part of my mini series on all star games, we take a look at my favorite, (because basketball is my favorite sport), the NBA All Star Game.  Now as an event overall, I feel that the NBA All Star Weekend has the most to offer.  Some of the players still need to buy into it more, like in the HORSE event, I’d like to see some ridiculous shots hit by the players, not routine jumpers.  Overall, with the celebrity game, Rookie/Sophomore game, HORSE game, Skills challenge, Three Point shootout, Dunk contest, and the All Star Game itself, this weekend has the most to offer.  But anyways, lets take a look, now, at the logistics of the game itself:

NBA All Star Game:

When: 2/3 mark of the season (late February)

How Players are Selected: Starters by fan vote, reserves by coaches/league officials

Incentive: None

For starters, the placement of this all star game is better than any other sport.  With roughly 20-25 games remaining for all the teams in the league, most contenders structure their season around the all star break.  At this point in the season, everybody knows pretty much if they are in or will be fighting for a playoff spot.  In a way, it helps the league because it sets up a huge push by all teams fighting for a playoff spot (upping the level of regular season play).  Teams like the Spurs generally coast until the all star break, then finish the season 18-6, or something close to it, to get ready for the playoffs.

The way players are selected is interesting.  It’s almost like a happy medium, different from my 33-33-33 method, that aims to pacify everyone who wants to pick all stars.  The fans get to chose the starters, which makes great sense because fans make the league as big as it is, and then the coaches pick the reserves, which helps put deserving, lower key players on the team that fans might overlook when voting.  I still say my 33-33-33 method is better, but this is an interesting resolve to the issue of who gets to pick.

There is no incentive in this game, which in a way, makes the weekend of events extremely anticlimactic.  There’s a reason this game has been nicknamed, “The Glorified Pickup Game.”  All the players seem scared to get hurt, nobody plays defense, and there are too many fast break easy dunks to be exciting.  You can only dunk the ball so many times without defense before dunking loses its luster.  Even if there were monetary incentives to play hard (or home court advantage in the finals might work, its a stretch, but it might get them to play hard) perhaps the teams would play a bit harder.  It just seems like it will be really difficult to get these guys to play hard, but, like I said, this weekend becomes very anticlimactic if there is no incentive in the All Star Game.

On another note – Mo Williams needs to grow up and be man.  If coaches/league officials decide that he is worthy of being an all star because after Jameer Nelson gets hurt, they decide Ray Allen (whose better than Mo) should be the reserve, he shouldn’t start whining and crying because he feels cheated.  Mo is a great player with a lot going for him, but he needs to understand how to be a man and realize when a better player was picked ahead of him.

Related posts:

1. Tackling Controversy: Part I – MLB All Star Game
2. Tackling Controversy: Part II – NFL Pro Bowl
3. NBA Draft 2009: First Round Grades and Other Random Thoughts