Sure, the NBA-All Star Game doesn’t offer much in the way of defense. A lot of people complain about that. But sometimes people just like to complain. All-Star games are not perfect. However, when you stack them up against each other, the NBA All-Star Game is simply the best in sports.
The NBA All-Star Game is the Best
Moreover, no other sports takes so seriously the idea of making their All-Star Game into an event. Baseball has the home run derby, the NFL has made an effort to do some things outside of the actual game (NFL Dodgeball was enjoyable). Plus, the best players on the two best teams can’t even play in the All-Pro Game, since it’s the week before the Super Bowl. Both hockey and soccer do some stuff with concerts and skills competitions that fans enjoy.
But none of those compare to the NBA’s cavalcade of the Celebrity Game, the Rising Stars Challenge, Three-Point Shootout, and Dunk Contest. Plus, the NBA does the best job of the sports mentioned in getting celebrities involved in the festivities, that’s not entirely irrelevant.
All All-Star Games Aren’t Great
Saying the NBA All-Star Game is the best, admittedly, is judging on a curve. However, the NFL’s All-Pro Game is a joke. The sport itself does little to benefit a game where guys don’t care. (For good reason, no player would want to get hurt in an All-Star Game.) Hockey and soccer can put on a very good All-Star Game, but those sports rely so much on knowing where a player is going to be when you pass it to him and it’s really hard to manufacture that for one game on short notice, with little to no practice. So, we’re not really getting to see the best players at their best, because everything is just a little off. That applies to basketball as well, but probably not to the same extent.
Baseball had such a problem with their All-Star game that they had to artificially give it meaning by giving the winning side home-field advantage for the World Series. That’s not as bad of a rule as some think, but baseball has other big problems with their mid-summer classic. The game feels so unnatural because there’s a fairly recent, unwritten rule that everyone has to play. It’s hard to maintain a good flow to a game when there’s a new pitcher every half inning and positional players are only given three to four inning of play.
Now, for all the old timers who will wax poetic about a time when these games “mattered.” (Cue the footage of Pete Rose plowing into the catcher at the end of the 1970 MLB All-Star Game.) Few remember, however, that that collision practically ruined the career of the catcher in question, Ray Fosse. What happened to Fosse is something close to a catastrophe. That sort of thing shouldn’t happen.
The Soap Opera of the NBA
This is where the NBA really separates itself from the other sports. The NBA’s off-court story-lines can be just as compelling as the on-court ones. Watching the Western Conference All-Stars recognize how cool the moment Russell Westbrook fed an alley-oop to former teammate (and now arch-nemesis) Kevin Durant was priceless. They even captured the moment by surrounding Westbrook and Durant on the bench, clapping and spraying them with water. It probably did nothing in the way in squashing their beef. The rest of the team knew that, but it was still amusing to see other players commemorate it.
Another aspect of the NBA All-Star Game that is endlessly fascinating and engaging to fans is to observe the different generations of players interact with each other. For the Eastern Conference, it became a bit of a mini-competition to see who could set Giannis Antetokounmpo up for the coolest dunk. Even the West got a kick out of it. At one point, just before going to a commercial break, the broadcast ran a replay of an Antetokounmpo dunk, and you could see DeAndre Jordan make the “OMG, that was nasty” face. The veteran players recognize the All-Star Game can serve as a “You’ve made it” moment for younger guys. And they let them showcase their otherworldly athleticism while getting in on the action themselves.
More than any other sport, basketball has become intertwined with pop culture. And the NBA All-Star Game is a celebration of that. It’s not for the traditionalist who can’t stand the lack of defense. But just take it for what it is. That being a showcase for the best athletes in the world to remind you they are just that. It’s why the NBA All-Star Game is the best.
