FanPost

Fixing All-Star Weekend with an In-Season Tournament

The NBA has a problem. All-Star Weekend, once an excitement filled exclamation point ushering in the final run of the season, has unfortunately become a shadow of what it once was.

Gone are the days of exciting dunk contests between burgeoning stars, replaced by fringe NBA players repeatedly failing at dunks that the average fan can easily find someone doing on Instagram. This year featured a new low, a dunk contest won without a single 50 score. One could attribute that to harsh judges, but anyone would be hard pressed to grade the competition higher than it was. It has now been 3 years since the last remotely exciting competition, when Derrick Jones Jr controversially beat Aaron Gordon, and 6 years since anything truly revolutionary has graced our screens.

Likewise, the Skills Challenge seems to be stuck in a rut of its own making. It seems like a new version of the event is introduced every year as the league tries to add some spice to it, but unfortunately the only result has been confusion and lack of interest by the fans and players, who know another revised version will come around in a year's time. This event also reached a low point this year, as a team comprised of Giannis and his two brothers (who combine for 9.5 minutes and 2.8 points per game) shot their way to elimination in a competition that didn't display any of their skills.

Fortunately, in part due to the 3 point revolution that has occurred ever since the Warriors championship run began, the 3-point contest has become a reliable attraction. Each of the last few years has featured a number of players getting unbelievably hot, ultimately resulting in a tight competition for the 3 point crown. And the All-Star Game itself has become much more competitive of late, at least in the 4th quarter when both teams lock in to try to bring home the bag. And finally, the Rising Stars game provided some intrigue under its new format, with a knockout tourney between four 7-player teams.

Which brings me to my idea to fix all star weekend: introduce the long-rumored Midseason Tournament. As evidenced by the year-in, year-out success of March Madness and the Champions League, there is nothing fans get behind more than a tournament, particularly a single elimination one. No other competition format provides the same chance for excitement, either via a game coming down to the wire or a shocking upset by a lesser team. And in today's league landscape, where more and more starpower comes into the league with each draft, what better chance for the league to put its talent on display than a tourney featuring every team in the association? Here's how it could work:

Team Makeup:

Each team would send a roster of 4 players to All-Star weekend to compete in a 3v3 tourney. The team could be comprised of any combo of players, regardless of position, age, or skill, with the only rule being they can not have been selected to the All Star Game. Obviously, this would benefit some teams while hurting others, depending on team construction. A Toronto roster, for example, could be made up of Gary Trent, Scottie Barnes, Pascal Siakam, and OG Anunoby, while a more top-heavy team with a number of all stars, Milwaukee for example, would have to send any perceived All-Star snubs (Jrue Holiday) along with their healthy lower level role players (Bobby Portis, Jordan Nwora, George Hill?). Every team would get to showcase players to a nationwide market that may not otherwise be seen as often, while stylistic clashes would create very interesting matchups. Who wins in a CLEvsUTA, Mobley/Markannen/Garland/Levert vs Mitchell/O'Neale/Conley/Clarkson, size vs speed/shooting game?

Format:

As far as format, the tourney could follow the example of the World Cup, actually using the (otherwise irrelevant) divisions for pool play on Day 1 (Thursday). Each team would play one first-to-15, halfcourt game against each other team in the division, with the top 2 teams and the four best 3rd placed teams based on record and point differential advancing to a 16-team knockout round. The knockout round would then feature games to 24, in single elimination style, taking place on Friday night, and culminating in a championship game that could become the headline event of Saturday night after the Dunk and 3PT contests serve as warmups.

Incentive:

Why would the teams be into it? First off, on an organizational scale, is exposure. As the league currently stands, there are a number of exciting prospects who play in small markets and are rarely seen by the majority of fans. Josh Giddey entered the All Star break on a 3 game triple-double streak that has been largely overlooked. Wouldn't the OKC owner love to get some eyes on his new young star and hopefully get some jersey sales out of it? Additionally, the reward for winning the tournament could be a "compensatory-style" draft pick, occurring after the last pick of the 1st round but before the 2nd begins. And the players would receive a nice purse, possibly distributed at different levels, such as for winning their division, making it to the final, and winning the whole thing.

There would obviously be detractors, saying this removes the "break" aspect from the All-Star break. But the low target scores would ensure that the games wouldn't have a long duration, and there would still be a 5 day break following the end of the event. Overall, a tourney like this could provide a number of positives to the teams and players involved, while bringing more exciting action to an event that has felt stale for the last few years.

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