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Is the NBA All-Star Game worth saving?
Oklahoma City Thunder guard Russell Westbrook has his sights set on a third straight NBA All-Star Game MVP. Elsa/Getty Images

Is the NBA All-Star Game worth saving?

The NBA celebrates its All-Star Game with more action than another other sport's celebration of its best players. Between the various forms of the Celebrity Game and the Rising Stars Challenge on Friday night; the D-League All-Star Game appetizer to All-Star Saturday Night's triumvirate of a main course that includes the Skills Challenge, Three-Point Contest and Slam Dunk Contest; and the game itself Sunday, there's plenty to tune in to.

Welcome back to the Yardbarker roundtable, where we examine NBA All-Star Weekend. While it has left indelible marks on all of us over the years — Dr. J, MJ/Nique and Vince Carter in the Dunk Contest and Larry Bird in the Three-Point Contest, to name a few — are these festivities on a downward arc? It sure feels like the competitions of yesteryear outdid the past few games and showcases. So we asked our panelists:

The NBA All-Star Game for a long time has been the last remaining “fun” all-star event across the four big North American leagues. Like all good parties though, it too now seems past its prime. It it worth saving, or should it just become an awards show?

Alex Wong: The NBA All-Star Game on Sunday always feels like a slow epilogue to an exciting weekend that climaxes on Saturday night with the Three-Point Shooting Contest and Dunk Contest. I don't think we should get rid of the All-Star Game, but I do think it's time to add some wacky elements to it. Like, why is there not a four-point line for the All-Star Game? The game doesn't matter; these guys just want to put up highlights and toss alley-oops and get competitive if it's close in the fourth. Imagine Steph Curry hitting five straight four-pointers from half court to erase a 20-point lead for the West in one minute. Actually, let's not imagine; get Adam Silver on the line for me.


Imagine if Stephen Curry could shoot four-pointers. Bob Donnan/USA TODAY Sports

Sam Greszes: I really, really want to say that the All-Star Game is worth saving. But the thing is, the All-Star Game is like that T-shirt I've kept since middle school and can't bring myself to throw out. I like that it's there, and I'd be sad if it were gone, but I'm not planning on putting either on anytime soon.

At some point, the NBA is going to finally clean out its closet, sigh deeply and bring the All-Star Game to the donation bin, where it belongs.

Jason Clinkscales: All-Star Games in any sport have always been strange beasts. They don’t feature the intensity of regular-season or playoff games, but they were essentially fantasy rosters before the prominence of fantasy sports. They still provide a taste of absurd lineups that let us dream of what could ever be for a few fleeting moments. Dreams, however small, are still worth having and so is the All-Star Game.

Daniel Tran: The beauty of basketball is that even in meaningless games, it still is entertaining. Whether it’s seamless ball movement or an incredible dunk, there is always something to marvel.

The NBA All-Star Game might not mean anything, but it treats fans with how a superteam could operate together. With so much talent on the court, the audience sees plays at a level that might not be witnessed anywhere else in the world. And even though the first three quarters might be a dunk fest with no defense, players definitely try in the fourth quarter to win games. This is one All-Star Game that needs to survive.


The Golden State Warriors basically are an All-Star team. Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

Sean Keane: Definitely worth having, just because the weekend experience is so fun, it's the one All-Star Game that works as a casual game. In baseball, they rotate players out like it's a Little League game, and the Pro Bowl is about not getting injured. At least the best players are in at the end of the game. Though I might make it a running clock.

Shiloh Carder: Of all the All-Star Games, the NBA's is the best. Unlike the others, it sticks to the actual game. No rules changes, no extended rosters and no quirky roster distribution. It's still 12 on each side, and it's a glorified pickup game that, sure, gets off slowly with everyone trying to show out and minimal defense is played, but it eventually turns into a competitive game.

The only thing that I'd honestly like to see change, if they felt they needed to, was forgetting the conferences. Just pick 20 players. Let the fans vote for 10 and the coaches pick the other 10 and have 20 players regardless of position or conference out there. Then, on game day, the two players with the highest vote totals will stand in front of the other 18 and start picking players for their squads. It would be really interesting because (a) these guys will have some hurt feelings about the picking order and (b) it would truly be a big pickup game, which is really indicative of how people view this game and how most of us run in gyms and playgrounds all over the world.


Imagine if Russell Westbrook or LeBron James were passed over in a pickup game. Bob Donnan/USA TODAY Sports

Demetrius Bell: With the way the league is going right now, I think it could freshen things up a bit by completely bucking tradition and putting the Three-Point Shootout in the "main event" of All-Star Saturday instead of the Dunk Contest. It's a pretty weird day when threes are more entertaining than dunks, but I think we've reached that point now.

David Matthews: I say keep it going, even if it turns into Warriors-Cavs scrimmages in the future. Jimmy Butler deserves to play with some better players, and we'll get to see James Harden, Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant share the ball again. Who cares what the final score is? Let's see some alley-oops.

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