The NBA’s All-Star Weekend is here, and I for one am looking forward to it. While the All-Star game itself is meaningless, the Slam Dunk Contest is constantly derided, and the ESPN Celebrity Game is just dumb, All-Star Weekend is something to look forward to every year.
It provides fans with a breather from the sameness of the regular season’s stories ó the debate over whether the Miami Heat will be the first or second seed in the Eastern Conference got old some time around November. Fans of teams that are well out of playoff contention (my hometown Detroit Pistons are currently sitting at 16 games under .500) get a chance to watch basketball without that feeling of midseason depression. And fans who are tired of LeBron James, Kobe Bryant and the like can focus on rising stars from low-profile teams, like Russell Westbrook of the Oklahoma City Thunder or Kevin Love of the Minnesota Timberwolves. Kids who are starting to play basketball can learn a better jump-shooting technique from watching Boston’s Ray Allen† in the three-point competition.
No, it is not an event for basketball purists. Defense is going to be lacking to say the least, and at times the Slam Dunk participants will go for too much flash and not enough finish. But at the very least, the players and the league know how to make their All-Star event fun. Coming three weeks after the NFL Pro Bowl, where players are more concerned about avoiding injury than getting on the field, and the best teams’ players have to skip it because the Super Bowl is the week after, the NBA All-Star Game looks downright competitive.
The Slam Dunk Contest has had its ups and downs in recent memory mostly down since Orlando Magic center Dwight Howard gave his crown to then-Knicks guard Nate Robinson but this year it will be worth watching for one man: Blake Griffin. Readers, if you have not seen this guy’s highlights, go to YouTube right now and just take them in.
While the Clippers are still a terrible franchise, Griffn makes them worth the price of admission, and is the only big man in the league who can jump like Howard can. On top of the Dunk Contest tomorrow night, he will be playing for the Western Conference All-Stars on Sunday and participate in the Rookie Challenge tonight.
So while many fans may feel turned off by this extended set of exhibition, I strongly urge any casual fan of basketball to tune in to TNT this weekend and enjoy the fun of it all. After all, the professional sports business is an entertainment industry more than anything, and the one thing NBA All-Star Weekend provides is maximum entertainment.