NBA All-Star 2024 Part II: Ante Up, It's that simple.

It took me some time to figure out how I would improve All-Star weekend. The product wasn't as good as it was in years past since the mid-2010s. The last great dunk contest we had was in 2020, where Air Gordon and Derrick Jones Jr. had an epic finals that went down to the last dunk.

The three-point contest has probably been the best event since the mid-2010s, where some of the best shooters in the league would compete. The Splash Brothers (Steph Curry & Klay Thompson) were the best shooting duo in the league at that point and for the majority of the 2010s.

The All-Star game has gotten kind of ridiculous, with absolutely no defense being played. Let's keep it real; many fans of All-Star weekend know that real defense isn't going to be played until they get to the end of the third quarter. Everyone from the fans to the media was okay with that.

It wasn't until 2016 where the final score was 196-173, four points shy of 200 points, which is unheard of in an NBA game. Let's figure something out.

Double Down

The best event of the weekend was the three-point contest between Sabrina Ionescu and Steph Curry. Sabrina broke the record for threes made in the contest last year for the WNBA. So to have the best shooter in NBA history go up against an up-and-coming star in her own right was a sight to see. It was a tight contest, but Steph edged her out in the end. Sabrina agreed to shoot from the NBA line, which made it that much better.

Next year, All-Star weekend will be in the Bay Area at Chase Center. Doubling down on this would be having a 2-on-2 shooting contest between Sabrina Ionescu and Caitlin Clark vs the Splash Brothers. I don't think anybody would say "NO" to that battle.

NBA Dunkers - Street Dunkers

Matt McClung won the dunk contest fair and square, as he should have. He was the best dunker out there. The problem is, back in the day, stars weren't afraid to enter into the dunk contest. That's part of why Jaylen Brown entered this year. It was a courageous act, but he's not a dunker.

I place the blame on LeBron. Had LeBron entered into the dunk contest in the late 2K era or even the early 2010s, perhaps we'd see more of today's up-and-coming stars enter.

We've been talking about Zion Williamson entering the contest for years, but he could never stay healthy. Why Ja Morant or Ant-Man (Anthony Edwards) haven't been in the contest yet is wild because all three players play above the rim, and it would get fans and the media excited for it again.

If you look on YouTube, there are a lot more creative dunkers who show off their dunks on the playgrounds or at the Y or local gym. Most of their dunks are a lot better than some of these players in the dunk contest.

Host a dunk contest in three major cities in the country. For example, New York, Philly, and LA. Have a dunk contest to claim who's the best dunker in that city. Bring the winners of those contests to NBA All-Star weekend to compete in the dunk contest against some NBA dunkers who decide to participate.

I think this could be a way to get people excited for the dunk contest.

Up the Ante?

This is probably the hardest event of the weekend to fix. It's not what it used to be. I mean, if you give the winning players $1M each and $750K each for the losing players, that's pretty pricey. But when you look at it from the players' standpoint, that's peanuts compared to what they are already making. I feel like it's more than just the money. Many of these players have their teams in playoff contention, and they're not trying to get injured in an All-Star game when they have to get ready for the stretch run in the second half of the season.

Anybody got some ideas for this game?