Almost a week has passed, and we still haven’t quite nailed down how to cure the lethargy around the NBA All-Star weekend. But that’s not to say that there hasn’t been a wide variety of assessments about why we got here.
If you ask Stephen A. Smith, he lays the blame for the fall of the slam dunk contest squarely at the feet of Lebron James. It would have been great for one of the greatest players to continue that tradition, but we can’t ignore one of the best-ever dunk contests in 2016 with rising stars Zack Lavine and Aaron Gordon centerstage.
The skills challenge: Well, is it aggressively fine? The main attraction of the All-Star Game itself is nothing more than the league’s best doing a friendly waltz for four quarters. The league even set specific criteria for cities to host the weekend at all (sorry, Indianapolis). As the higher-ups of the NBA try to grapple with giving potential cash incentives to try to invoke some competitive spirit, I would argue that the NBA has its answer, which is a path forward with the WNBA.
It’s not lost on me that a particular stroke of irony accompanies this thinking. It’s no secret that some sports fans and pundits still think of the WNBA in a “less than” context. This is even as the league has hit a 20-year high in ratings, enjoying a ticket sale boom across all women’s sports, and has the expansion of a Golden State franchise right around the corner in 2025. You have this institution that is looked upon as being a three-day vacation.
However, the three-point competition between Steph Curry and Sabrina Ionescu was an unbridled success. It was the ratings peak during the TNT All-Star Saturday night broadcast, and it was pretty competitive. Despite what was said about the type of ball Sabrina shot with, she gave the greatest pure shooter ever every bit of competition as an equal. That type of synergy between the two leagues will push us forward in what the next phase of All-Star weekend could be. There’s no doubt Steph and Sabrina will run this back with another iteration. Still, there’s a chance to somehow integrate other stars like A’ja Wilson, Kelsey Plum, Jewell Lloyd, and Brittney Griner.
Why not have an NBA vs. WNBA skills challenge or even a game of horse? A massive amount of talent is coming through the college ranks, such as Iowa’s Caitlin Clark, Stanford’s Cameron Brink, and Utah’s Alissa Pili, so why not have a rookie vs. sophomore game during all-star weekend as a prelude for what to look forward to for the upcoming season?
It’d be a great gateway for all basketball fans to see the sport’s future and find a player they can follow and cheer. I agree with Sue Bird’s comments that the game’s crown jewel relies more on engagement than it is reach. We all know that the NBA has more leeway, but putting forth those storylines together makes us so in love with sports in the first place.
By including the WNBA in the overall All-Star experience, you then (hopefully) allow commentators to weave in the narratives of why fans should buy into one of the best rivalries in sports between the New York Liberty and the Las Vegas Aces. You could then weave in some commentary from legends like Sheryl Swoopes, Tina Thompson, and Lisa Leslie.
The NBA itself is currently in a holding pattern on what it’s going to do when the class of elite stars like Curry, James, and Kevin Durant eventually retire despite having a deep roster from the likes of Luka Donctic, Victor Wembanyama, and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
It’s an issue that both leagues can help each other out with and continue to grow the game overall. Yes, I know the WNBA has its own iteration of All-Star weekend, but why can’t you have both? I’m not sure what sense it makes to keep trying to chase down the ghosts of NBA All-Star weekend’s past, either. – we always end up replaying the same soundbites in the same place. Michael Jordan and the late great Kobe Bryant are not walking through that door picking up people at defensive mid-court. Stars like the Minnesota Timberwolves’ Anthony Edwards have made it clear that the weekend is there for players to rest, and we’ve seen almost every single dunk imaginable with no stars willing to throw their hats in the ring to do them.
I would love for the All-Star game to become competitive again, but as the business side of the league has changed and injuries continue to be an issue, so has the players’ viewpoint of what the game means. It’s not like Adam Silver will hand down a mandate similar to the 65-game requirement, making All-Star competitiveness a focal point. That would be ludicrous. So, why not change the weekend’s flavor entirely and include your adjacent league that keeps rising visibility and notoriety in the festivities? Not only would it be forward-thinking regarding how we view the game and breaking down this wall that men can’t feverishly be a WNBA fan, but it would rightfully put these two leagues on equal footing.
