The prize money for the winning team’s members for the In Season Tournament seemed to get everyone’s attention. How about something in that range for the winners’ roster and nothing for the losing team?
Honestly I’m not down with the 3 man tournament idea. Wouldn’t “enough” prize money, winner take all, get their attention? I suppose owners wouldn’t be thrilled with the risk of injury, just like they’re not thrilled with off season participation in the World Championships and Olympics ….. most likely.
The East tried 97 3-pointers; the previous record was 90 by Team LeBron in 2019. — The teams combined for 66 3s made and 168 3s attempted (previous records were 62 and 167 in 2019). — The teams combined for 163 field goals made and 289 attempted (previous records were 162 in 2017 and 286 in 2016). It's not a basketball
What’s the point in the ASG anymore? Not sure MVP means anything like it used to, at least before it would be one half some plays for the crowd etc and the 2nd half would be actually a great game to watch.
I'm only half joking here: -The links put up of Luka hitting ridiculous circus shots before the game or a time out or whatever: that's WAY more interesting to me than the no-D "game." Give guys 50 points for making shots from half court, with style points added in: Luka called "bounce" and hurled it, it bounced once, then swish: add 15 points for that. Dude's frikkin' insane. His underhand from 47 feet was cray to the sway. -Every player against everyone else. No East vs. West. If it's a sham it's a sham. Go big then. A behind-the-back shot that banks in: 35 points. Behind-the-back rebound to yourself for a reverse jam: 45 points. -Dame announces he can make three straight shots from the halfcourt line while only taking 10 attempts. Shots 5,6 and 7 swish from 47 feet: 60 points. The Vegas action was massive on that one, folks. Let's not even think about some guy who has a...eh...uh...ya know, "problem" with gambling and will end up wearing cement shoes in Lake Mead because Dame was just too good. No-luck gentleman in Vegas can't catch a break. Good thing his story will never be heard: bad for Vegas biz. And anyway: heck: jit happens, amirite? -Lebron asks the judges, "How many points ya gimme for this?" He goes up into the stands, 10 rows back, and makes a shot. Judges? -Curry baseball passes a shot from the endline, ala Bill Sharman, it swishes from 94 feet: 120 points. -Devin Booker? If you can hit 10 straight FTs, $5000 to your favorite charity. 20 straight? $15,000. 100 straight and the Make-A-Wish Foundation gets $1 million in charity, donated by Mickey D's or Chase Bank or whoever the eff. -Halliburton stands at halfcourt, with his back to the basket. He tosses it two-hand rainbow high arc toward the basket, turns, catches it on one bounce, jumps and does a 360 to hit Tatum in the corner, who whips the ball to KD in the other corner, who hits a 3. The crowd goes nutz! They must've had to work on that one for 15 minutes yesterday, those three. That "play" brought to you by...Progressive Insurance. (Huge Logo suddenly covers your screen: "Progressive: when things go south, don't look down in the mouth, get Progressive! And by State Farm: like a good neighbor, when things turn wrong, we're there to say, Good Luck! Ask about our senior discount. And by: Taco Bell: making our own unique species of food since 1952. Taco Bell: we're there for you after a night of overindulgence. Please drive responsibly.) If it's a circus The People want, give to 'em. I don't want my guys to get hurt for Real Basketball. I know I sound like a massive kill-joy, but how about the week off for ONLY the dunk competition, 3-point thing (Ms. Ionescu can shoot!), Luka and others doing trick shots, the hottest G-Leaguers going ALL OUT in 5 on 5 (or better 3-on-3), etc. I do like the idea of one-on-one games, but again, I don't want my guys - or any NBA star - getting hurt in an exhibition during the middle of the season. I say all this, but then the regular season can resume and two games in Grayson Allen or Draymond makes you land on their foot, ankle fracture: out the rest of the season. Yea yea yea. When I was a kid I loved the All Star Game. But that was a long-assed time ago, way before 160-154 games. Now: 211 points from the East? Really? Yea, I'm no ordinary "fan" that's fer damned sure.
The players wanting more money for the All-Star game is one of the greediest things I’ve ever heard. The players making the game are the stars, they’re rich as hell, they aren’t the 2-way guys that benefited from the money of the IST. They get paid to play a game, to entertain people, that’s all this is. They can’t even try for one night where they get to play with all the other best in the world, for fans who probably paid a lot to see them? Kobe would be disgusted by this nonsense, todays players are pathetic, no team loyalty, no pride in the league, all about money and having “fun”.
Get off my lawn! This has always been a two edged sword waiting to happen. The MLE used to be 4mil. Now it's over 12mil. Playing a "meaningless game" to them puts an absurd amount of wealth in jeopardy if they get injured, so they coast. When there was less money, everything was different. So you root for the players to earn more, but then they are more concerned about their "brand" and their post career opportunities vs focus on being the best player they can be. It was bound to happen to some degree. I think Silver will find fixing this to be much tougher than he expected. It's also cultural, at least for Americans. The spoiled and entitled children of today are tomorrow's superstars. We may be looking at the last generation of bearable players to watch if things get any worse. Doesn't feel like it's trending in the right direction.
When the all-star game was an actual game. Defense being played, announcers actually into it, the crowd super loud, players trying to win.
three on three is less risky. less running at full speed, fewer feet to land on, etc. it's entertaining because it's hard to hide--if you get torched, it's kind of embarrassing and obvious. make all shots worth 1 point gets away from just lazily chucking shots. my dad also suggested horse. imagine luka vs steph or lillard in a game of horse for cash. i don't think you're going to recapture the old days, though. players make too much money and quite honestly, it's not stupid to want to take it easy at the all star game. i do think that at the next cba, the league should ask to revisit the full week off if there's just going to be some absolute b******* during the weekend itself. you don't need more rest after that. that was rest.
It's tough. I agree it's a bad look and sickening for millionaires to be publicly asking for more to do something they've always done without additional compensation. BUT the other side of that is if you're not siding with the millionaires, you're siding with the billionaires. The upcoming TV rights deal is expected to triple the current one. Teams are worth $4-8 billion each currently (although I think if Lakers hit the market, we could get the bidding closer to $10b). So shouldn't the talent have a right to more of that pie? Yes, their contracts are outrageous. $60m a year sounds like lunacy, it looks different when weighed against the cap though. Everyone thought Magic's $25m over 25 years was wild. Everyone thought MJ's $30m was a lot. Everyone thought Juwan Howard and the $100m contract. Today's $60m+ for 1 year. And so on and so on. I wish they'd play hard just for the sake of competition but they have everything to lose and they're going to protect their money unless there is a real cash grab opportunity (we saw that with the IST). We live in a different world and have to deal with reality on its own terms. Ultimately I hope they agree to something and it doesn't end up in a CBA fight, we lose in that scenario. Just make it more entertaining and get them to be invested. If the league has to pay to play, so be it. Better than watching a pre game warmup.
I think the all-star game is just a joke and that is all it will ever be anymore. That's ok, it is what it is. Does anyone really care who wins this thing?? I don't.
that's why i think one solution is to just shorten the break and do less of it all. the ratings can't be good, right?
Yea. Quoting an old wag: no one ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American people. Now: I'm not sure liking 394 points scored between the two teams qualifies as "intelligence"; it's a matter of taste. Still...We here at Lakersball seem fairly aristocratic in our taste toward basketball esthetics. Like: some of us actually value defense. Imagine that. Yea, we are very snooty that way. Hence my Go Circus Maximus post above. Reductio ad absurdum, etcetera... Here's a proposal: next year's ASG: first team that gets a STOP, not counting a missed shot: the game stops, it's announced that the team that got the stop gets 3 points. First team to 30 wins: $10 million in charity from the winning team goes to some worthy group, like BLM. (Sorry if that's too "political." Name your own charity?) I, like Weezy, find it offensive that the players want more money when they're entertainers already compensated to an absurd degree for their considerable, world-class abilities. Part of being "great" is in having some sense of proportion, such as when "enough is enough." (Which eludes certain people you see on front page of the Times every damned day.)
