NBA All-Star Weekend got underway in Charlotte last night, with Kyle Kuzma, Jayson Tatum and Ben Simmons putting on a show in the Rising Stars Challenge and Ray Allen dominating the Celebrity Game in such a way that people are now talking about a possible comeback.
On Saturday night, things will get even better, as we will be treated to events such as the Skills Challenge, the Three-Point Contest and the Slam Dunk Contest.
Finally, we will see the All-Star Game pitting Team LeBron against Team Giannis on Sunday night.
While most would, of course, prefer to see actual NBA games, you have to admit that the NBA All-Star Weekend festivities are a nice change of pace and give players, teams and fans the chance to relax for an extended period of time and just play and/or watch for fun.
Let's be honest: the NBA's All-Star events are better than that of any other sport, and you really can't even deny it.
Here are a few reasons why:
3. Action-Packed
There is a ton of stuff to watch during All-Star Weekend, so much so that it spans three days.
On Friday night, we got to watch some of the brightest young stars in the game strut their stuff, as well as seeing some non-professional basketball players (and retirees such as Allen) try not to embarrass themselves on national television.
Then, on Saturday evening, we will get to witness Dirk Nowitzki attempt to go out with a bang, as he will be participating in the Three-Point Contest for the final time of his career and will certainly have the crowd on his side. Plus, we get the drama of the Curry brothers, Stephen and Seth, competing against one another.
And, of course, there is the Skills Challenge, where Karl-Anthony Towns and Kristaps Porzingis have demonstrated that it's not always the little guys who win the event.
Finally, we have the Slam Dunk Contest, which we will talk more about in the next bullet point.
But what other sport has this much going on in its All-Star festivities?
NFL has added some events for the Pro Bowl, but let's be real: no one really cares about the Pro Bowl.
Yes, the MLB has the Home Run Derby, which is cool, but that's it.
2. The Dunk Contest
Yes, over the years, the Slam Dunk Contest has gotten watered down to the point where there have been some instances where you could hear a pin drop in the arena because the crowd was so disinterested.
However, sometimes, we see performances so incredible that it conjures up memories of Vince Carter's famous dunk contest showing in 2000, when Carter not only took the NBA world by storm, but put forth an impossible act to follow.
Guys like Zach LaVine and Aaron Gordon have helped revive the dunk contest in recent years, giving us all hope that the event is not just a dying competition that Carter killed 19 years ago.
Since Carter's legendary performance, we have seen players such as Jason Richardson and Nate Robinson help restore the contest, and after a lull, LaVine brought back interest with back-to-back wins in 2015 and 2016.
While the Slam Dunk Contest will likely never be what it was before Vinsanity took center stage, it is still the highlight event of the weekend, and is something that no other sport can match.
1. The Actual Game is Fun
While NFL players are busy not tackling people in the Pro Bowl and the MLB All-Star Game is, well, the MLB All-Star Game, the NBA All-Star Game is actually somewhat intriguing.
Yes, I did qualify that statement by using the term “somewhat,” because a lot of people still just don't care about the All-Star Game, but, at the very least, it's actually competitive (unlike the Pro Bowl) and is fun to watch (unlike MLB).
We have seen drama-filled finishes in NBA All-Star Games before, and as recently as last season, we have seen a nail-biter, as Team LeBron beat Team Steph by a score of 148-145.
Make no mistake about it: as much as these guys love having fun in this game, they still want to win, which is why the event tends to get serious and the teams legitimately start running actual plays in the fourth quarter.
These guys are competitive, and they want to beat one another, especially now that they are choosing their own teams.
It's like pickup basketball. Yeah, it's meant to be entertaining and just for general enjoyment, but you're kidding yourself if you say you don't actual care about winning the game.
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