This year’s NBA All-Star Game was an insult to the game of basketball. Plain and simple. It was also an insult to all the fans who spent good money on tickets and flights out to San Francisco to see some of their players do what they do best. And, of course, it was an insult to all the people who watched at home on TV, like I did. 

This all came in a week where the NHL shined brightly on national TV as full-strength international hockey finally returned and the United States National Men’s Hockey Team and the Canadian National Men’s Hockey Team played an instant classic game last Saturday night: Three fights occurred in the opening nine seconds and the Team USA win 3-1 against our rivals to the North. So, let’s cut to the chase. 

What went wrong?

I can tell you in four words what went wrong: The players didn’t try. That’s what went wrong. I see more heart in pickup games at Reily Student Recreation Center on Wednesday nights. The game became a half-court shot competition between Trae Young and Steph Curry. While this may sound cool — and could even work as its own event — this is not a real basketball game! Is it too much to ask for a real, competitive game between the world’s best players for 48 minutes once a year? Many of the players are afraid to get injured, and the NBA already has a problem during regular season games with guys sitting out to “rest,” so it’s no wonder that in a game that literally counted for nothing, the guys weren’t really putting in full effort, hustling back on defense, or making cool, leaping, acrobatic plays like we all want to see. 

This leads me to the second problem: the NBA Slam Dunk Contest. The Dunk Contest used to have a solid mix of star players and fun young athletic guys. This year’s participants were Mac McClung, Matas Buzelis, Andre Jackson Jr. and Stephon Castle. Never heard of any of them? Not shocking. 

Let’s look at who the contestants were just seven years ago in 2018: Donovan Mitchell — who was an obvious and exciting rising star at the time — Victor Oladipo — who was an All-Star that year and wore a cool Black Panther mask, Dennis Smith Jr. — was a really young and exciting All-Rookie player at the time — and Larry Nance Jr. — weak link here, still a great dunker. In a way, the Dunk Contest really is the tone-setter for All-Star weekend since it always comes before the actual game itself, and reviving this Slam Dud contest is the first step to fixing this weekend.

What went right?

Two things went right during the entirety of the 2025 NBA All-Star weekend, in my opinion. 

The 3-Point Contest was good. It’s hard to mess this up. Damian Lillard, Tyler Herro, Jalen Brunson and more legit stars showed up. I always enjoy watching this, and I think the farther-back special green “starry ball” that is worth extra points has been a nice touch in recent years.

Victor Wembanyama looked visibly upset at his teammates for not trying. Is he the Luke Skywalker to our Galactic Empire of Uncompetitive All-Star Games? Many view Wemby as the next face of the league, with his undeniable talent on both sides of the ball at just the young age of 20 making him one of the most unstoppable and must-watch guys already. If he does not like the competition level, you would think he will start setting a serious tone in years to come. 

How can we fix this disaster-class?

Well, first, the NBA needs to fix the Dunk Contest. Bring back stars! Guys like Kobe Bryant and Michael Jordan used to do it! We need Ja Morant, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Anthony Edwards in there, along with some fun young athletic guys like Amen Thompson. With this, the weekend will have some heartbeat, some oomph and some immediate attention back to a weekend that feels like it is currently on life support. 

Giving the players extra money — and even having each team play for a charitable cause — to make the game competitive hasn’t worked, as they’ve tried this the past few years. Giannis said he would support the idea of a USA vs. World game, somewhat similar to what the NHL did this year. Still, I’m not sure if I fully buy the idea that this would be competitive since only half the guys would actually be representing their countries while the others would just be team “not America.”

Here’s some of my ideas on how to fix this:

1. Get the players wearing their regular NBA team jerseys. Example: Jalen Brunson in his normal Knicks jersey, not some goofy made-up All-Star jersey. Look good, feel good. Look serious, play serious.

2. The NBA head coaches should play a pick-up game at halftime. This would be awesome. A combination of former players like JJ Reddick, Chauncey Billups and Steve Kerr all wearing their old jerseys from back in the day would not only make for some great memes and some fun moments, but it would also have some “Wow, I didn’t know this team’s coach was like that!” These guys can hoop. If the coach can try, so can you. 

3. Have the All-Star Game decide home-court advantage for the NBA Finals. If the guys aren’t going to try because they have nothing to play for, and if money doesn’t move the needle, then let’s play for something real that impacts some of the season’s most important games. The MLB did this for a while but realized it didn’t need to keep it this way since the baseball players try anyway in their mid-summer classic since it’s almost impossible not to try while playing baseball since there is less sprinting, wild acrobatic finishes and no hard fouls — unless things get spicey, Jose Ramirez. 

4. The fail-safe option. The “you couldn’t behave, so now we are putting you on timeout” option. This is actually, in my opinion, the best way to solve the NBA’s All-Star Game problem but also definitely the least likely. Cancel the All-Star Game for two years. Here’s why: The first year it’s not on, no one will care or notice. It’ll almost be a relief we don’t have to be subjected to that garbage again. But, by year two, people will start reminiscing. “Remember when MJ did this cool move in the game? Remember when all the best players played their butts off in the All-Star Game a few weeks after Kobe died to honor his work ethic? Remember that epic finish to the 2001 game?” And like that, we will have spoken it back into existence. East v. West, like the classic games. The players would miss it too, and they’d come out of the gate in their regular team uniforms with something to prove. This worked with the Dunk Contest. In 1998 and 1999, after a few years of disappointing performances, they canceled it for two years. Then, in 2000, they brought it back. And what happened? Two words: Vince Carter. One of the most iconic Dunk Contests of all time. “It’s over, ladies and gentlemen!”