Have you ever been part of a brainstorming session? I have a day job where brainstorming sessions are a semi-regular occurrence. The office blocks out an hour or so and everyone you work with joins in a conference room or a Zoom session. The assembly has a common goal driven by a one-sentence concept. Everyone involved throws out whatever idea comes to mind. In a brainstorming session, there is no such thing as a bad idea.
But at the end of the brainstorm, someone in charge (hopefully!) separates the good ideas from the, um, less good ones and you come up with a plan to implement the ideas that are either 1) good, or 2) achievable within budget/time considerations, or, in a perfect world 3) good and achievable.
The powers-that-be in charge of the NBA’s All-Star Weekend clearly held several brainstorming sessions after 2024’s disaster to try to come up with a way to salvage the sport’s signature midseason showcase.
How did it go?
This year’s All-Star Weekend was a smashing success – if you judge success by the number of exasperated sighs, eyerolls, and absent-minded phone scrolls you generate in your target audience.
I don’t enjoy piling onto this garbage heap. I love the NBA and I want it to succeed. I came into the weekend with an open mind and open heart. Here I am now; entertain me.
The NBA’s brainstorming sessions clearly generated several ideas – sweeping changes, new formats, big plans, big concepts. However, the committee seemingly had no interest in eliminating anyone’s precious brainstorms. This weekend’s hodge podge of corporate synergy and semi-relevant basketball-related activities resulted in a punishing television product. There was no central concept beyond “more Kevin Hart and more Mr. Beast.”
Trust me on this: If your solution involves “more Kevin Hart and more Mr. Beast,” you are asking the wrong questions.
I have no idea who was on what team. I don’t know what they were playing for. The players took the games as seriously as the context allowed. The weekend was somehow equally alienating to die-hard hoop-heads and casual viewers, older fans and younger ones.
This year’s tagline: “NBA All-Star Weekend: We’re as confused as you are!”
Do not mistake this for any sort of nostalgia-tinged “back in my day” rant that is all-too-common in modern basketball discourse. The All-Star Weekends that preceded this one weren’t perfect. But basketball was still the central concern as opposed the ancillary activity it was treated as this past weekend.
The wildest moment came at the onset of the skills challenge – where a handful of truly incredible basketball players take part in an obstacle course that bears a striking resemblance to a Chuck-E-Cheese. Victor Wembanyama and Chris Paul hatched a plan to skirt around the rules and were immediately disqualified. As TNT’s broadcast crew attempted to get to the bottom of things, someone with the league strong-armed sideline reporter Allie LaForce and refused to engage. This was completely absurd – who cares about the “sanctity” of the skills challenge? – and the league’s treatment of LaForce was unacceptable. But this sequence will end up being my enduring memory of this past weekend’s “festivities,” as it was the moment that deviated from the scripted nonsense the league incorrectly assumed its fans wanted.
Can All-Star Weekend be fixed? Does anyone want it to be?
The two primary drivers of the league’s significant global popularity and revenue – increased television coverage and social media activity – have had an adverse effect on the appeal of All-Star weekend. It is no longer a novelty to see the two dozen greatest players share a court – we see these guys all the time now. And because of increased player movement, we often see them in various configurations on the same teams. We also see several Mac McClung-style dunk specialists on various social media platforms who can out-dunk any NBA player, but who wouldn’t stand a chance to hang in this league over 82 games.
All-Star Weekend suffers from outlandish expectations and impossible-to-please fans. I’m not sure there is a “fix” that satisfies everyone. If the NBA wants to continue with this product, it needs to realize this. The folks in charge need to edit the telecast to manageable, basketball-centric activities and stop with the sideshow nonsense. Basketball is a sport that thrives on flow – not extended stoppages to pay tribute to TV shows. If the weekend is supposed to celebrate the game, perhaps try to find folks who don’t use every second of their allotted microphone time criticizing the sport.
Otherwise, Kevin Durant’s idea of “taking the week off” might be a better bet.
