The 2024 All-Star weekend had some highs and a lot of lows. For the first time this season, the NBA had the spotlight solely on them.

With the NFL season concluding, this was the perfect time for the NBA to take the spotlight and show why it’s the greatest league in the world by showcasing the world’s best in basketball. With what was supposed to be a dynamite weekend in Nap town, Displayed a complete dud.

For three days there was one let down after another, but everything wasn’t gloomy, there were some good moments.

I thought the NBA did an exceptional job at celebrating the basketball culture in the state of Indiana. The Three Point contest was very entertaining as Damian Lillard took home the crown, The Steph Curry-Sabrina Ionescu Challenge was very entertaining as we saw two of the most prolific Three Point shooters on the men’s and women’s side duel it out. Surprisingly, the celebrity Game was very entertaining, more entertaining than the All-Star game itself.

But…other…than …that. The rest of the events were a complete disaster. The Rising stars game was basically a prelude to how this year’s All-Star game would be played out, albeit it was much more competitive, due to the efforts of the G-Leaguers rising to the occasion on a competitive level before falling in the final game. You can see that guys didn’t ramp it up until they were down double digits which was disappointing in a sense.

The Skills Challenge was not a challenge at all. At moments I was confused as to what was actually going on in this one. The Dunk Contest was completely underwhelming, I expected more from the field … and the judges for the most part. I applaud Jaylen Brown for competing in this one, but let’s make it the last dunk contest you attempt to compete in.

And finally…. The Cream of the crop. The All-Star game itself. Which was a complete debacle to the sport of Basketball. Records were broken in this one, as the East scored an All-Star game record 211 points, this was also the highest scoring All-Star game in league history, and the last record these players broke was lack of competitiveness.

Growing up in the 90’s and Early 2000’s the leagues superstars set the tone, from Jordan to Kobe to AI to Garnett. The list goes on and on when it comes to the world’s best showing a competitive edge to beat one another in this game, to put not only a show on for the fans, but to show why they are NBA All-Stars. 2024 was at an all time low when it came to that. No defense was played, unwillingness to compete amongst each other, it was a travesty to the league and this display or lack thereof when you had the whole world watching was baffling. Like Anthony Edwards said, “I don’t think no one wants to come here and compete” and it showed.

So, I pose the question. How do we fix it? I have three alternatives that can be done to save the All-Star Game.

1. Incentivize the players. Giving players on the winning team $1million each would certainly have guys playing harder. We saw what 500k did for the in-season Tournament. Guys played playoff level basketball, this would be the main option and we all know these players love the “bag”.

2. A 3 on 3 Tournament, single elimination, first to score 12 wins with the championship game having to be won by 2. Since these players are worried about safety, a half court game limits injury by shortening the court and doesn’t expend as much energy as a full court game would. Only problem with this alternative would limit the fans to a half court game who would much more prefer to see full court action.

3. Follow MLB’s blueprint. Winner gets home court advantage in the finals. This would get players from the top 4 teams in each conference really going, as no room for error would be allowed. This would allow guys to really set the tone of the game, as this game would matter when it comes to the playoffs. Issues with this alternative would be hinging home court advantage to players of teams that aren’t Championship contenders, also not rewarding the top record in the NBA. If this was implemented last season the Heat would’ve had home Court Advantage as an 8 seed over the number 1 overall seeded Nuggets, that would’ve ruffled some feathers.

Whatever needs to happen to get these players going should be done. Adam Silver the ball is your court now what will you do?