NBA All-Star Weekend has recently come to an end. In a weekend with surprise winners, no defense, and MANY 3PTs, the weekend was overall a success. But, whenever the final score of the All-Star Game is 178-164, it’s bound to absorb chatter. Yes, the All-Star break was entertaining for players, fans, and media. However, with the culminating game being played for nothing, it comes to question as to how the NBA compares with the MLB & NFL’s All-Star festivities.
With all different sets of skill challenges and different rules/regulations to each All-Star game, fellow staff writer Jacob Seymour and I dive into each league. Jacob will make the case for the MLB while I’ll make the case for the NFL and NBA.
MLB
Home Run Derby
The Derby is the cream of the crop of All-Star Break events. While some will say the Dunk Contest is the event to watch, you have to admit it’s grown stale and repetitive. The Dunk Contest has been falling flat in recent times (excluding Gordon vs Levine I) including this year. What they’ve done with the HR derby is nothing short of incredible.
With changes such as tournament style seeding, four-minute rounds, and in the case of ties a 60-second tiebreaker, these changes have been allowing for different outcomes and shocking conclusions. The Dunk Contest, on the other hand, has fallen off by repeating the same script every year. The Home Run derby delivers fresh moments such as Josh Hamilton’s Dinger barrage in 2008.
Giancarlo Stanton’s 2016 performance dropping absolute bombs no one thought could be hit.
And, finally, Bryce Harper’s performance in 2013 and last year’s highly competitive Home Run Derby.
MLB All-Star Game
MLB’s All-Star Game is the most competitive out of all the All-Star games. Every player is out there trying to win while not giving up a bunch of points, making it feel worthless.
The MLB All-Star Game is also the most interactive of the three sports. With the addition of
What MLB has done is allow itself to connect and show people that the players of this sport have personality, that the game of baseball is fun and isn’t serious and overbearing. It’s allowed itself to go back into the good graces of the sporting world.
However, there are things that MLB can do better. MLB, like their NBA and NFL counterparts, can have a skills competition. Seeing top athletes show off their god given talents is the reason for All-Star breaks. Why not let them show it off? Can you imagine Trout vs Betts in a most accurate arm competition or watchin Verlander vs Scherzer painting the corners?
With those facts/suggestions, how does the MLB stack up with the NFL & NBA?
NFL
The NFL’s All-Star weekend is rather the worst of the three discussed leagues. The NFL’s process of deciding the Pro-Bowl is rather flawed and puts the power into the hands of people who simply vote by who they like and not who deserves it. This means that Aaron Rodgers (3,974 passing yards, 23 touchdowns, and 2 interceptions) gets in over a better performing quarterback in Matt Ryan (4,301 passing yards, 30 touchdowns, and 6 interceptions).
These numbers are those of the respective players at the time Pro-Bowl rosters were released. Rodgers undoubtedly put up fantastic numbers, but he didn’t deserve the nod over Ryan. The only reason why Rodgers was a Pro Bowler was due to the overwhelming popularity Rodgers had, and that’s due to the fan vote. Unlike the NBA and MLB, the NFL has no type of player or media voting at all, and they’re the ones that know best. Although the voting process lacks behind the two other major leagues, its events before the Pro-Bowl are something to watch.
Pro-Bowl Skills Challenge
The NFL holds a series of events before the actually Pro-Bowl game which sets it apart from other leagues. The Pro-Bowl Skills Showdown is at the epicenter of that. This showdown consists of challenges such as Best Hands, Precision Passing, Gridiron Gauntlet, 40-yard splash, and dodge-ball. This gives fans a first-hand look as to who the fastest, strongest, smartest, and most skilled players are.
Fans get a look at what makes players the dominant forces that they are as well as see their skills outside of a football game. Long debates with fans and media alike such as “which receiver has the best hands,” “which QB has the best arm,” or even “who’s the strongest player in the league” are all questions these fun challenges can answer.
The Pro-Bowl
After these events, however, comes the game. To many, it’s absolutely atrocious. First, the players that are in the actual game are sometimes those who weren’t even voted in. Many of the NFL’s biggest stars decline to compete in the game because of a tough playoff loss, risk of injury, or just because they don’t want to.
Every year the fans have a chance to get their favorite players in just for them not to participate. Compared to the other two leagues to be discussed, this is very disappointing. The actual game brings us rules that fans aren’t accustomed to. They include no motion or shifting by the offense, no rushing punts, PATs or FG attempts, no blitzes, and eliminated kickoffs.
With that, the game pretty much shows off the opposite of things that fans like about football games. On top of that, there are usually no flashy plays by either side, as the players really look like they’re not trying. In a hard-hitting league such as the NFL, eliminating some strong rules (which is understandable for safety concerns) might not make for the best product. The NFL provides fans with a great experience to see (some of) their favorite players in action, but with a lackluster All-Star G
NBA
The NBA’s All-Star Weekend is probably one of the best sporting events of the year. Talent on top of talent surrounds the weekend with fans being able to find their favorite players anywhere. We can start with the Friday of.
All-Star Friday Night
The Friday of All-Star Weekend brings many festivities that all fans can drench in. It starts with the Celebrity All-Star Game which features our favorite celebrities off the hardwood. The NBA manages to put our favorite off the court personalities together for one game that (although shows that they can’t play basketball for their lives)
Celebrities such as Kevin Hart, Quavo, Justin Bieber, Bad Bunny, and Ronnie 2K are just some of our favorites that the NBA managed to put on the court. In addition, we get to see some of our favorite WNBA and former NBA players hit the court as well. These players included Stefanie Dolson, A’ja Wilson, and even the 3PT King (for now), Ray Allen. The celebrity game in itself brings about a fun time for both the league and fans. For just a Friday, however, it doesn’t stop there.
After the celebrity game concludes we shift gears to the Rising Stars Game. The NBA is the only league on this list that provides fans a chance to see the future of the league. Pitting the World Team against the USA Team, we get to see the best young players go at it in their own mini All-Star Game.
Alley-oops, in-game dunks, ridiculous 3PTs, nutmegs, and anything you can think of is displayed by what is the future of the NBA. The NFL and MLB fail to display young talent unless it’s in cooperation with their star players. The NBA puts the spotlight on these young players in order for them to show off what they have to offer in their many years to come. All this and yet the NBA still isn’t done. Next comes All-Star Saturday Night.
All-Star Saturday Night
Nothing beats All-Star Saturday Night. The NBA begins the night with the Skills Challenge. The competition takes veterans, young players, guards, and big men to put them together in a series of skills within a race. These skills include dribbling, pinpoint passing, speed, and shooting.
The reason why this competition is so fun to watch is because of the expectation is for a guard to win, but in today’s day and age, it’s been proven that big men are able to shoot as well. This can result in some major upsets that excites the fans even more. Even without any upsets, fans can experiences some shocking moments such as F Jayson Tatum beating G Trae Young with a half-court shot in order to win the 2019 installment. After this fun challenge comes the 3PT Contest.
Some see the 3PT Contest as the main event of the night. It displays the best shooters the NBA has to offer. This competition sees the league’s best snipers go at it in order to crown themselves champion. This event, similarly to the MLB’s Home Run Derby, drives excitement through fans as it could be that last ball that keeps everyone in suspense to see if you qualify for the next round or even win the whole thing. With players going one-by-one in the competition, it adds a sense of beautiful urgency.
This specific contest has its star power as well with G Stephen Curry, G Klay Thompson, G Kemba Walker, and G Devin Booker being included. The beauty of the competition lies in the upsets, as only one of the previously mentioned names made it to the final three of this year’s competition. The winner was actually G Joe Harris. So much for favorites. Fans were shocked to even see this player, who no one really saw as a favorite, win it all. The Skills Challenge and the 3PT Contest serve to capture fans in ways the MLB and NFL doesn’t. But that still leaves the main event of the night, the Dunk Contest.
We all know the Dunk Contest hasn’t been up to the standards it was in the past. The closest things to that point came in G Zach LaVine and F Aaron Gordon’s epic showdown in 2016. Nonetheless, the competition still has been one of the highlights of the entire break. Four of the NBA’s best dunkers go at it to see who has the best creativity with their dunks. Even if it’s been lackluster, the final two in the contest always give us at least a dunk to remember for years to come.
The best the NFL or MLB does in achieving that is with the skills challenges & Home Run Derby. What other league can create the buzz that SG Hamidou Diallo made when he dunked over Shaq and hung on the rim by just his elbow? You just can’t find it anywhere else. The thrill of the arena going wild, jumping out of their seats, and raising their 10’s just aren’t comparable. However, with that comes the main event of the whole weekend, the All-Star Game.
NBA All-Star Game
The main event of the whole weekend is the NBA All-Star game. This game showcases the best basketball players in the world. In my opinion, there’s no All-Star Game like the NBA’s. The 2017-18 season installed new rules that got rid of the traditional East vs. West format. It took the top two vote-getters from each conference and made them the captains of their respective teams. Each captain would then have the opportunity to draft their teams from both the starter and reserve pool. This system not only gives the game a fresh look, but it also gives it a new sense of competition.
In the 2017 All-Star Game, the West notched a whopping 192-182 win. Ever since the new format was announced this high score has changed. The 2018 installment finished 148-145 with Team LeBron winning. This season, Team LeBron won again, 178-164. The NBA saw a problem and decided to change the format in the whole. Not only was this smart on the NBA’s part, but it’s proven to be overall better for fans. The game as always has its big shots, nasty dunks, and mind-boggling plays but the beauty lies in the competition and enjoyment of the fans.
Three great leagues and each of them give their respective fans moments to remember during these breaks. Whether it’s the golden slugger of the MLB, one-handed catch maestros of the NFL, or the sharpshooters of the NBA, each league brings something unique to the table. As for which league provides the best experience, it’s clearly down to the MLB & the NBA. Jacob is leaning more towards MLB, while I’m leaning more towards the NBA. Despite that, there’s no doubt that these games/events will continue to evolve over time. Let us know what you think!
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