What’s your favorite part about NBA All-Star weekend? The dunk contest? The actual game? When it’s all over and we can go back to playing real 
basketball?
The NBA knows that the All-Star festivities don’t attract a lot of attention, especially the Skills Challenge and Shooting Stars events. So, in an effort to get more people interested, they’re changing the format.
“For the first time, State Farm All-Star Saturday Night will feature a new format that pits the Eastern Conference against the Western Conference in a night of competition that will raise money for charity, the NBA and State Farm announced today.
As part of the new format, points earned by each conference throughout the four All-Star Skills Competitions will determine the conference that earns the title of 2013 State Farm All-Star Saturday Night Champion. Also, each conference will have an All-Star Saturday Night captain who will lead his team during the event.”
As far as I know, the conference that wins does NOT get home court advantage in the World S… I mean, NBA finals.
While I don’t think anyone is going to care that they’ve turned it into a team competition, it is a nice touch to do it for charity. People are still only going to tune in to see the dunks, the three-point shootout and some to see NBA players heaving half-court shots, but at least now everything has a purpose.
Here are some other things the NBA should consider: trampolines in the dunk contest, full contact Skills Challenge, allow NBA cheerleaders to “distract” the three-point shootout contestants, trash talking comedians for the whole evening.
Those are just some from my personal list of suggestions that will probably be instituted once I become NBA commissioner.
