Three Ways to Improve on Mixed 2024 Festivities

The National Basketball Association’s (NBA) return to its classic East vs. West format for Sunday night’s 2024 All-Star Game marks a trip back to familiar territory, which just so happens to be a place the league may need to avoid in order to spice up the rest of this annual star-studded weekend. At least that’s what was on display during All-Star Saturday Night in Indianapolis seems to suggest.

A new wrinkle in this year’s festivities—a 3-point contest between the NBA’s Stephen Curry and Women’s National Basketball Association’s (WNBA) Sabrina Ionescu—may go down as the highlight of the weekend, minus a few broadcasting blunders. As for the rest of Saturday night’s events? The results were mixed.

G-League sensation Mac McClung is the dunk champion for the second year in a row, though boos showered in from the crowd during other portions of the classic contest. And, along with the fans, judges (and players) seemed less than thrilled throughout the latest iteration of what continues to be a competition that fails to live up to its historic hype. Then there’s the skills competitions that didn’t exactly draw the best effort from all involved (hello, lefty Anthony Edwards), or the 3-point challenge that couldn’t live up to the Curry-Ionescu showdown.

The NBA’s All-Star Weekend has long been of the mindset of throwing ideas at the wall and seeing what sticks (or often what doesn’t). The biggest change this time around seemed to be the biggest draw of the night. But what about the rest of the slate?

Here are three ways the NBA could potentially improve its All-Star Weekend.

Shake Up the All-Star Weekend Events

Oklahoma City Thunder forward Jalen Williams, in Indy to take part in the Rising Stars Game, was one of a handful of players asked over the weekend what they would change about the All-Star setup. And the second-year pro’s response should have basketball fans excited.

“I think a 1-on-1 tournament would be cool,” Williams said at a press conference. “…We play a lot of 1-on-1 in the summer, which no one really sees.”

That suggestion may also serve as a much-needed All-Star answer. Fresh events added to the slate moving forward, like a 1-on-1 tournament, could bring new interest to the weekend outside of the headlining All-Star game. Sure, some players—as Williams pointed out—may opt out with injury concerns. But even if it isn’t LeBron James against Kevin Durant, there are still plenty of names around the NBA who would make for entertaining matchups on the hardwood.

And the possibilities don’t end with 1-on-1 (or even 2-on-2 or 3-on-3). Luka Dončić has been among the players to dazzle with trick shots this weekend, perhaps providing more amusement in warmups than just about anything on the court during official events. Why not translate that into a game of P.I.G. or H.O.R.S.E.? There are plenty of other options that have been thrown around plenty over the years, from a half-court shot contest to a highest dunk competition. All that remains is for the NBA to actually show interest in adopting one (or some) of them.

Underwhelming Dunk Contest Can’t Stay Put

Another year, another dunk contest debate. But the answer as to how to solve this ongoing dilemma is anything but clear.

This year’s underwhelming event at least had some ingredients for what could have been a successful dunk contest recipe. The defending champion was defending his title, and at the very least an All-Star—Jaylen Brown—was finally back in the mix. But this celebration of high-jumping hoopers fell short. Again.

And why is that?

For starters, there’s a growing divide in what is considered a good dunk. Judges seemed enamored and sent Brown to the finals after he took a lob from teammate Jayson Tatum and dunked over streamer Kai Cenat. Fans booed Brown most of the night.

Even with Brown’s presence and McClung’s resume, having half of the field made up of G-Leaguers isn’t exactly the biggest draw. Not having enough stars in the contest has long been a criticism (reigning MVP Joel Embiid was clear that, if healthy, he would be a much better option), though it may no longer be the chief factor behind its failures. As The Athletic’s Chris Vannini pointed out, participants may just be out of ideas.

“For an event with all the bells and whistles, the dunk contest just has no juice anymore,” he wrote on X, formerly Twitter, on Saturday night. “Announcers don’t care, crowd doesn’t care, people courtside don’t care, judges have no clue, the participants have no energy. I think we’ve run out of dunks. There’s nothing left to do.”

Jumping from the free-throw line? Seen it. Getting an assist from a flying drone? That’s been done. Jumping over NBA legend Shaquille O’Neal? Two players did that on Saturday alone. And one of the more original ideas of the night out of McClung, when he let go of the ball midair, was met mostly with yawns from judges.

The dunk contest remains broken, and there are no easy answers to fix it. The NBA opted to revert to East vs. West rather than sticking with the Elam Ending format or trying out U.S. vs. international teams, so could another format change be in the works? Should judges be different? Are better crowds necessary? Will the NBA take the event out of primetime in favor of the more reliable 3-point contest? Or maybe even retire it? At this point, it’s unclear.

But staying with the status quo could see the iconic event that helped build Michael Jordan’s legacy, and more recently provided one of the most entertaining nights in league history when Zach LaVine and Aaron Gordon battled it out, limp to the end.

Continue to Embrace the WNBA-NBA Crossover

In the aftermath of Curry, the NBA’s all-time leader in 3-pointers, outdueling Ionescu, the WNBA’s single-season 3-point record-holder, on Saturday night, one thought from both sides was abundantly clear—an NBA-WNBA All-Star crossover shouldn’t be a one-time occasion.

“This was so authentic for the both of us to be here,” Ionescu said, via ESPN. “Obviously very thankful to kind of make this dream that we both had a possibility, and knowing that it’s changed the landscape of how people are going to view what we’re doing, and we’re very excited to see what the future has to hold with more people having the opportunity to do stuff like this.”

Added Curry: “For us to deliver a show like that, it was perfect. Just as much excitement as you can build in that short amount of time with two great shooters going at it.”

The Golden State Warriors guard defeated the New York Liberty guard, 29-26, in an NBA vs. WNBA 3-points contest that served as the first of its kind. Ionescu, at first believed to be shooting from the WNBA 3-point line, instead did so from NBA range and opened with seven straight made shots. The 26-year-old finished with a score of 26, which would have been a tie for second among NBA players in the official competition. Curry went into his final money-ball rack with 21 points, and didn’t disappoint with four consecutive makes to wrap up his victory.

The lead-up to this new event featured the type of excitement missing from the rest of the All-Star evening. NFL Media’s Rich Eisen noted on X how his entire household was only interested in tuning in for “Steph vs. Sabrina.” And The Athletic’s Nicole Auerbach said, if anything, the event was too short.

Both sharpshooters seemed committed to running things back next year when the Warriors host the All-Star game, according to ESPN. Maybe it will be another 1-on-1 occasion, or perhaps they could bring partners with (if Caitlin Clark goes pro, that’s an obvious name to watch). Whatever ends up happening with the NBA’s All-Star Weekend moving forward, it should include another event like Saturday night’s. Because after that performance, why wouldn’t it?

“This will be something that we remember for a long time,” Curry said.