All-Star Festivities No Longer What it Once Was

Over this last weekend, the NBA held their all-star game festivities in Brooklyn, New York. For those of us who grew up watching the festivities in the '80s and '90s, we remember players such as Michael Jordan, Dominique Wilkins, Clyde Drexler, and more not only participating in the all-star game, but also in the dunk contest and 3-point shootout. While the games back then lacked hard defense, there was still some defense played.

Today, there is no defense to be seen. There were 32 total steals in the game this year, but most of those came from poor and errant passes, and not by stellar defense.

If the all-star game shot clock would have been only 10 seconds instead of the normal 24, it would have made little impact on this game. Toward the end of the game, Clippers point guard Chris Paul held onto the ball for approximately 6 or 7 seconds and was booed by the crowd.

With an ending score of 163-158, this years game was the highest score in NBA All-Star Game history, beating out last years game which ended with a score of 163-155.

Defense is an afterthought in the game and the stars have nearly abandoned the other festivities over the weekend. No longer do you have battles on the level of Jordan versus Wilkins in the dunk contest. No longer do you have battles like Bird versus Jordan versus Reggie Miller versus Mark Price in the three-point contests.

Now the complaint that the NBA All-Star game is lacking, is not exclusive to only the NBA. The NFL Pro Bowl Game and the NHL All-Star Game have their own problems. Defense is almost non-existent in their games too. Neither the NFL nor NHL wants to risk injuries to their stars.

What's worse in the NFL, is players from the supposedly top two teams that year are not allowed to play in the game because it's played a week BEFORE the Super Bowl. The NFL made it even worse by making their Pro Bowl similar to a schoolyard and having to ex-players pick their teams out of an available pool of players. At least the MLB and NBA pick their teams by division/league.

While Major League Baseball's All-Star Game festivities may not be seriously played either, it does have elements that make it better than the others. Beyond the home-field advantage in the World Series for the league that wins the game, there is a sense of pride. Pitchers truly do try to strike out hitters. Outfielders will dive for nearby fly balls. Speedsters will try to steal a base.

More than all this, the MLB hosts a Futures Game and a Home Run Derby that is enjoyable. The Home Run Derby is filled with big name players and the Futures Game features the best players in the minor leagues that want to impress their parent clubs.

If the NBA could re-instill the sense of pride that the players had twenty or thirty years ago and feature their to talent in the festivities, they could gain some of that all-star game weekend glory back. Until then, the NBA, NFL, and NHL all-star games will remain weak and only exist to raise more money for their respective sports.