Hooters girls, clowns and trapeze artistsJose Martinez

Wow, the 2008 NBA All-Star game is already here? wake me up when it comes and goes will you?

I mean seriously, this is just another ploy the NBA uses to get fans to watch and cheer for the Rudy Gay’s of the world.

Oh, and if you didn’t already know, Gay did appear in this year’s slam dunk contest, along with the other “star dunkers” of the NBA: Jamario Moon, Dwight Howard and Gerald Green.

See, a great way the NBA can improve its All-Star festivities would be to hire Hooter’s girls to be the judges for the dunk contest and the actual game referees.

Who wouldn’t watch gorgeous females running up and down the floor in white shirts and tight, orange shorts?

Plus, these females would definitely add a totally different view to the dunk contest as judges.

It’s always the same judges anyways: some old-time hoop players mixed in with some type of “pop star.”

The NBA just does this to make money; the All-Star festivities were just recently held in Las Vegas, but Vegas isn’t a home to any professional sports team. Explain that one, David Stern.

Because the NBA’s top reason for the All-Star game festivities is to make money, Stern might as well add a clown and a trapeze artist to complete the circus of events.

By adding a clown to the festivities, at least there would be something for people of all ages to enjoy.

Professional sports should model Major League Baseball’s All-Star game events.

The end result of baseball’s All-Star game actually means something, unlike the NBA where the winning team gets…?

Even small changes will have a great improvement on the NBA’s festivities. Stern can start with the Hooter’s girls and work his way from there.

Make it count for somethingAndrew Eggers

Historically, the NBA All-Star Game is a high-scoring game because no one seems to play any defense. The players make half-hearted attempts at defending each other as they watch guys blow past them to the rack for ferocious dunks and flamboyant alley-oops.

Do not call me un-American, I love seeing guys like Kobe Bryant, LeBron James and Vince Carter play the whole game “above the rim” as much as the next beer-drinking, chicken-wing eating, dunk-obsessed fan. I am right there with the guy whose mouth is hanging wide open repeatedly saying “oooh, ahhh” like a kid seeing fireworks on the Fourth of July for the first time. I understand the obsession with watching world-class athletes do things that I could only dream of doing in a video game, let alone in real life.

But I do think the NBA should make the game more meaningful to the players like the MLB All-Star Game. In the major leagues, the winning league of the mid-season classic is rewarded home-field advantage for the World Series held later on in the season.

It makes the game interesting and relevant to the outcome of the rest of the season. Fans take the game seriously because they closely identify with a certain side. Their favorite team plays in either the American or National League and they would like to see their team gain an advantage in the October Classic if at all possible. It is the only time you will see a Boston Red Sox fan rooting for New York Yankees slugger Alex Rodriguez to hit a game-winning home run in the bottom of the ninth inning if it got his beloved Sox home-field advantage down the road.

That is the kind of fan identification the NBA needs to push in their sport. East vs. West. Like back in the “old days” when it was Magic versus Bird. I can foresee a bright rivalry between LeBron and Kobe as long as both keep playing like unstoppable freaks of nature.

How cool would it be to see Kobe staring down LeBron for the final shot of the All-Star Game, or vice versa, for the next seven to 10 years? If the game actually meant something to the players, I bet you would see a close game and the best players on either side would get to take the last shot, making for a dramatic finish which is what true fans want to see anyway.

Just give me a scenario where the best player from one conference is guarded by the best player from the other conference and the game is on the line.

An NBA legends game and mascot boxingJustin Tejada

To be honest, I think everyone would forget that there was a Friday included with the NBA All-Star Weekend if not for the Celebrity All-Star Game (and that’s a VERY generous concession on my part). After all, most people tune in on Saturday mostly to catch the Slam Dunk Contest, the Three-point Shootout, and the Shooting Stars Competition. And I would bet even more people would tune in to these events if they would only bring back the Legends Classic.

I know a lot of people would still pay big money to see old greats like Michael Jordan or Magic Johnson face off on the court once again. But let’s face it: the NBA’s All-Star Weekend is something that’s more or less unsalvageable at the moment.

The casual fan is not going to waste their precious weekend time to watch an exhibition between the best players of the NBA’s minor league. And at best, only college basketball fans would watch the Rookie Challenge, if only to see how their favorite players made the transition into the big time.

So how about it NBA? Why don’t you spice it up a little and elevate yourselves to contemporary media entertainment standards? They should get rid of Friday events all together and move the Celebrity All-Star Game to the Saturday event line-up.

But instead of a simple exhibition match, they should have a celebrity boxing event versus all the team mascots and have special referee Ron Artest oversee the event.

The Slam Dunk competition should stay in, but I think that by now, we’ve seen every single possible variation of a slam dunk that can be physically performed by a human being. Why they don’t bring in trampolines and flaming hoops is beyond me: that ought to put a spin on the phrase, “He’s on fire!”

Or hey, they could just get rid of the weekend all together and move right on to the main event. No use in beating a dead dog with a stick.

Let it stay in VegasDavid Green

I think the best way to keep the NBA All-Star weekend exciting is to keep it in the sin city. Las Vegas is just an exciting town with lights and clubs, and the atmosphere will keep the whole weekend live and exciting.

The All-Star weekend needs a home and why not Las Vegas? It is a fun city to be in for a short period of time, and there is always something to do. If Las Vegas was a house, the All-Star weekend would be that center piece that would create a balanced and groovy feng shui.

When fans come into town, they do not want to just wait in their hotel for the different games and contests to go to – they want to sight-see and have fun. In Vegas there is gambling, clubs, arcades and roller coasters; the whole city is like an adult’s amusement park. After the game, the after parties would be crazy with all the celebs and the scenery. It would make an average Joe fill like he was Derek Zoolander.

I remember they had it in Oakland a couple of years back and it did not tickle my fancy. Don’t get me wrong, I am from the Bay Area and love the cities, but it is just not a place to have an event like that. Sure people that lived in the Bay Area were excited for an event to come, but for people from out of town there is not much to do.

People could go to San Francisco and Pier 39, but in Oakland you will be better off staying in your hotel. Vegas is a city that was meant to have an All-Star anything. The flashiness and the extravagant look goes together with the theme of the All-Star weekend.

When they had it in Las Vegas last year, all of my friends that went said that it was a trip that shouldn’t have been missed; I was sad that I did. However, I wrote a letter to David Stern saying how good it would be for All-Star weekend to stay in Las Vegas, so hopefully he will take it into consideration.

The only problem would be keeping the players in control. Professional athletes like to do three things: spend money, gamble, and drink. All of those attributes you can do a lot of in Las Vegas.

So David Stern and the NBA should stop having it in all of the cities that do not say ‘All-Star’ and keep it in Vegas. That would make All-Star weekend that much better.

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