Anti-Star Weekend?

This weekend Los Angeles will host the 2011 All-Star Weekend: Dunk Contest, Three-point Shooting, and the East vs. West. This is the funnest and most enjoyed weekend in basketball for anyone who follows the NBA. The questions begin to circle around, who will win the Dunk Contest? Or, I want to see the West tumble the East(West vs. East).

All these questions surround this event, who will play? Who's going to be the starting 5?However; the questions aren't to debate. I read an article a few nights ago that intrigued me. The article was a debate between two widely known NBA anylists, Chris Broussard and Ric Bucher.

In the article, it mentions that the Weekend is supremely interesting, but, "I think it could use some sprucing up." Said Bucher, who then brought up the idea of a One-on-One tournament. Broussard responded simply, "I'd love to see a one-on-one competition as well, but only if the game's best players participated." Precisely. I thought when I read, no one wants to see "Von Wafer and Shannon Brown" play in a One-on-One. You want to see "Kobe Bryant versus Dwayne Wade in one semi, and LeBron James versus Kevin Durant in the other," pointed out Broussard, that's the reason why the Weekend is what it is, because you have the elite players on one team.

I asked myself, why do I watch the All-Star Game? It was simple, because you get to see something that doesnt happen very often. Like Dwayne Wade playing side-by-side to Amare Stoudamire and Paul Pierce. It's unimaginable. We always criticize the winners of the Dunk Contest or the 3-Point Contest because we know that LeBron James would win everything. And thats why those players dont content, because they have too much to lose when they do. If people saw LeBron James lose the Dunk Contest then he would compromise his status and so I think these tournaments are interesting because you watch ordinary players compete against one another and see the actual talent in the NBA.