Gary Seymour, sports@wolfrivermedia.com
The National Basketball Association’s layup drill disguised an all-star game last Sunday left in its wake so many disenchanted fans that there was hue and cry to flush the annual spectacle altogether.
But that action might not fly because it could entail some controversy about who’s doing the flushing and in which washroom.
For the record, the Western Conference stars beat the East at the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans – the record being the 374 points scored in an all-star game.
The exhibition was held in New Orleans because the original host city – Charlotte, North Carolina – was removed from consideration due to the league’s objection to a Charlotte ordinance requiring transgendered individuals to use public washrooms corresponding to their assigned sex at birth.
The NBA, which awarded the game to New Orleans in an effort to help flood-ravaged Louisiana, indicated that Charlotte could host the 2019 all-star game provided there is an “appropriate resolution to the matter.”
With that can successfully kicked down the road, the game was held in the Big Easy to a crowd of 15,701 and a national television audience.
The term “game,” though, is only a loose description because it implies that both teams were actually interesting in winning.
As recently as 2003, the NBA All-Star game was so contested that it went into not 1 but 2 overtime periods.
But that is ancient history. Today, the all-star game is a glorified extension of the weekend’s dunk and 3-point shot contests.
The only thing more startling than the 192-182 final score was the annihilation-level walloping of style over substance. The athleticism on display was breathtaking, but after the first 30 or so dunks it took on the sameness of a video game. Sensory overload should include a hint of effort on the other end of the floor, too.
Instead, on defense each of the stars performed a nice impression of a cactus. Of the 280 shots taken in the game, with the best shot-blockers in the world on the court, only two were swatted. Golden State’s Steph Curry summarized the farcical order of the day defensively when, during one fastbreak, he lay down splayed at the free-throw line rather than obstruct the parade of dunks.
There were no three-second calls and of course, this being the NBA, no traveling. The only violations seemed to be the price of the tickets, the cheapest of which ran about $220.
Speaking of all-star failure, Major League Baseball finally reversed its biggest one. MLB announced that beginning this season home field advantage in the World Series will go to the team with the best regular-season record.
What a concept. For the past 14 seasons, home field went to the pennant-winning team from the league that won the all-star game.
This silly rule stemmed from the outcry after the 2002 all-star game, when it was called a tie after 11 innings because both sides had exhausted their pitching staffs in an effort to get everyone into the game.
Also new in this year’s baseball all-star game is that the managers will not be selecting the reserves for the rosters. That job, no doubt owing to its sparkling track record in all-star game decision-making, will go to the commissioner’s office.
It’s understood that professional sports in today’s world are as much about entertainment as they are about competition, and this isn’t a call to abolish all-star games. They will always have their place and function.
For instance, the 2018 NBA All-Star game in Los Angeles should be enjoyable for those who like to people-watch and make the scene among the glitterati. But, for basketball fans entertaining thoughts about dropping megabucks to see the world’s best players engaged in an intense battle, buyer beware.