NBA All-Star Weekend 2012 Thoughts

As I've grown older in age, I have become less and less interested in this particular weekend on the NBA schedule.  As a kid, I used to love watching the likes of MJ, Kobe, Shaq, etc play in the All-Star game.  These guys were superhuman to me, and it was just simply fun to watch.  My eyes used to light up as I saw the likes of Vince Carter doing amazing dunks thought unthinkable previously.  Even the Freshman/Sophomore (now the Rising Stars Challenge) kept me entertained as I got to see the greatest young players play at the same time.  The three point contest featured marksman from the stripe, as they tickled the twine with big scores.  I even watched the celebrity game just to see who was in it.  But now, at age 23, I am extremely jaded when it comes to the song and dance known as NBA All-Star weekend.  Here is a little recap of how my All-Star weekend went and some thoughts I had:

Friday
-I did not watch a second of the celebrity game.  I simply had no interest and I feel it would have been a total waste of time. I have no interest in trying to summarize the game or try to draw any significance out of it because there is none.

-Despite the Linsanity, I did not watch a single second of the Rising Stars Challenge.  It no longer interests me to see games in which no defense is being played and the players really don't care.  I don't know if I can blame them, though, because they don't want to get hurt.  And besides, I thought the "talent" in the game this year was pretty mediocre in general.

Saturday
I watched the entire slate of action on Saturday night and was actually more entertained than I thought I would be.  Here's how I break it down:

-Shooting Stars-Allan Houston and the New York team won this one, and I actually enjoy this competition because I enjoy watching these players attempt half court shots.  I can make a half court shot, but the fact that they do it with the clock running and make it look pretty easy is still a remarkable thing to me.  They practically line it up like a long jumper, fire away, and find bottom of the net within a few attempts.

-Three-Point Shootout-I miss the days when guys lit it up for 20-25 a round.  Kevin Love showed his range by hitting 17 to win, but it still wasn't that impressive to me to see such a low number win.  Some pure shooters were left out of the competition this year and that disappointed me.  Anthony Morrow's tribute to the late Drazen Petrovic was pretty touching.  Here's the link if you didn't know about it: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nba-ball-dont-lie/anthony-morrow-pays-tribute-drazen-petrovic-three-point-030144993.html

-Taco Bell Skill Challenge-Tony Parker ended up winning this one because of the blunders of Rondo and Williams.  Williams looked the smoothest in the competition, but he messed up on the jump shot station that cost him a chance to win.  It is pretty neat to watch these players make some of the things look so easy.

-Slam Dunk Contest-Unheralded Jeremy Evans ended up winning this competition, though he did only receive 29% of votes.  His dunking of two balls was pretty impressive, and his other dunks were good enough to get him consideration.  Paul George did some interesting stuff, Chase Budinger can really jump for a white guy and had an impressive Ceballos-esque blindfolded dunk, and Derrick Williams had one good dunk.  The contest was better than what I expected, but the NBA needs to push to have the likes of Griffin, James, Howard, and the big boys in the contest.  Fans don't pay to come see Paul George dunking.  They want to see the best the NBA has to offer, and the players should have the courtesy to make the fans happy and make this a must-see event.

Sunday
-All-Star Game-I did not watch a second of this as I was busy last night.  I read about it and will probably watch some highlights of it, but I don't think it would have held my attention for four quarters anyways.  I saw the West held on for the victory and Durant took home MVP.

For me, All-Star Weekend is for the fans, and I just think the various competitions need to step their games up regarding who is in them.  The stars who can electrify need to be in them.  This weekend is better than the pointless Pro Bowl, but it can be made better in order to provide the best viewing experience for the fan.  I want to have child-like excitement when watching this weekend rather than wondering why Jeremy Evans is winning dunk contests.

Feel free to chime in on what your favorite moment was on the All-Star weekend or if you agree/disagree with me on my belief that the stars need to be in the competitions.