Editor’s note: Sports editor Tracy McDannald, assistant sports editor Daniel Ramirez and staff writers Matt Moreno and Tucker Savoye discuss the highs and lows of the festivities.
TS: I thought it was a great show overall Saturday night. The dunk competition, 3-point challenge, etc. … that stuff interests me more than the game itself.
TM: Overall, I wasn’t impressed with All-Star Weekend, including the All-Star Game. It had some moments but the ideas are starting to get old.
DR: What are you talking about? All-Star weekend was great! The dunk contest wasn’t up to par with last years, but not many dunk contests have been. We got to see a 5-foot 9-inch point guard in Nate Robinson — Superman’s Kryptonite — vault over 6-foot 11-inch Dwight Howard. If you think that’s unimpressive and boring, then you need to stop watching the dunk contest. He’s 5 foot 9! That’s special.
MM: I thought H.O.R.S.E. was a really good idea, but I thought the NBA picked the wrong players. I think that Steve Nash would have brought some really good, creative shots. By having guys that can dunk so easily and have them restricted to not dunking makes no sense.
TM: Speaking of dunking, Nate Robinson better not enter the contest next year. He’s running out of things to do. He even had to jump off Wilson Chandler’s back and could’ve easily rolled his ankle.
DR: Now that was stupid.
TS: They need some better judging for the dunk contest, though. Those guys never get it right and the announcing for it was just awful.
MM: The slam dunk contest has definitely lost its luster. Nate Robinson won the dunk contest … Nate Robinson! Granted he did some good dunks, but he’s not even one of the top 20 players in the league. If LeBron James goes through with his planned appearance next year, the dunk contest might become relevant again.
TS: For next year’s dunk contest, especially if LeBron is involved, I just want to see them to do it high jump style. Get that hoop that Dwight Howard had and start it all 12 feet and keep raising it until one guy is left. How exciting would that be? What would the winning height be, 13 feet? It’s crazy just thinking about it.
TM: I’m a big LeBron fan but no way should he enter the contest — ever. There’s not really a whole lot left to do and the expectations might be too high.
MM: The Shooting Stars competition was horrendous. Watching Michael Cooper shoot half court shots for a minute and a half was not entertaining. All-Star Weekend used to make me want to go outside and try to emulate my favorite players with my friends. After this weekend I just wanted to watch old slam dunk contests.
TM: The one thing I found nice about the game itself was Shaquille O’Neal winning a share of the MVP. I openly hate the Lakers and seeing him together with Kobe Bryant again was just annoying, but I have to admit the moment itself was a good one.
DR: The first quarter was very entertaining and it was organized basketball (in comparison to other All-Star games and the usual sloppy play), but there have been better games. Seeing the “Big Shaqtus” look like his youthful self, and then sharing the honors with Kobe was definitely memorable.
You guys forgot about Shaq’s dance routine. That was the best part of the whole weekend for me.
But I agree with Matt, the dunk contest hasn’t been good since 2000. I’m hoping next year’s will be better