Could international flavour put sparkle into All-Star Weekend?

The All-Star Weekend has been much maligned in recent years; complaints have ranged from a perceived international voting bias, which skews the All-Star rosters, to a lack of creativity in the dunk contest. In short, for many NBA fans, the All-Star Weekend has lost much of its appeal.

The NBA’s international growth has been well documented. The NBA is now viewed in every corner of the globe and its star players are idolised the world over. According to Netscouts Basketball the NBA currently has a record-tying 84 international players on opening day rosters from 37 countries and territories. All but one of the 30 teams has at least one international player on its roster.

The time for change is nigh. The NBA All-Star Weekend has the chance to reinvent itself atop an international bandwagon. Start the campaign for the first international event at the NBA All-Star Weekend.

Before tackling the specifics of implementing a new event, let’s discuss the two that need removing – the ‘Celebrity’ Game and the Shooting Stars competition. The Celebrity Game is downright awful, from the participants to the game play; it dilutes quality, dampens excitement and drastically slows down the flow of the weekend. In much the same way, the Shooting Stars competition feels overdone, out of place and forced. The two events add little to the weekend and the public simply don’t care.

There are several forms an international All-Star Weekend event could take:

All-International Scrimmage

The fans would be asked to vote, in similar fashion to the All-Star Game, in order to identify ten starters. The coaches would then be asked to select fourteen more players to create a total pool of twenty-two. The two head coaches would then participate in a draft, in which the two rosters would be determined. Players selected in the All-Star Game would still be eligible for the International Scrimmage, but their participation would be a matter of personal choice.

International All-Stars versus US Select Team

Again, the fans would be asked to vote for the five international starters, with the remainder of the roster voted for by the 30 head coaches. The international players would compete against the members of the US Select Team. Participation would be optional for those selected in the All-Star Game.

World Cup Style 3-on-3 Tournament

A third option, and my personal favourite, would be to stage a 3-on-3 World Cup Tournament. Nations with three or more active NBA players would be eligible to participate. Fans would vote for the three players selected on each roster. The tournament would be a simple winner-takes-all, knockout format. Imagine the match-ups, the excitement and the passion. The format would revive the All-Star Weekend and add further global appeal to the NBA brand.

My selections would include:

Argentina – Ginobili, Prigioni and Delfino

Brazil – Barbosa, Nene and Varejão

Canada – Nash, Nicholson and Thompson

France – Parker, Batum and Diaw

Italy – Belinelli, Gallinari and Bargnani

Lithuania – Kleiza, Motiejunas and Valanciunas

Russia – Shved, Kirilenko and Mozgov

Spain – Rubio, P. Gasol and M. Gasol

Turkey – Turkoglu, Ilyasova and Asik

USA – Irving, Paul and Durant

• Chris Cox of the TUB Podcast discussing the possibility of changing up the NBA All-Star Weekend. Follow him as well on Twitter @TUBPodcast