Forgotten All-Star Weekend Events And FAILS

SGA was SICK of Kevin Hart talking instead of them playing the All Star game 😳

"I didn't watch any of that s**t."

That was JJ Redick's response when asked about the latest All-Star weekend. He wasn't the only one who missed the 40 minutes of basketball action during the 3-hour event. The game averaged just 4.7 million viewers, the second-lowest recorded number ever for the event.

• SUPER BOWL: 127.7M
• GRAMMY AWARDS: 15.4M
• SNL50: 14.8M
• NASCAR: DAYTONA 500: 6.8M
• SNL50: The Red Carpet: 6.1M
• 60 MINUTES (latest episode): 5.6M
• NBA ALL-STAR GAME: 4.7M
• THE EQUALIZER (latest episode): 3.7M

As for All-Star Saturday night, which once used to be the most exciting part of All-Star weekend, it drew 3.4 million viewers. How bad is 3.4?

It's the worst in event history and 1.2 million less than last year's event

Last year's Saturday night was the most watched one in four years because of the Steph Curry vs Sabrina Ionescu 3-point challenge.

Since the NBA failed to get a rematch or convince Caitlin Clark to be a part of this year's weekend, they missed out on millions of fans who are now on the women's basketball bandwagon or members of the Caitlin Cult (I'm kidding).

And since the NBA owns 60% of the WNBA (NBA team owners own the other 40%) and lost a reported $40M last year on it, they should have found a way to make the WNBA a part of All-Star weekend.

So what went wrong?

It's too hard to put a finger on just one, two, three, or ten different things. But when Draymond Green was asked on live television, on the channel that promotes the event, what he thought about the new All-Star game format that allowed Rising Stars to play NBA All-Stars, he said, "Ten being the best? A zero. It sucks. This ain't basketball."

Since we will never see this format again, here are some other forgotten tweaks and FAILS in All-Star weekend history.

2BALL (1998-2001)

1998 All-Star 2Ball | WNBA | NBA All-Star Weekend

For three years, some people have been saying G League MVP Mac McClung has saved the dunk contest. For three years, many others claimed the event was rigor mortis long before the league started letting G League players compete. The good news is that if the event is dead, Vince Carter is proof that the right person can resurrect it.

In 1998, the NBA canceled the dunk contest and replaced it with an event called 2BALL. The new women's basketball league promotional event featured an NBA and WNBA player from the same city. It was a controversial move by the league, with some NBA players considering a boycott.

"It's a big change," Said 1997 Dunk Champion Kobe Bryant. "The NBA Slam Dunk contest is kind of a tradition, but it's been down in the past few years and the competitors have not stepped up. I think a little change right now would be appropriate. But in a couple of years, they'll probably go back to it."

Kobe was right. 2Ball lasted three All-Star weekends (and two different sponsors) before David Stern decided this event was worse than watching Michael Finley do cartwheels or Jamie Watson (who?!) missing three of four dunks in a Final round against a guy named Baby Jordan.

It can't be that bad, right?

During the first event, outstanding citizen Karl Malone stood on one spot at the three-point line while his WNBA partner, Tammi Reiss, had to chase down all of his misses and take whatever shot was closest to the rebound. Malone ended up missing four of his six attempts.

Tracy McGrady Tries His Hand at 2Ball; Doesn't Realize He's Eliminated

An amusing moment in the final year of the event came when Craig Sager was trying to hint to Tracy McGrady and Nykesha Sales that they weren't advancing, and neither of them realized it. T-Mac ended the interview by saying, "I was shooting the ball extremely well, but I wish I had some help from my teammate."

The only time you might ever hear something positive about the event now is from collectors of rare video games. Sony handed out less than 1,000 copies of a 2Ball PlayStation demo at the 1998 All-Star weekend. They now sell for around $1,500 on eBay.

SHOOTING STARS (2004-2015)

Los Angeles Takes Home Title in 2004 Shooting Stars Challenge

The Shooting Stars competition was the second All-Star weekend event to feature WNBA players and the longest-running event that eventually got canceled. For 11 years, an NBA, WNBA, and retired player teamed up to represent a city in a timed-shooting contest.

The inaugural winner was an LA team represented by Magic Johnson, Lisa Leslie, and Derek Fisher, who hit the half-court shot to knock off the San Antonio trio of Manu Ginobili, Jennifer Azzi, and Steve Kerr. When asked about the pressure from the event, Fisher said, "Ain't no pressure in my own building!"

The worst team in the event was Detroit, represented by Chauncey Billups, Cheryl Ford, and John Salley, who missed 10 straight threes.

The city of Detroit did get payback a few months later when the Pistons beat Fisher and the Lakers in the 2004 NBA Finals in just five games.

Detroit also won two of the following eight events until the NBA changed the format and allowed three random players to play together. The trio of Chris Bosh, Swin Cash, and Dominique Wilkins won three in a row before the league killed the event.

Considering the event lasted for a decade, it's surprising nobody ever mentions it. Then again, I don't think anyone wants to talk about the time Allan Houston, Landry Fields, and Cappie Pondexter won the event for New York.

H-O-R-S-E (2009, 2010, 2020)

Horse, NBA All-Star 2009

The winner of the worst prize in All-Star weekend history goes to the H-O-R-S-E event, aka The NBA All-Star G-E-I-C-O Competition (seriously). The insurance company awarded Kevin Durant a mini toy horse for beating ISO Joe Johnson and OJ Mayo in the 2009 event.

The event sounds like a great idea. Everybody is capable of playing H-O-R-S-E with friends. And since NBA players are a million times more athletic and better shot-makers than the average person you see playing the game in their garage driveway, the event should be a slam dunk (no pun intended, and dunks are not allowed). Well, it turned into 30 boring minutes of jumpers and "I don't want to hurt myself" layups on an outdoor court.

The best part of the event was when KD held up the toy horse "trophy," and Kenny Smith said, "Are you kidding me? Are we that cheap right now?"

Geico gave him a real trophy the following year, and then the NBA said that was enough and canceled the event.

They brought it back in 2020 and should have called the disaster the C-O-V-I-D competition. Each contestant was in a different location, and all it did was show the difference between NBA player money and WNBA player money. Zach LaVine was shooting on a beautiful court in his backyard, Mike Conley was shooting in his at-home gym, and Allie Quigley was shooting in her driveway on the basketball goal I bought from Wal-Mart.

The most shocking thing about the event was the poor video and audio quality for all the contestants. The only thing missing was Kenny Smith saying, "Are you kidding me? Are we really that cheap?"

LEGENDS CLASSIC (1984-1993)

ALL STAR GAME NBA LEGENDS 1992 Feb 8

The Legends game was one of the OG All-Star events. It sounded like a great idea but was often painful to watch. I mean that, literally. The reason why the NBA canceled the event in 1993 is that too many of the players were suffering injuries.

Seeing George "Iceman" Gervin and David "Skywalker" Thompson play basketball was awesome because they were retired when I started watching the NBA.

It wasn't so awesome to see Skywalker leave the game on a stretcher after rupturing his patella tendon one minute into the game. In that same 1992 game, Norm Nixon ruptured his quadricep tendon in the first 10 minutes and also left the court on a stretcher.

As for the Iceman, he showed why he's one of the greatest scorers in NBA history, scoring a Legends Classic record 24 points (11/15 FG) in 16 minutes.

Before the 1985 game, broadcaster Steve "Snapper" Jones joked, "We've got more knee braces and bandages than we ever thought we'd see. We better have the paramedics standing by." He wasn't kidding.

One of the other highlights was seeing Pistol Pete Maravich, who played in the first four events. I'm sure he would have played in the fifth, but he passed away a month before the 1988 event. No surprise, Pistol passed away while playing pick-up basketball.

Another name worth mentioning is Bob Cousy, who played in the 1985 game at the young age of 57! The Houdini of the Hardwood finished with one assist in seven minutes.

D-LEAGUE ALL-STAR GAME (2007-2017)

Gerald Green Has BOUNCE!!! Takes MVP Of NBDL Allstar Game!

In this year's All-Star game, some of the best players in the G League got to play on Sunday against some NBA All-Stars and piss off Draymond Green.

"I had to work so hard to play on Sunday night of All-Star weekend. And because ratings are down, because the game is bad, we're bringing in rising stars? That's not a fix," Green said. "Those guys did not make the All-Star team. To be playing in the All-Star game and you did not make the All-Star team is absurd."

There was a time when the G-League (G for Gatorade) was called the D-League (D for Developmental), and they had their own All-Star game during NBA All-Star weekend. They even had their own Dunk, 3-Point, and H-O-R-S-E contests as part of the D-League Dream Factory Friday Night.

Here are some highlights and notables from those events

• Andre Ingram won his first 3-point contest 8 years before signing with the Lakers in 2018
• Gerald Green (out of the league for 3 years) won MVP of the 2012 D-League All-Star game and gets a second opportunity in the NBA. He then plays nine more NBA seasons.
• James "Flight" White won the 2009 Dunk Contest
• Reserve Jimmer Fredette won MVP of the 2016 D-League All-Star game after putting up 35 points and 8 assists.

One of my favorite All-Star weekend memories involves this game. While walking around the arena on the day of this game in 2015, a Ballislife videographer and I stumbled across Thanasis Antetokounmpo in an empty gym. He was practicing some dunks for the upcoming D-League dunk contest, so we helped him by filming the attempts and showing him the replays. Giannis then walked in, and we all worked together on his routine, which was good enough to come in second place.

CLOROX CLUTCH CHALLENGE (2022)

Tyrese Maxey and Scottie Barnes | 2022 NBA Clutch Challenge

The most memorable thing about the 2022 All-Star weekend was the NBA75 ceremony. The event celebrated 74 of the greatest players in NBA history and Damian Lillard (just kidding). Seeing all those legends in one place is one thing, but seeing a 59-year-old Michael Jordan messing with everyone and challenging Magic Johnson to a game of 1v1 is another.

One of the least memorable things about the 2022 All-Star weekend was the first and last time the NBA hosted the Clorox Clutch Challenge. On paper, the event sounded fun.

Four teams of two try to knock down five historic clutch shots in NBA history:

• Ray Allen corner 3
• Reggie Miller from the right wing
• Dame Lillard from the logo
• Magic Johnson's baby hook
• Charles Barkley from the top of the key

The event was so dull that a fan screamed loudly during the telecast, and the announcer said, "That one fan is really excited."

The only fun moment came when Scottie Barnes and Tyrese Maxey (Davion Mitchell's replacement) went 0/6 from the "hook shot/layup" spot. They were good sports about their Shaqtin' a Fool performance. A smiling Maxey told Barnes, "It was funny, though. We made people laugh. We may have got some followers."

The winning duo of Tyrese Halliburton and Desmond Bane knocked down all five shots in 40 seconds. I'm positive neither one has spent more than 40 seconds talking about the event since.

DUNK WHEEL

2002 NBA Dunk Contest - The Wheel

The Dunk Contest has gone through a lot of format changes.

• 1980s: Up to 9 contestants doing up to 9 dunks in 3 rounds.
• 1993: The semifinals was eliminated.
• 1994: Dunkers were judged by a 90-second routine.
• 1998: Event was cancelled.
• 1999: NBA lockout.
• 2000: Return of the dunk contest and scores per dunk
• 2002: The Dunk Wheel
• 2014: Dunk Teams with a "battle" and "freestyle" round

Of all the changes, the Dunk Wheel in 2002 will go down as one of the biggest All-Star weekend FAILS ever. The NBA probably thought it was a cool idea to have contestants spin a wheel and then have to perform a historic dunk from the past.

They didn't realize they were punishing great dunkers by not allowing them to do the type of dunks they are good at

For example, a two-foot dunker can't jump from the free throw line or off 1-foot and then do a Statue of Liberty 360.

When it was Steve Francis' final turn to spin the wheel, he landed on "1980s" and was asked to do Terrence Stansbury's Statue of Liberty 360. He couldn't pull it off.

When it was 2-foot Jason Richardon's final turn to spin the wheel, he landed on "Dr J dunks" and was asked to do the free throw line. He barely pulled it off.

"I couldn't get a grip on the ball like I wanted to," Said Richardson

"I'm not a one-legged jumper anyways. I'm just glad it went in and I got some points for it."

Richardson still won the contest, but fans were robbed of a potentially great event because of one stupid idea.

The other thing worth noting about this event is scenes for the 2002 movie LIKE MIKE were filmed on this day. So, every time you see Bow Wow at the event, you actually see Calvin Cambridge.

NBA TV RATINGS

In case you were wondering how many people used to watch the All-Star game before people had social media or even the internet in the early 90s. Here are the most viewed All-Star games. FYI: The three most watched SUPER BOWL games have been the last three with 2014 and 2015 rounding out the top five.

• 1993: 22.9M (NBC)
• 1992: 18.8M (NBC)
• 1996: 17.5M (NBC)
• 1997: 16.9m (NBC)
• 1998: 16.9M (NBC)
• 1995: 15.8M (NBC)
• 1994: 13.7M (NBC)
• 1990: 13.2M (CBS)
• 2002: 13.1m (NBC)
• 2003: 10.8m (TNT)
• 2000: 10.5m (NBC)