Alexander: NBA All-Star Weekend works – but the game itself, not so much

INGLEWOOD — You can argue – and I certainly won’t disagree – that the least relevant aspect of the NBA’s All-Star Weekend is the actual game. (Unless the guy representing the host team decides to take over the proceedings, even if it’s just for the equivalent of a quarter.)

As a celebration of the sport and the league, there has been plenty here to appreciate over the last three or four days. All-Star Friday featured future prospects in the Rising Stars event, plus an honest-to-goodness conference game involving Historic Black Colleges and Universities, Hampton and North Carolina A&T. All-Star Saturday was highlighted by Damian Lillard’s third 3-point shooting championship, in his recovery from an Achilles tear.

There also have been plenty of worthwhile ancillary events: A Basketball Without Borders camp featuring top international prospects, an All-Star Technology Summit, and an NBA Cares All-Star Day of Service with more than 500 volunteers giving back to the community. There was even an NBA Foundation Pitch Competition, with budding entrepreneurs making their best presentations – but, sadly, “Shark Tank” star Mark Cuban was not involved.

The NBA also welcomed 200 global “creators” with an online reach of 1 billion followers. And as you might have expected, a number of companies and businesses scheduled their own events to take advantage of (hijack?) the gathering.

So what of Sunday’s main event? Meh.

The centerpiece of the weekend has been devalued over time. We’ve gone from a showdown between East and West, with pride on the line, to a set of 12-minute mini-games among teams pretty much thrown together.

Kawhi Leonard put a charge into the crowd and particularly the fans seated in “The Wall,” scoring 31 points in the 12-minute victory over the World team that put Team USA Stripes – you know, as in Stars and Stripes – into the championship mini-game. But this was the hoops equivalent of cotton candy – pleasing for a moment, but without much substance. His team was blitzed by Team USA Stars in the 12-minute final, 47-21, with Minnesota’s Anthony Edwards earning MVP honors.

And maybe this is worth noting: Attendance on the official box score was listed as “15,973 (sellout).” The Intuit Dome does seat 18,000 for basketball, and a good number of seats upstairs were used for media seating. But aside from the Wall there wasn’t a lot of buzz from the crowd on Sunday, just like there wasn’t much for All-Star Saturday.

Some social media comments suggested that a Sunday afternoon start and ticket prices that were said to start at $900 discouraged people from showing up. 

How was the caliber of play? Probably a little better than it’s been in recent years. While gimmicky, the mini-game format might have contributed to greater competitiveness – and, yes, some guys actually played defense once in a while.

But it’s not what it was, and given the trend that is working against the All-Star Game concept in other sports, it’s got to be asked: Do we really need this contrived series of mini-games to cap the weekend?

Some might protest, as did Kevin Durant during his availability on Saturday when he said, “I just feel like fans and media need something to complain about, and the All-Star Game don’t make them feel like they felt when they were kids.”

He’s right, but not in the way he intended.

Once, the All-Star Game was competitive from start to finish, with memorable performances by players who actually cared about winning. Consider the first All-Star Game to be played in Inglewood, at the Forum in 1972. The West defeated the East, 112-110, on hometown hero Jerry West’s jumper with one second left. In that era, West – both the player and the conference – vs. East mattered.

This time, the World team only got a token 5-minute appearance from the Lakers’ Luka Doncic, in this case legitimately conserving himself while coming back from a hamstring injury. As for the rosters of the two domestic teams … who knew how those All-Stars were disbursed?

“Obviously, I like the East and West format,” LeBron James – for the record, a member of the Stripes, along with Leonard and Durant – said in his pregame availability on Sunday. “They’re trying something. We’ll see what happens.”

The NBA All-Star Game has fallen into the same malaise that other contact sports have faced, with players reluctant to extend themselves, or at least cautious, because of the risk of injury. And with under this format it might as well be just a bunch of supremely talented athletes hooping on the playground.

With nothing at stake – dare I say it? – it’s boring. In fact, the loudest reaction in the arena on Sunday came when Leonard got hot in Game 3. (Unless, of course, you count the ovation that former President Obama received when he was introduced before the game, plus another big roar when he was shown chatting with Julius Erving.)

The NFL has taken the hint. The Pro Bowl, once attractive because it was a week in Hawaii for those players selected, is now essentially a flag football game, precisely because it reached a point where nobody was hitting anybody.

And the NHL hasn’t had an All-Star Game in two years but the replacements, last year’s Four Nations Faceoff and this year’s Olympic competition in Milan, have been riveting. (Although Kevin Fiala’s gruesome leg injury in Olympic play for Switzerland on Saturday probably had Kings’ fans – and Drew Doughty, Fiala’s Kings teammate but an opponent this night with Canada – wondering if it was all worth it.)

Really, the only All-Star Game among this continent’s four traditional major sports that really has any hint of relevance is baseball’s. The National League/American League rivalry remains, even with full interleague play. And unlike the other sports, baseball’s Midsummer Classic isn’t much different from the game those guys play in the regular season (aside from the home run swing-off last July that took the place of extra innings).

If there is truly a need for a midseason break/gathering/celebration of the sport and the league, how about this: Play the NBA Cup final in the slot currently occupied by the All-Star Game, at a neutral site, or even a non-league site (Las Vegas?) and incorporate the rest of the festivities.

In the meantime, the Phoenix Suns are next year’s hosts. I wish them luck.

jalexander@scng.com