NBA All-Star Weekend(best by default)

The entire All-Star weekend can be summed up in one word, Blah.  It is the best All-Star festivities of all the major sports, but it’s the best by default.  The game itself is what it is, and I don’t expect that to change much in the future.  It is a fun way for the NBA’s best to showcase their skills.  The rest of the world had the pleasure of learning what some of us have known for about a year now, that Kyrie Irving is an exceptional talent.  In two or three years, we will all be talking about Chris Paul and Kyrie Irving as the top point guards in the NBA.  On a side note, everyone can stop talking about Lebron returning to Cleveland to team up with Kyrie, it’s not going to happen.  I watched most of the events this weekend, but I watched simply because it was the only thing on television.  I understand that All-Star weekend is meant for fun, but it needs to be revamped.  It needs to regain it’s oomph.  Yeah, I used the word oomph.  The event with the most room for improvement is definitely the Slam Dunk Contest.  I hope someone from the NBA catches wind of this article and takes the advice I’m about to give (for free).  I spoke to this issue in my preview of the All-Star weekend, but the Slam Dunk Contest needs to be changed drastically.  Literally the only part they’ve gotten right is that the players compete for a charity.  Other than that, the event is a disaster.  I think we can all agree we want to see the premier leapers and dunkers in the game in the contest.  Everyone knows who I’m talking about (cough, Lebron, cough).  The question is how do we get these Superstars to enter the dunk contest?  We all know that money isn’t the answer(lord knows Lebron makes enough of that).  Apparently it isn’t enough of an honor for them to do it willingly.  So, how do we get the best players in the NBA to compete in the lowly dunk contest?  The answer is to call them out; plain and simple.  All the commentators and former players who have transformed into media personnel can joke about how scared Lebron is to fail, but what eats away at a self conscience Superstar like “King” James more than anything else?  You need to tell him he can’t do it.  What inspires athletes to succeed more than adversity?  The answer to that would be nothing.  You must also convince him that it really matters.  You must convince him that it’s another notch that must be added to his belt of career achievements.  And who must implore him and the other great leapers of the world to compete?  None other than the man they all idolized as a kid, Michael “Air” Jordan.  You all saw how quickly Lebron reacted when MJ told everyone he’d take Kobe over him any day of the week.  I think it’s that simple.  All the fans want is a better show.  They want the guys they know can come up with new and innovative dunks to show off on the big stage.  With a new and improved approach to All-Star Weekend, the NBA’s superstars are the only ones who can revive this special event.  By the way, they really need to put a limit on the number of dunk attempts each contestant gets.  A minute and a half is way too long to watch some no name try the same dunk over and over and over again (and they don’t get penalized for missing 1, 789 attempts before finally throwing it down).  As the panel of Shaq, Charles, Kenny the Jet, and C Webb said, “We’ll call it the Birdman Rule.”  All we want to see is the dunk contest come back to it’s original form.  Will there be a savior or will it head toward extinction like the Pro Bowl?