Should the NBA consider USA vs. World? Who wins a 1v1 tourney? Debating the best All-Star ideas

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This year’s NBA All-Star Game has been widely criticized, but perhaps some good ideas will come out of the weekend. Before the regular season resumes on Wednesday, let’s break some of them down.

1. What’s the best All-Star idea you’ve heard or seen coming out of the weekend?

Ben Rohrbach: USA vs. World. It was the only idea in San Francisco that jazzed the players.

“I would love to,” said San Antonio Spurs star Victor Wembanyama, one of the few players who tried throughout the All-Star Game. “It’s more purposeful. There’s more pride in it. More stakes.”

“I’d love that,” added Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo. “Oh, I’d love that. I think that would be the most interesting and most exciting format. I’d love that. For sure, I’d take pride in that. I always compete, but I think that will give me a little bit more extra juice to compete.”

This year’s international team could have featured Wembanyama, Antetokounmpo, Nikola Jokić, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Pascal Siakam, Alperen Şengün, Karl-Anthony Towns and Kyrie Irving. Luka Dončić, Franz Wagner and Jamal Murray are waiting in the wings. Not bad.

Victor Wembanyama endorses a USA vs. World format. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)

Dan Titus: Replace the unserious Skills Challenge with a 1-on-1 King of the Hill tournament with a purse of $1 million. The event should span multiple days and feature whichever rising stars or All-Stars want to participate. Rachel Nichols has already run it by several All-Stars — all with resounding support for the idea. Whether that’s smoke remains to be seen, but that would definitely inject some much-needed competition into Saturday’s festivities.

Vincent Goodwill: Just going back to East vs West. Perhaps I’m a rigid traditionalist, but all these other formats don’t do it as much. The USA/International game, I’m more open to than ever, but you’d have a real hard time finding 12 definitive international All-Stars. That’s the thing for me beyond the Jokić/Giannis/Luka/Wemby types. It’s not long before the pickings get slim.

Morten Stig Jensen: One idea that’s been floating around for a…

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Author : Yahoo Sports

Publish date : 2025-02-18 16:12:00

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