NBA All-Star Weekend 2024: Revisiting old formats and events،
The 2024 NBA All-Star Weekend in Indianapolis begins Friday with its annual Celebrity Game.
Since its introduction in 2003, the game has become a staple of All-Star Weekend, played every year except 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic. There have been two multiple-time Most Valuable Player winners – Kevin Hart (4) and Terrell Owens (2) – with other big names regularly participating in the event.
Although the celebrity game found its home during All-Star Weekend, other events or ideas did not stick. The NBA has been experimenting with different formats, rules and events in hopes of making the basketball-filled weekend as competitive and entertaining as possible.
Here's a look back at various ideas that added a different twist over the years, but didn't become a permanent part of NBA All-Star Weekend.
2014 NBA Dunk Contest
In 2014, the NBA had participants compete on teams in the dunk contest: Eastern Conference versus Western Conference. Even though there were plenty of stars at the event — Paul George, Damian Lillard and John Wall to name a few — the event became confusing.
It included a 90-second freestyle round in which each team's dunkers dunked as many times as they wanted. The result was a flurry of jams that made it difficult for fans to recognize them properly. The judges chose the winning team, which chose the one who dunked first or second in the battle round.
This final round included head-to-head clashes. The first team to win three rounds won the competition. The East team won. Unlike previous years, no person was crowned champion. Instead, fans voted Wall as “Dunker of the Night.”
The NBA returned to its old format in 2015.
The Legends game brings together the greats
A staple of All-Star Weekend in the 1980s and early 1990s, the NBA brought together some of its greatest for the “Legends Game”.
The 24-minute exhibition between the Eastern and Western Conferences was played in a semi-serious manner where injury prevention was a priority. But in the 1992 game, David Thompson and Norm Nixon were both forced out due to injuries. Thompson suffered a ruptured left patella tendon, while Nixon suffered a ruptured quadriceps tendon.
There were also some funny moments. In that same game, San Antonio Spurs legend George Gervin had 24 points. Walt Frazier, Artis Gilmore, Bob Cousy and Pete Maravich were among the many participants over the years.
The NBA ended the game after 1993.
NBA players take on the HORSE
The NBA implemented a favorite playground for All-Star Weekend in the late 2000s: the HORSE.
The competition followed traditional rules, but no dunks were allowed and players had 24 seconds each to “create and fake shots.” The NBA even assigned a referee to the competition to authenticate the shots.
Kevin Durant, OJ Mayo and Joe Johnson competed in the inaugural 2009 edition. Durant won and faced Rajon Rondo and Omri Casspi the following year.
With Rondo on his last letter in the final round, Durant and Rondo traded 3-point baskets at the top of the key, displaying the — sometimes comical — consistency of NBA stars. Durant won again and the NBA abandoned the event after 2010 as players opted for simple shots rather than creative ones.
2002 NBA dunk contest
The 2002 dunk was a little different from today's version. In the first round, participants had to perform a free dunk, followed by a dunk assisted by a teammate. Their final dunk of the first round would be determined by spinning the “dunk wheel”, which included replicating a classic slam.
Sections on the dunk wheel included: the 1980s, the 1990s, His Airness, Human Highlight Reel, Dr. J, and a mystery category. Regardless of which category the wheel landed in, a video was played to show the exact dunk a player had to replicate. The same format followed in the final round with a freestyle and a wheel dunk.
The wheel produced some memorable recreations with Jason Richardson's victory, but it didn't go exactly as planned in some ways. Steve Francis had to do a dunk that required touching the ball, which he was not capable of doing.
“It's fair. These are the rules,” Francis said after his elimination. “Just like when referees make calls, you can’t complain about it.”
All-Star Game Draft
Introduced in 2018, the All-Star Game draft involved the two players who led each conference in voting, acting as captains in a snake-style draft to determine rosters. Conferences have also been canceled. It was arguably one of the best ideas in the NBA. The inaugural project wasn't televised, but the rest was, creating viral moments on live television.
LeBron James was the team captain for all six years of the draft, while Giannis Antetokounmpo, Stephen Curry and Durant each had their share of opportunities. Antetokounmpo became known for always selecting teammate Khris Middleton with his first pick in reserve.
Although the draft added a different twist to the game, it did not promote the most competitive action on the field. The NBA abandoned the draft after 2023, returning to the classic East versus West format.
