What to do With the NBA All-Star Game?

The basketball world has been abuzz this week with ways to fix the NBA All-Star Game, and All-Star Weekend in general. Personally, while baseball's exhibition has always been seen as the Midsummer Classic, I've preferred the NBA variety because of its high entertainment value. The NBA doesn't pretend to to make the All-Star game more than it should be like MLB, who foolishly decides something as important as home-field advantage in the World Series in an exhibition.

However, the NBA also doesn't brush aside the All-Star game as a vacation interrupted by a touch football game...after the season has already ended. No, the NBA already walks the fine line between exhibition and entertainment, competition between the best in the game and giving the fans what they want. But, recent developments have cast All-Star weekend under the microscope. Shaq's brilliant idea to help Haiti and revive the dunk contest is a good start, although it's already being poo-pooed on by some. Still, another question remains, what do we do with the way the starting lineups are chosen? Let's examine the complaints, solutions, and see if the NBA's showcase event needs some minor retooling, or full-on Heidi Montag style plastic surgery!

As most fans know by now, the voting process for the All-Star game has come under scrutiny with the possibility that Tracy McGrady and Allen Iverson are in prime position to start based on fans' vote. Now, this would be fine if it was 2002, but...it's 2010. Here's the stats for each this season, you be the judge if they deserve an All-Star appearance, let alone a vote.

Tracy McGrady: 6 Games, 7.7 Minutes Per Game, 3.2 PPG, 1.0 APG, 0.8 RPG

Oh, and he was basically told by the Rockets to go home until they could find somebody dumb enough to take him off their hands.

Allen Iverson: 18 Games, 31.6 Minutes Per Game, 14.7 PPG, 4.6 APG, 2.6 RPG

Oh, and he wasn't wanted at the beginning of the season by the Memphis Grizzlies, and was only offered a lifeline by Philly to sell tickets.

So, clearly, something is amiss. Some suggest fans shouldn't be involved in the process at all. Ray Allen suggests fans should be given a 50% voice in choosing the starters. But what is the best solution? Should steps be taken to ban fans from turning the All-Star game into some type of "lifetime achievement award"?

The answer, is to not rule out the fans entirely, that's just stupid. This is the one game in the entire season the voice of the fans who pay all that money in PSL's and season tickets is actually listened to by the NBA. They should be heard and allowed to vote the players they want to see into the game, no matter how poorly they are playing. Besides, there is precedent for the game serving as a lifetime achievement award for the likes of Magic Johnson and Michael Jordan.

But, fans shouldn't be allowed to vote for starters either! That should be reserved as a rite of passage for those who have truly earned it by being among the best 10 players in the league in the first half of the season. So, as always, the answer lies somewhere in the middle. Maybe I can have someone help explain the idea of compromise. (Apologies for TBS making embedding the video impossible)

How to make voting for the All-Star game into a win-win-win situation? Here's a creative alternative. Allow the fans to continue voting in a lineup of five players. Call it something corny like the Fans' Five, or heck, even partner with TMobile and call it the Fans' Fave Five. Allow the fans to vote on who they'd like to see at the start of the 2nd half, not the 1st. This gives fans the opportunity to still see players who may be past their prime, but at the height of their popularity. It also allows coaches, players, media, etc. to pick the starting lineups to reward the players who truly deserve the honor.

If the NBA and those who cover the league would stop and think, they would see this compromise is a win for the players, fans, and television networks. It wouldn't cheapen the true meaning of the game, as in baseball, and it would allow fans to see the stars they want to see, unlike football. David Stern, with some minor nips and tucks, can continue to elevate the NBA All-Star Game and the weekend as a whole into a class on its own in professional sports.

Be sure to join us tomorrow as Y1's Saints Fan Diary continues, as well as a fly-by of the college basketball landscape in our Campus Countdown. We at RSS would also recommend seeing The Book of Eli in theaters, Y1 and I saw it tonight and enjoyed seeing Denzel at his best! Until next time, it's bye for now!