NBA All-Star Weekend

NBA All-Star Weekend happend this past weekend, but unfortunately, I only saw the Saturday night's event live, and didn't get to see the All-Star Game on Sunday live or the Rookie-Sophomore Challenge on Friday night because of work. I always like watching the NBA all-star game and activities, and it was always something that I could look forward to. However, unlike years past, the all-star game really is not as exciting as it used to be. The game itself seems messier, the rookie challenge gets a little boring, and most of the Saturday night's event are pretty dull too. The slam dunk competitions in the past couple of years were not what they used to be, with only a limited number of people willing to participate. The 3-point shootout is still pretty good though, but I think they cut down on the number of people participating too. The other event are kind of idiotic, not exactly fun to watch.

However, I think, with a few real athletic players coming into the league in the past couple of years, the dunk contest is again getting kind of exciting. I mean, I was getting quite into it this past Saturday with some amazing dunks. Andre Iguodala's pass behind the backboard dunk is probably one of the most innovative and exciting dunk I have ever seen. Too bad the judges ruined the night for all of us. Yes, it is nice that Nate Robinson jumped over Spudd Webb and dunked, and yes, it is true that he is only 5-9 and his last dunk of passing the ball in midair between his leg and then catch it dunk was pretty good either, but there was no way that Nate Robinson's dunk beat out Andre Iguodala's. I thought that, before the competition, people were making such a big deal about Nate Robinson that the judges just gave him the award. I agree that they probably should be in the dunk-off, but I do not agree how you can give someone a high score if it took them 14 (I think only 14 . . . . . perhaps more) tries before Nate finished his dunk. The crowd was getting a little annoyed, and it is not fair to Iguodala. People become stiff waiting for 20 mins before getting to their attemps. The judges then gave Iguodala one score but then changed their score midway so that he lost by one point. The judges should just let it continue, let them continue to innovate, let them prove their worth. Iguodala was pretty good with his attempts all night, but Nate was not, it took him many tries to get in most of his dunks. Compare this to real life. If you are working and someone gives you a task, would they judge you the same if it took you 14 days to finish that task, or 14 failed attempts to finish that task, if the other person can do it in 2 days or 2 attempts and the result is almost equally good, seperated by a 1% difference. Who do you think would win in that context? Nate Robinson's dunk contest title should have an * next to it, explaining what actually happened.