From Dennis Velasco,
Your Guide to Basketball.
FREE Newsletter. Sign Up Now!

Dave: Is "Don’t care times five" an acceptable answer?

Matt: All-Star Game - East: they have better distributors with Nash and AI out.

MVP - I want to say Marion, since he balled at UNLV, but since the East will win, the pick is Gilbert because of that huge chip on his shoulder.

Dunk - Dwight Howard: the big man wanted to be here, unlike Tyrus Thomas, and everyone can't get enough of him. He doesn't need to be as good as Larry Nance to win it, but he might be better.

3-Point Shootout - "Hibachi!!!"

Skills Competition - Wade. He’s called Flash for a reason. Don't worry, it's got nothing to do with a trench coat.

Mike P: The East wins the All-Star game in a stunning comeback reminiscent of 2001, a nonsensical prediction considering the weakness of the conference. Gilbert Arenas wins All-Star MVP.

Gerald Green jumps from outside the paint and rocks the cradle to defeat Dwight Howard in the dunk contest.

Mike Miller shocks Damon Jones and wins the three-point shootout.

Dwayne Wade wins the skill competition. He's entered, right?

Mike S: MVP: Carmelo Anthony if the West wins. He wants to be in this game more than anyone. And I'm going to have to go with Gilbert Arenas for the East because he'll end up as the leading scorer.

Dunk Contest - I heard there was a time limit, so that eliminates Nate. And a big man won't win, so that leaves Gerald Green as the champ.

3-Point Shootout - Not sure. I just want to see Damon Jones choke.

Skills Competition - Wade.

Tom: MVP - Melo comes off the bench and lights up everyone involved in keeping him off the original roster.

Dunk Contest - Gerald Green wins with an array of head shakers and no misses. Dwight Howard takes one off the top of the backboard early but doesn't have anything left for the final round.

3-Point Shootout - Mike Miller snuffs out the Hibachi.

Skills Competition - Wow, what a line up! Kobe Bryant enters the Mamba zone and strikes to kill for the win.

Has the All-Star weekend lost its luster from the days when we'd see names like Magic, Bird, and Jordan in all of the above-named competitions even though guys like LeBron and Wade are there? If so (or even if not) any suggestions?

Atma Brother #1: Nope, All-Star weekend is as good as ever. The only major event that has lost its luster is the Slam Dunk contest. It really doesn't make any sense either. There is no shortage of high flying big name, big game ballas in the league right now. Imagine if we could get treated to a dunk contest with Vinsanity, J-Rich, and Kobe. Now that would have us all seeing stars, not missed dunks (ahem, Nate Robinson).

Dave: I don't know if it's lost its luster because of the players or it's lost its luster because I was a kid in those days and everything seemed bigger. Either way I have two suggestions. First, unless you can get major talent just dump the slam dunk contest. When the judges dunk better than the participants it's time to quit. One major guy could resurrect the whole deal because opponents would come out just to be seen with him but none of them ever participate. Second I'd like to see an eight-person, single-elimination one-on-one tournament... playground style, by ones to five. Who wouldn't sell their third child to see LeBron and Kobe go at it? I know the league supposedly is trying to de-emphasize individual play but I'll believe that's sincere when I see Dwyane Wade get fewer than 80 foul shots a game. Plus, most of these guys will not win a championship in a given year, so the league and high school coaches everywhere can save face by saying, "See? Being the 1-on-1 champ doesn’t mean team success."

Matt: Hell no. Playing in the game is a bigger deal for them. I don’t mean to go on a tangent here but today's stars are young and more vibrant than anything Q-Tip has ever sung about and I mean that purely in a basketball sense. Each player is in the midst of developing their own unique personalities and a big All-Star game or play will leave an enduring impression. The fact is, there are only two guys playing who are older than 30 – Nash, Kidd and Iverson won’t be playing due to injury but they are building support of my point. The impressionable moments for these emerging superstars just need to be played out. And besides, Howard's in the dunk contest, Dirk and Arenas are in the 3-point contest and the skills competition is overflowing with studly talent.

Mike P: I've always felt like the luster back in the day was a bit overstated, to be honest. Last year's three-point shootout featured a star duel between Dirk and Agent Zero, and arguably one of the most entertaining dunk contests of all-time. The loss of luster is a direct effect of the NBA's lagging popularity as compared to the 80s, and that popularity is starting to return. Once that happens, we?ll start remembering All-Star weekend more.

I'd really love it if there was a little more star power in the dunk contest, but then again, guys like Kenny Walker, Dee Brown, Cedric Ceballos, Harold Miner, and Brent Barry have won this thing before. Is this really that different from past winners like Fred Jones and Desmond Mason? More innovation would be nice but we've reached the point where it's hard to be truly unique. Jordan and 'Nique had the advantage of very little precedence before them when they did their thing in the 80s.

Mike S: I'd like to see Vince Carter return to the dunk contest against LeBron and some of the other younger stars. But, I do think its nice to see lesser-known names show us their hops that you normally wouldn't see in a game from them.