All-Star Saturday, Courtesy of the CBA

by Craig Kwasniewski

Is it me or does there seem to be a ton of superstars taking part in All-Star Saturday Night? LeBron, Kobe, T-Mac, D-Wade... everybody! The last time there was this much talent in one room was backstage at the Creed/Kid Rock Tour in 1999.

So what's the deal? Were the players "giving back to the fans" on All-Star Saturday Night? Did they want to prove their "skills" in these competitions? Or did the competitive nature just take over?

Sorry, none of the above. The reason why 11 of the 24 All-Stars are playing in the contests is because they had to. According to the new Collective Bargaining Agreement:

(a) Any player selected (by any method designated by the NBA) to play in an All-Star Game shall be required to:
(i) attend and participate in such Game;

(ii) attend and participate in one (1) All-Star Skills Competition (but not including the Slam Dunk Competition) that is conducted during the All-Star Weekend on which such Game is held; and

(iii) attend and participate in every other event conducted in association with such All-Star Weekend, including, but not limited to, a reasonable number of media sessions, television appearances, and promotional appearances.

Yes, the new CBA forces players to participate in these events. This was one of those "hidden" agreements when the NBAPA signed the CBA.

Well... this should raise the bar a few notches. Instead of one or two guys "going through the motions" while hung-over, we get an entire night of it.

If you want these guys bustin' their asses in All-Star Saturday Night, raise the winnings more than 1/2 of a game's pay. Throw out some crazy-ass bling-bling for the players to show off or raise the winnings to $1 million. Believe me, you'll see guys dunking from the three point line.

Comments

[Brett]

What, no link for the Creed/Kid Rock joke?!