This Sunday, Atlanta will host the NBA All-Star Weekend festivities. There have been many changes in the sporting world in the last 12 months, and the All-Star weekend isn’t any different.
Scheduling will be the biggest change to the All-Star Weekend. The NBA has decided to move all events to Sunday, instead of having the skills competitions on Saturday and the game on Sunday. The festivities kick off with the Taco Bell Skills Challenge at 6:30, and the Mountain Dew 3-Point contest after. The All-Star Game begins at 8 pm and the AT&T Slam Dunk Competition will be the halftime performance. The pros to this is it will be easier for COVID testing and it means fans will be able to see all events in one day, instead of two. The downside is that the Slam Dunk contest will suffer, since it is now reduced to a halftime performance. There will be a limited time frame, which is why there are only 3 contestants, and there won’t be much spare time for tiebreakers. AKA, there won’t be a repeat of the Gordon vs. Lavine competition in 2016.
The All-Star Game itself will be played to a Final Target Score (FTS) for the second year. This means that instead of playing 15 minutes in the 4th quarter, they will take the score of the leading team after the 3rd, add 24, and that is the Final Target Score. The teams will play until one of them either reaches or passes that score, and is declared the winner. If you’re wondering how they settled on adding 24, it’s to honour Kobe Bryant’s career. The perk to this setup is that the game won’t run into a triple-overtime scenario on a Sunday night. This means we will get a good night’s sleep before logging into work or class the next day depending on your situation.
Like most sporting events that took place in 2020, there will be a bubble scenario for the All-Star Weekend. This ‘Mini Bubble” will include private travel to and from Atlanta for the player and their families or guests (up to 4 people). There is also a bubble hotel for the players, their families and coaches. This is the easiest and most effective way to maintain the health and safety protocols. This will however drastically reduce the “show around the show” that usually accompanies ASG weekends.
Fans spotting players going to or from games, events, parties, brunches or just a stroll, won’t be a big occurrence this year. The NBA decided there wouldn’t be fans in the stands, or any fan activities or events this year. This means that the stadium will be quieter, and we’ll be able to hear on the court comments (or cusses) like we have most of the season. This decision was included as part of the Health and Safety protocol to protect players and their families. The only downside I can see, aside from the fan experience, is the crowd sounds continuing to be simulated. As we are seeing with the season, sounds can be delayed or misplayed based on what is going. This really is a small drawback though, and it’s a tough job to make the right call in a split second.
Most years there are a number of parties, events, games, signings and more planned to round out the whole weekend. These events add extra experiences that make the weekend worth travelling and paying for. This year the NBA decided that they wouldn’t host any of their traditional supporting events to protect the greater Atlanta community. Without these sideshows, and commitments for players and industry professionals, the one-day event schedule was possible. Even though the league isn’t hosting any offshoots, there are still a number of events happening in Atlanta, and people travelling to the city to participate. This could increase the city’s risk for increased COVID-19 cases that won’t be realized for a few weeks. The biggest downside is the economic impact hosting All-Star Weekend tends to have on the host cities. The revenue for the weekend alone ranges in the $50 – $100 million range, and the host city gets a piece of that from the tourism. This year, the economic boost is expected to be lower because of the lack of a gate.
There are a number of changes that had to happen due to the pandemic. Mostly involving the health and safety of players, their families and guests. The league also had to factor in the greater NBA community when these players return to their teams and resume play as early as March 10th, 2021.
The impacts felt by the fans at home mostly centre around the scheduling, new virtual experiences and the Final Target Score setup. We’ll have to tune in on Sunday, March 7th at 6:30 pm to see if this weekend holds true to being the biggest weekend in basketball. Even if the league is able to pull off the event flawlessly, let’s hope it’s the last time we need to worry about a pandemic at All-Star weekend.
-Larissa Barlow
Twitter: @barlowlarissad