NBA All-Star game pitting USA vs. the World is the way to go

From: deseretnews.com
View source article here.
By Loren Jorgensen

The NBA All-Star Game is tonight. Since the NFL season is over and there is no paint drying for me to watch, I may tune in.

Then again, maybe not. I could, instead, do something worthwhile like spending time with family, reading a good book or sleeping.

Let's face it, even many die-hard NBA fans have a hard time getting into the All-Star Game.

Sure, it may be fascinating to discuss who should and shouldn't be on the teams. With only 24 players getting selected each year, there are bound to be deserving players — like Utah's Deron Williams and Golden State's Baron Davis this season — left out.

But the game itself is a meaningless, defenseless exhibition that hardly resembles the quality of regular season action, let alone the intensity of the playoffs.

Yes, the NBA's All-Star Game is better than the Pro Bowl but not nearly as entertaining as baseball's mid-season classic.

But even baseball's status as the best All-Star event took a hit in 2002 when the game ended in a tie. Baseball responded by trying to make the game more meaningful by giving the winning league the home-field advantage in the World Series. It isn't a perfect system, but it has added some interest.

NBA Commissioner David Stern, who has always been a forward-thinker when it comes to making his league popular on a global scale, could make his All-Star Game much more interesting, too.

It's simple really. Just do away with the Eastern Conference vs. Western Conference format. Instead, adopt a USA vs. the World setup.

It's not an original idea and it probably won't happen because it just makes too much sense. But it would certainly make things more interesting.

Think about it. The game would still be an exhibition, but at some point national pride would set in. The Americans would want to show the rest of the world that the birthplace of basketball is still where it is played best. The international team would be out to humble the smug Americans.

Sure there are the Olympics and other international FIBA events that already give foreign players a chance to beat the USA, but this would give NBA stars some bragging rights on a yearly basis during the season.

One could argue that there aren't enough quality international players in the NBA to come up with a 12-man team to compete with the United States.

And one would be wrong.

Consider this starting lineup for the international team:

Center — Yao Ming (China)

Power forward — Tim Duncan (Virgin Islands)

Small forward — Dirk Nowitzki (Germany)

Shooting guard — Manu Ginobili (Argentina)

Point guard — Steve Nash (Canada)

That gives the international squad five of the last six MVP awards, as Nowitzki won last year and Nash and Duncan have two each previously.

(It's true that the Virgin Islands are an American territory which is why Duncan is eligible to play for the U.S. Olympic team. But for the sake of the All-Star Game, the American team would be made up of players from the 50 states and Washington D.C. — leaving players from U.S. territories like Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands to the World.)

Now add to that starting lineup these reserves:

Guards: Tony Parker (France), Jose Calderon (Spain), Luol Deng (England)

Forwards: Hedo Turkoglu (Turkey), Peja Stojakovic (Turkey), Pau Gasol (Spain)

Center: Zydrunas Illgauskas (Lithuania)

That team, no doubt, could play with any 12 guys Uncle Sam could come up with.

And that's not even taking borderline All-Stars like Andrew Bogut (Australia), Andrei Kirilenko (Russia), Andrea Bargnani (Italy), Memo Okur (Turkey) or any of the other fine international NBA players.

Now that's an All-Star Game I would be willing to invest some time tuning into. It would be even better than sleeping or watching paint dry.

Truth be told, I'd probably want the World team to win, too, if it meant humbling the likes of Allen Iverson, Carmelo Anthony and Kobe Bryant just a bit.