NBA’s All-Star Game has it right where MLB’s does not—the Monday Morning Realist

Every Monday morning, Section 215’s Akiem Bailum gives an in-depth and unfiltered look at all of the latest sports news in The Monday Morning Realist. You can follow Akiem on Twitter @AkiemBailum.

Feb 12, 2015; New York, NY, USA; An interior view at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports

The NBA just concluded another All-Star Game. This year’s took place in two stadia as Brooklyn’s Barclays Center and Manhattan’s Madison Square Garden split this year’s festivities.

Everything, of course, culminated in the game itself, this year ended up being a 163-158 victory for the Western Conference. Russell Westbrook had 41 points in what ended up being the second-highest point total in All-Star history en route to the MVP award.

Then, shortly after the game concluded, I saw this tweet from another sports journalist who was watching the game—one whom I have met with on a few occasions and is a nice guy.

Hardy, har har!

But, the tweet’s context actually served as a subtle jib at another sport that still has not got it right when it comes to its midseason greats-fest, and that’s Major League Baseball.

Let’s compare the NBA and MLB All-Star Games for just a second. NBA’s takes place during a weekend while MLB’s occurs during a Monday and Tuesday night in July. High viewership (especially among folks my age) is almost guaranteed for the NBA’s festivities whereas baseball has to pray for high viewership for its.

Along with everything else, NBA has a litany of skills competitions, including the Three-Point Shooting Contest and the Slam Dunk Contest.

As an aside re: the Slam Dunk Contest, thank you Zack Levine!

MLB has the Home Run Derby, the Futures Game which takes place the Sunday before the All-Star Game, and Celebrity Softball Game. It also does its annual Red Carpet event the day of the All-Star Game itself.

But, notice how seemingly the celebrities only seem to appear for the Softball Game itself in MLB? With the NBA, the cameras are almost always zeroed in on the celebrities.

Of course, whether celebs show up or not for an All-Star Game is one thing or another. But, here’s where the NBA gets it right and where MLB gets it wrong.

MLB’s premier skills competition, the Home Run Derby, is overall, better than the Slam Dunk Contest in my opinion. There are only so many ways to slam a basketball whereas the Home Run Derby is less forced.

With the games themselves, NBA has it right and MLB has it wrong.

Notice how the NBA All-Star Game is all about entertainment? It was one of the most entertaining All-Star Games in history. Ariana Grande performed at halftime.

February 15, 2015; New York, NY, USA; Recording artist Ariana Grande performs during half time at the 2015 NBA All-Star Game at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

Yeah, that Ariana Grande.

The NBA realizes what MLB used to, but no longer does anymore. NBA’s All-Star Game does not determine home court in the NBA finals whereas MLB’s does for the World Series.

The argument that some brought up in regards to MLB’s was that it was a “meaningless” game that the players would start taking more “seriously” if there was a caveat attached to winning.

The thing is that the All-Star Game is not supposed to mean anything. It should be about the players putting on a show for the fans, and should not be done like an actual game.

No All-Star Game should be that important to where it could alter the season. MLB’s should be simply determined by which of the two teams has the better record and tiebreakers should start with interleague records.

I dare say that the fact that the NBA maintaining the entertainment aspect of the All-Star Game is one of the reasons as to why it is poised to leapfrog MLB as the third most popular sport in the USA.

Hopefully these statistics are not lost on MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred. Something tells this Realist that they will be anyway.