NBA All-Star Weekend is always a fun time to get the league’s brightest stars together to celebrate the game. This year featured a new change with USA taking on the World in a three-team tournament, and Los Angeles Lakers star Luka Doncic was the leading vote-getter.
Time will tell if commissioner Adam Silver discovered a format that will raise players’ compete level, which would make for a better viewing experience for fans. Another idea passed around has been a one-on-one tournament with stars while finding an incentive to attract upper-echelon talent.
Someone who is behind this idea is Boston Celtics’ Jaylen Brown and he went as far as to challenge Doncic and others to participate in this hypothetical tournament.
“I’m actually a big fan of the one-on-one,” Brown said. “Off The Dribble Sports. I think Ballislife and doing some stuff as well. I actually love watching it, because it reminds me of the purity of the game. Like, it’s just mano y mano. You got people on the court talking trash. You’ve got to play two sides. You got to be an offensive and a defensive player. I think that will be great. And then you could do it like boxing, like you can call a guy out and challenge some people. There are some people I would love to challenge. Some people that are here this weekend I would love to challenge. All of them, Luka, Shai, Brunson, Donovan. I would challenge all them guys, one-on-one. We could donate to whatever charity. Let’s set it up.”
Perhaps having Brown and other stars campaigning for this idea may make the league consider putting it on. Silver is known for introducing new ideas like the NBA Cup and the Play-In Tournament in recent memory.
The main issue with having a one-on-one tournament is finding a prize or common ground where the top 10 or 20 players will want to get involved. It may be money, but pride also should be a factor for the greatest players in that type of setting.
Luka Doncic: Lakers have team that can win NBA championship
In his first full season with the Lakers, Luka Doncic is an MVP candidate and remains the scoring leader in the NBA. Despite that, Los Angeles encountered bumps in the road with injuries and inconsistent play throughout the first half.
However, Doncic remains highly confident in his team, which is a quality of a good leader. As the Lakers prepare for a crucial back half of the season, he thinks they have enough to win a championship this year.
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