The Basketball Diaries - Well, That was Boring

If you would have told me yesterday that I'd enjoy the Daytona 500 more than the NBA All-Star game, I would have punched you in the face. Not because I thought you were crazy, but because I am crazy and have anger issues.

Seriously, the All-Star game sucked last night. The highlight of the weekend was by far Barkley-Bavetta. The game itself was just sloppy.

The West beat the East 153-132, and Kobe took MVP honors with 31 points and 6 assists.

The best part of the game took place during a commercial break, when Gilbert Arenas joined a group of dunking Elvis impersonators and dunked off of a trampoline.

How in the hell Arenas' coach, Eddie Jordan, let him do that, I have no idea.

The prevailing feeling I got while watching the game, though, was pretty obvious to everybody involved. None of the players really cared. It was kinda like a glorified practice. Chauncey Billups didn't bother trying to hide his feelings about the game afterward.

"I didn't like it at all. I loved being here. I loved being a part of it, but I don't like it at all. We need something to make the guys play a little harder, to compete against one another...If I paid my hard-earned money to see KG and Kobe and Wade, I want to see them really play. You know what I'm saying? Not practice. I want to see them play."

I understand what Chauncey is saying, and it would be nice if the NBA did something to make the game mean more so that players tried harder. Of course, I don't mean that the NBA should follow baseball's lead and put home-court advantage in the Finals on the line, but they need to do something.