Five ways to improve All-Star weekend

Imagine how much easier it would be to identify players if they were in their normal jerseys. The East and West can trade off wearing colored jerseys and white jerseys. Look how good this looked in past All-Star Games.

Also, put the player names at the normal spot above the numbers, instead of below. For a showcase event that brings in lots of casual fans, the NBA should make sure it's easy to identify the players at a glance. 

2. Put the Three-Point Contest last

There are a number of problems with the Dunk Contest. They can’t get stars to participate, the judging is unpredictable and after 40 years, it's hard to find innovative ways to put the ball through the hoop. There are only so many people these guys can jump over.

But one reason the expectations are so high is that the event has been placed in the headlining spot. That made sense when it was the premier event of Saturday night, but that's no longer true. The event that's consistently more exciting, entertaining and packed with actual All-Stars is the Three-Point Contest.

So switch their spots in the lineup. If the Dunk Contest becomes All-Star Saturday's set-up man, as opposed to its closer, fans can adjust their expectations. It doesn't have to always be a show-stopping event. Watching guys do weird dunks is cool! It's simply no longer as dramatic as the shootout.

3. Start the game on time

One reason the All-Star Game felt like a slog is that it started well beyond its announced time. The game was scheduled for 8 PM Eastern, but after the introductory videos, the speech by Indiana basketball legends and the 20+ minutes of player introductions, the game didn't start until 8:42. Sure, Monday was a holiday, but there's simply no reason for the game to start that late on the East Coast.

Or that tardily. J.J. Redick complained about it on his podcast, "The Old Man and the Three."

"Can we please just start things on time in the NBA?" Redick pleaded. "Nothing starts on time in the NBA, and it's driving me crazy."

There's no reason the game shouldn't have an earlier official start time unless the NBA is deathly afraid of competing with "60 Minutes." But regardless, they need to cap the pregame festivities at 15 minutes, max. It's not the Super Bowl! There doesn't need to be a new gimmick every year to introduce the players. Read their names! Play the game!

4. Stop complaining, Adam Silver!

Maybe the All-Star Game would have been received better if the NBA's commissioner weren't constantly complaining about it in public. Adam Silver apologized for last year's game, promised changes, moaned about the intensity, took responsibility for delays, cajoled players - anything but speaking positively about the game.

After this year's game, Silver looked like he was pouting while passive-aggressively congratulating the Eastern Conference.

"You scored the most points," a clearly disappointed Silver said. "Well, congratulations."

What exactly does it accomplish to have a ghoulish millionaire cap off the game with a remark like that? Is Silver trying to go viral? Does he think he can mope his way to the All-Star Game of his dreams? Trust us, LeBron James does not care that the commissioner is acting disappointed.

Just have the conversations privately. Airing his business in public isn't working.

5. Add real incentives

The NBA bumped the prize money for winning the game to $100K each in 2018. Losers get $25K. The extra $50K doesn't seem like it's enough motivation for the players, especially as this year's starters are making an average of $37.86M - and that's only as low as it is because Tyrese Haliburton's max extension doesn't kick in until next season.

A prize that's roughly 0.1 percent of the stars' annual salaries isn't going to move the needle. Nor did the NBA's experiment with awarding prize money to charities for teams who won each quarter. It was a noble idea, but it ended up looking like needy children were competing with each other more than the players were.

Instead, the league needs an incentive players care about. Something like:

• Home-court advantage in the NBA Finals. Would James sit out the second half if that was on the table?
• The winning team is eligible for NBA awards if they play 60 games, not the current 65.
• Seven fouls before fouling out one regular-season game of their choosing.
• A get-out-of-technical foul-free card, same concept.
• Their own State Farm commercial and a selfie with Jake.
• They get to take three steps with the ball without being called for travel.

That last one already exists for All-Stars. But the league needs something different than money to make players try to win.