Here are a few things we learned from All-Star Weekend in New Orleans:
1. Kevin Durant still has a firm grip on first place in the MVP race. In reality, LeBron James had two chances to steal back the narrative from Durant: Sunday’s All-Star Game and the game between the Heat and Thunder in Oklahoma City on Thursday.
If James didn’t make a major statement this week, it will take an injury or a massive slump for Durant not to win the prize this season. It seemed as if James was thinking that from the start, coming out and playing hard on the opening possessions — first stealing a pass and going coast-to-coast for a dunk, then throwing another dunk down on the next possession.
But in the end, while James had a typically excellent game, finishing with 22 points, seven rebounds and seven assists, Durant easily outdid him, tying with Blake Griffin for high-scoring honors with 38 points to go along with 10 rebounds and six assists. It continued an incredible run of play for Durant over the past two months without Russell Westbrook – who could return for Thursday’s game.
At this point, it seems Durant has a clear path to the MVP.
2. While the James-Dwyane Wade-Carmelo Anthony Era is still in its prime and older players such as Dirk Nowitzki and Kobe Bryant still had an impact on the weekend, this was the year we began to see a shift toward the next generation of star players.
First-time All-Stars Damian Lillard (23) and John Wall (23) were featured attractions of the weekend, with Lillard competing in all of five of the main events over the three days (rookie-sophomore game, skills, 3-point, dunk, All-Stars) and Wall winning the slam dunk contest – at least sort of, given the new format for the event. Griffin (24) and Durant (25) tied for the lead in scoring and Kyrie Irving (21) won the game’s MVP award.
There is plenty of focus on just how talented this year’s draft class is, but the league is brimming with a whole crop of talent either in its prime or entering it as we speak, which should lead to a highly entertaining few seasons ahead for the league and its fans.
3. Huge night for Irving. His image has taken a beating this season as the Cavaliers have been a disaster and he’s been pegged as unable – or unwilling – to try and become a young leader for his team.
That’s why Irving’s virtuoso performance in Sunday’s game — going for 31 points and 14 assists while shooting 14-for-17 from the floor – was exactly what he needed, both to flip the narrative and to spur a second-half surge to help Cleveland fulfill owner Dan Gilbert’s pledge to make it to the playoffs this year.
That seems unlikely, but Irving’s play Sunday night was a good reminder of his potential.
4. Sleeved jerseys are here to stay, and ads won’t be far behind. NBA commissioner Adam Silver was asked Saturday about the jerseys, and while he said the reaction from players has been mixed, fans are buying them.
“From a fan standpoint, the greatest indicator is how are they selling, and I’ll say we’re having trouble keeping them in the stores,” Silver said. “There’s enormous demand for those jerseys. Fans like them, and I happen to like them, too.”
The league has pushed the sleeved look hard over the past year or two, and it is natural for fans to gravitate to an item that looks like a regular T-shirt as opposed to a tank top.
But Silver was even more definitive when asked about the possibility of moving towards a European soccer standard with advertising on jerseys themselves – something virtually every other sport in every other country does, but is completely foreign to the four major American professional sports.
“It’s something that we’re continuing to look at,” he said. “I believe it ultimately will happen in the NBA. I think it makes good business sense.
“It’s something we’re looking at. Again, I think it makes sense for this league as a global league, increasingly, the value of that inventory is growing. Those live images are critically important to our marketing partners, so we’re going to keep studying it.”