All-Star Weekend comes to an end. The festive time in Salt Lake City featured highlights and lowlights. The All-Star game between Team LeBron and Team Giannis has left the NBA community questioning the art of competition, with the NBA's biggest stars disengaged. An underwhelming All-Star weekend in Utah has shed light on the current state of the modern NBA. What was the highlight of the 2023 NBA All-Star Weekend? Was it a near-perfect performance from Mac McClung, Damian Lillard capturing his first three-point title, or Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown's head-to-head battle at the All-Star game?

Mac McClung Saves All-Star Weekend with a near-perfect performance

Mac McClung becomes the first G-League Player to win a Slam Dunk competition.

All-Star Saturday night was off to a rough start with the Skill Challenge before the high-flying Mac McClung came to save the day. McClung's near-perfect performance reinvigorated the energy at Vivint Arena after completing a 540-dunk to secure his victory.McClung eclipsed as a hoopmixtape sensation during his days at Gate City High School. His freakish athleticism and jaw-dropping dunks used to shut down social media. For the 2022 G-League Rookie of the Year, dunking was the easy part. McClung received a perfect score in 3/4 dunks while silencing all the critics. By the end of Saturday night, McClung earned an endorsement deal from Puma and excess winnings of $100K (McClung's Career earnings are $106K).

McClung cements himself with the long list of greats that includes Michael Jordan, Dominique Wilkins, Kobe Bryant, and Vince Carter, who are winners of the dunk contest. Mac McClung may be the saviour of the dunk-off, but how does the NBA maintain a level of competition while attracting the biggest superstars to participate? The NBA needs to find the right incentive to attract superstars to join the dunk-off. Ja Morant, Anthony Edwards, Zion Williamson, and Jalen Green would provide the fans with excitement that ASW hasn't seen for years.

NBA All-Star Game was the least-watched feature in history

The NBA ASG 2023 was the least-watched edition in the history as ratings hit record low

The 2023 All-Star game matchup between Team Giannis and Team LeBron was nothing more than a "glorified lay-up line", Jaylen Brown mentioned. This game made headlines, and not for all the right reasons. According to Sports Media Watch, The ASG averaged a combined rating of 2.2 and 4.59 viewers. There's a substantial decline from last year, tv ratings and viewership were down 27%. With the succession of the NFL Superbowl, the NBA expected to follow suit, but instead, the opposite happened. Coach Mike Malone shared his thoughts on the game.

“It’s an honour to be here, it’s an honour to be a part of a great weekend, great players, but that is the worst basketball game ever played,They put on a show for the fans, but that is a tough game to sit through, I’m not going to lie.”

The determining factor, in the end, was a lack of competitive spirit from Team LeBron, who gave up 184 points in defeat to team Giannis. Team Giannis was led by Jayson Tatum who erupted for 55 points, setting a new ASG scoring record for points in a single quarter (27), and the most points in ASG (55), surpassing Anthony Davis' record of 52. The highlight of the game was a head-to-head duel between Boston Celtics' Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown. The two exchanged a few step-back threes with a side of on-cour banter. The sequence was must-see TV and got fans out of their seats. But in the end, it was all about Jayson Tatum who walked away with the 184-175 win and the Kobe Bryant MVP award.

This year’s ASG had its fair share of highlights and a barrage of three-point attempts, 129 to be exact. But the non-competitive game resulted in the lowest tv ratings in 20 years. Despite the number of big stars sidelined this year — Kevin Durant, Stephen Curry, Giannis Antetokounmpo, the ASG has lost its popularity when it comes to sporting events. Adam Silver along with colleagues will be faced with challenging discussions about raising the excitement around ASW for the future. In the world of pro sports innovation the north star, and with Commissioner Silver at the helm, let’s see what he has in the deck.