Fast Break: Regular season finally returns after tumultuous All-Star break


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If anyone happened to have missed the NBA All-Star Game, we have a new contender for “worst basketball game ever played” honors. Well, at least according to Denver Nuggets coach Mike Malone. In his defense, I think it’s a fair assessment. The NBA’s annual All-Star Weekend went by without a speck of satisfaction once again, and at this point it begs the question: how did the NBA manage to make basketball boring?

Team Giannis, led by Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo defeated Team LeBron, captained by Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James, 184-175, Sunday. Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum poured in a record 55 points and seized his first career All-Star Game MVP. It’s always been an empty award, but this year feels like the most hollow yet. Half-court shots, terrible dunks and reprehensible play dominated the floor for four quarters. Tatum may have been the game’s “MVP” (the only one he’ll ever get), but everyone on the court deserved to be fined for the deplorable performances they exhibited for a national audience. And if you hate regular season defense, then oh, boy, I hope you skipped this one. It honestly looked like my high school basketball team could put better clamps on those players than the supposed NBA “stars” did. For reference, my McLean Highlanders infamously went 2-24 in 2017.

To clarify, it wasn’t just the actual game — this week’s main event — that put viewers to sleep. The Dunk Contest has struggled to excite audiences for years, and this season’s version may have been the worst offender. Despite posting a roster that featured breathtaking talents and household names like New York Knicks center Jericho Sims and New Orleans Pelicans forward Trey Murphy III, it was Philadelphia 76ers G-Leaguer Mac McClung who captured the title. Yeah, I know. That’s like a minor league baseball player winning the Home Run Derby because, hey, why not. In McClung’s defense, his high school mixtape is always worth a look. I’d just prefer it if someone on an NBA roster – not the Delaware Blue Coats – won the NBA Dunk Contest.

The Three-Point Contest was, well, the Three-Point Contest. Just a bunch of guys shooting at a hoop. If that sounds thrilling, then more power to you. I’d only care if it pitted retired anti-sharpshooters Shaquille O’Neal and Charles Barkley because then it would at least be funny. But to satisfy all Portland Trail Blazers fans out there, I feel I must mention that Damian Lillard won. The Skills Challenge is and forever will be an abomination to the eyes and never deserved to exist in the first place. I’m not even going to say who “won,” because there was no victor; in this case, we were all losers.

Ok, let’s all take a deep breath. I think writing this made my blood pressure rise a little bit. This All-Star Break was not at the NFL Pro Bowl’s level of awfulness. The NFL still comfortably occupies the bottom rung on the American All-Star sports league ladder — but the NBA is quickly descending. But after all, it’s not the players’ fault; the blame lies with the league. They decided to make the All-Star break the trash heap that it is, and it’s not on the players for participating.

With that out of the way, the second half of the regular season looks to build on the craziness of the first few months of NBA action. The Celtics and Bucks headline a top-heavy Eastern Conference while the Denver Nuggets command a five-game lead over the second-place Memphis Grizzlies in the Western Conference. Every team has about 23 games or so remaining, so the playoff landscape could easily be flipped on its head.

I’ll select the Dallas Mavericks as the most likely second-half riser. They currently stand as the West’s 6 seed, but the addition of All-Star guard Kyrie Irving to a backcourt headlined by MVP candidate Luka Dončić is an insane improvement, and I think their playstyles fit extremely well together. They are both playmakers, but Irving is a great off-ball guard who can sit on the wing as Dončić continues to be the Mav’s focal point on offense. It worked for the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2016, with Irving serving as LeBron’s #2 second-in-command of the eventual Finals Champion. I can see them jumping to the No. 3 seed in the West.

The Brooklyn Nets, on the other hand, will definitely take a bit of a tumble. The East’s No. 5-seed traded away both their superstars (Irving and Kevin Durant) for future assets, and now boast a mishmash of young players with decent potential, solid role players, and Ben Simmons. I think they drop to around the 10 seed, with a chance to make the play-in, but nothing after that. Shooting guard Cam Thomas is worth watching, though. He is lethal with the ball in his hands, and with Durant and Irving finally gone, I’m excited to see what he can do.

Unfortunately for LeBron, the Lakers, even with their flurry of deadline deals, are probably going to miss the playoffs again. This would be the third time in five years that the Lakers fail to make the playoffs with LeBron on the roster. I’d give him one final make-or-break year in L.A. before he sprints out of Crypto.com Arena. A reunion with Cleveland isn’t out of the question, but with Bronny — LeBron’s oldest son and four-star recruit — potentially on his way, I’m sure he’d jump ship to whatever organization drafts him, whether or not LeBron’s final year in Hollywood concludes on a good note.

Finally, the three-horse race that is the MVP will come down to this final month and a half of regular season play. Denver’s Nikola Jokić won the last two, but winning a third straight would require an absurdly-dominant second half performance to overshadow voter fatigue. I think the Bucks finishing first in the East would give Antetokounmpo his third career victory, but if Joel Embiid drags the Sixers to the top, I’d have no hesitation giving it to him. I’m leaning towards Antetokounmpo, however.

The NBA tips off at 4 p.m. on Thursday. In my next column, only a month of regular season basketball will remain, and the stress will be mounting for teams on the bubble.

Dominic Varela is a sophomore writing about all things NBA as the playoffs draw ever closer. His column “Fast Break” runs every other Thursday.