“The old days done gone, and I say ‘Goodbye.’ ” – Nikki Giovanni, Conversations

For the last 72 hours I’ve been listening with amusement to NBA veterans and analysts who should know better, wringing their hands and talking about the good old days as it relates to the NBA All-Star Game.

They rhapsodize about how “in my day” All-Stars used to go at each other. They admonish this new group of NBA players for not “trying hard.” They harken back to the good old days when NBA used the All-Star Game as a vehicle to prove who was best. Critics wonder how the competitive spirit of the NBA All-Star Game vanished and what pressure can be brought to bear to make these All-Stars play hard.

Back in the day when the NBA championship series was still on tape delay and the dunk was fresh and new, the All-Star Game was competitive, and the Slam Dunk Contest was innovative. In the same era, NBA players would participate in summer league games and play in places like the Rucker League in New York, which was considered a rite of passage.

The NBA has priced itself out of gratuitous competition except when it counts — and it counts during the playoffs. The All-Star Game is largely a social extravaganza with a little basketball sprinkled in.

Today’s players are more athletic than ever. They’ve been playing more basketball than ever. They’ve been competing at multiple levels longer than ever. They also play a rigorous 82-game schedule. The All-Star Game is simply a bridge to the rest of the NBA schedule and the playoffs.

Stop the handwringing and accept it.

In 2023, the National Football League recognized that it was ludicrous to hold a full contact Pro Bowl Game and transitioned to a flag football game and skills contest.

The National Hockey League temporarily dropped its all-star format this month in favor of the 4 Nations Face-Off featuring teams representing Canada, Finland, Sweeden, and the United States. The tournament will wrap on Wednesday. The competition, from everything I’ve read, has been ferocious.

Every year with varying degrees of un-success, the NBA has attempted all different types of configurations to rekindle interest and excitement in its All-Star Game. None of the formats have achieved the result of restoring a competitive edge to the game.

But why should there be an “edge” in an exhibition game?

This year, the league adopted a mini-tournament format featuring four teams: three teams of NBA All-Stars and the winners of the Rising Stars Challenge that was played on Feb. 14. Charles Barkley’s Global Stars won the first game. Shaquille O’Neil’s OGs defeated the Rising Stars coached by Candace Parker. The OG’s defeated the Global Stars in a lackluster, anti-climactic championship game typically devoid of defense and consistent effort.

That effort will come during the playoffs and in select games needed to qualify for the playoffs. Why is that so difficult for critics to understand?

You’d think that an appreciation for NBA All-Stars playing hard would have been satisfied during the Paris Olympics this summer when the United States men’s team played brilliantly — coming back to beat Serbia in the semifinal game, then winning the gold medal by defeating France. We saw LeBron James at his best, Stephen Curry at his best, Kevin Durant at his best. Why anyone would expect that kind of effort in a meaningless All-Star Game is beyond me.

But since the NBA continues to throw ideas against the wall, here’s a suggestion for the 2026 All-Star Game in Los Angeles.

Next year, the iconic Harlem Globetrotters will celebrate the team’s 100th anniversary. The NBA should acknowledge the Globetrotters anniversary in its showcase game by returning to the East/West format and by naming the teams Team Globetrotters and Team Rens in honor of the New York Renaissance, the first Black-owned professional basketball team. Each team would wear the Globetrotters and Rens uniforms.

Given all the gimmicks the NBA has tried, why not lean into real Black history?

The Globetrotters were Showtime before the Lakers. What was considered clowning at the time— slick ball handing, “trick” shots, long-range shooting, even the dunks — have long become a standard part of the NBA game. And the ‘Trotters, along with the Rens, were a refuge for great Black players banned from playing in white professional leagues.

Along with the Harlem Rens, the Globetrotters took on the best competition each of them could find. In 1939, the Rens won the inaugural World Championship of Professional Basketball tournament. In the 1940s and 1950s, the ‘Trotters could have made a claim to being the best team in the United States.

They beat powerful, all-white Minneapolis Lakers teams in 1948 and 1949, and some make the argument that the Globetrotters’ high-profile victories pushed the NBA to desegregate in 1950. Former Globetrotter Nathaniel “Sweetwater” Clifton signed with the New York Knicks, becoming the first Black player to sign an NBA contract. That same year, Chuck Cooper became the first player drafted by an NBA team when the Boston Celtics took him. Also in 1950, Earl Lloyd became the first African American to play in an NBA game.

At a time when attempts are being made to whitewash Black history, a Globetrotters/Rens NBA All-Star Game next year in Los Angeles would present an opportunity for the league to set the record straight. Such a game on the NBA’s main stage would educate many of its players and tell the public how the NBA came to have an abundance of Black players.

Indeed, if the league’s players study the Globetrotters’ history and the parallel history of the Harlem Rens, they might be compelled, without gimmicks, to take the game seriously. By doing so, the players would honor these two iconic franchises and the Black men who played on them.

Sunday’s All-Star Game was a valiant swing and miss by the NBA at restoring the All-Star Game’s luster. Next year, the NBA should pay tribute.

Yes, the NBA All-Star Game is an exhibition, but a Globetrotters-Rens tribute is powerful history.