Ironically, the most publicized game Deni Avdija has ever played, the one that definitively turned him into a national icon, the one that kept thousands of Israelis who had never cared about the NBA awake until 5 a.m. local time watching, the one that elevated his standing in the league and in global basketball, lacked any real competitive value. It had no importance, no memorable moment, no meaning and, to be honest, very little interest. The entire weekend was a major snooze.
All-Star weekend, once one of the highlights of the NBA season, when the league's true superstars competed, including in the dunk and three-point contests, and actually tried to play basketball, has become a problem for the league.
For nearly a decade, complete nobodies have been winning the dunk contest. What was once the crown jewel, featuring legends such as Julius Erving, Michael Jordan, Dominique Wilkins, Tracy McGrady and the dunk god himself, Vince Carter, has turned into an event less creative and less competitive than many amateur dunk competitions on YouTube.
Were it not for the sidelined Damian Lillard winning the three-point contest, that event too would have faded entirely. Once an integral part of Larry Bird's myth and a battleground for the greatest shooters of every generation, it has also become largely forgettable.
That is still nothing compared to the game itself. It has become so noncompetitive, so casual, so devoid of even the appearance of real effort, that the league has experimented with four different formats in six years, each failing more dramatically than the last.
At this point, there seems to be no way to motivate the overpaid and overexposed multimillionaires to guard one another or care about the outcome. Even crowd-pleasing plays are rare. There are plenty of smiles, lots of laughter and a cool reunion of superstars, but painfully dull basketball on the court.
Commissioner Adam Silver, who announced at his traditional All-Star press conference that he is considering every possible path, including preventing teams from taking tanking too far, also hinted that canceling the All-Star Game altogether, or moving it to a different time of year in a completely different format, is not off the table.
In short, the event is at a historic low point. The league itself is also grappling with structural and fundamental issues that will require clear and decisive solutions before competitiveness suffers irreparable damage.
He tried harder in practice
And into this exact moment, into this situation, stepped Avdija to experience the peak of his career, and one of the biggest moments in Israeli sports history. Is there really any need to analyze those mini-games? It felt like a neighborhood pickup between three groups of friends. Does the final score truly matter? Is there any reason to break down Avdija's 15 minutes statistically or linger over his performance? I can assure you that in every single practice he held this season, he worked harder and invested more. The result, the stat line and the plays he made carry no real significance. Their importance lies in their very existence.
Yes, the pinnacle event of Avdija's career was one in which the only meaningful element was participation itself. At the Olympics, there is no medal for showing up, yet reaching the Games is an achievement in its own right. Avdija's achievement is enormous, and it will soon be reflected in a max contract, perhaps even a supermax. It will show in his status with referees, in the respect he commands alongside Nikola Jokic, Victor Wembanyama and Luka Doncic. This is part of a player's swagger in the league and part of his media standing.
From that status flow tangible on-court consequences: usage rate, minutes, shot attempts, whistles from referees and the way other players treat him. In that respect, Avdija entered a very important and very senior club in the league.
One All-Star appearance is not enough
But a single appearance is not enough. The potential is for five, six or seven consecutive All-Star Games, for consistent selection to the All-NBA Third Team and Second Team, and perhaps even the First Team. To put it plainly: the probability that Avdija will one day be the MVP of this league is higher than the probability that Israel's national soccer team will qualify for the next World Cup.
Yes, the gap between Israeli soccer and international soccer has grown that wide. And yes, the gap between the best Israeli basketball player, with three Israelis currently playing in the NBA and two or three more on the way, and the very best basketball players in the world has narrowed that dramatically.
