The 2026 NBA All-Star Weekend was an up-and-down experience, although the actual main event on Sunday was competitive, and a result of that, entertaining.
Saturday night was a different story however, with the dunk contest in particular an absolute disaster. But Phoenix Suns' owner Mat Ishbia has an actual solution to fix this broken event.
Ishbia offering $1 million to winner of 2027 dunk contest
Ishbia has never been afraid to spend money when it is required, and landing the 2027 All-Star game (having hosted the WNBA equivalent already) was seen as a coup.
Which makes offering $1 million to the winner of the competition when it takes place in The Valley next year, plus a further $1 million to the winner of the 3-point contest, such a home run.
Mat Ishbia has gotten a lot of warranted criticism for the way he managed the Suns over the past several years—quite a bit of it from me—but between stuff like this, putting Suns games over the air and food prices at their games, he’s at the very least a very fan-friendly owner. https://t.co/qYbIR6Yq10
— Sam Quinn (@SamQuinnCBS) February 25, 2026
Beginning with the obvious, and it is clear from the Emirates NBA Cup that having money on the line gets guys to care.
That being said, the ones who profit the most from a cup run are the end of the bench players who are not on massive, multi-year deals.
So even though Ishbia is trying to entice stars to get involved, it is still names such as Jase Richardson and Jaxson Hayes (who both did not have great outings in Los Angeles) who are sure to be interested.
Also giving the same amount of money to the 3-point contest even though it is not broken and is very entertaining is a nice touch, although it would also be cool to open it up to WNBA players.
We're not here to talk about the financial state of that league with a new CBA yet to be agreed upon, but you have to imagine the top names would want to be involved for that kind of figure.
Unfortunately for Ishbia it is unclear if this is actually allowed per the rules of the NBA, although there is time yet to figure that part out.
If he could get this through and convince some more well known players to take part, it would make next year's midseason exhibition even more memorable.
It is just unfortunate that the Suns themselves don't have a player who could take part in the contest, although Devin Booker is sure to be back for the 3-point showdown.
You can never fault Ishbia for coming up with ways to make the product better though, and this is another example fans can easily get behind.