The Pro Bowl was never as hard-hitting as a regular season or even a preseason NFL game. But for many years, it still served as a suitable showcase for the league’s best players to give about 75% and entertain the fans. In recent years, however, the game has completely fallen by the wayside.
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The days of Sean Taylor laying out punters in Honolulu are long gone. As injury and health concerns grew, the game was replaced with a 7-on-7 flag football version, sidelining the big men in the trenches who make it all happen on the field.
They don’t even go to Hawaii anymore. Instead, they host the rebranded “Pro Bowl Games” in the much less exciting location of Orlando. So, the question is: Could hoops be the answer to what ails the Pro Bowl celebrations?
Clearly, something’s got to give. Not only is there no game with pads anymore, but even the competitions and events themselves are lacking creativity and excitement. They did a golf-inspired event at last year’s Pro Bowl Games, so why not add another sport that even more NFL players love: basketball.
The debate between NFL and NBA players about which league is tougher and which set of players would have more success crossing over has been raging over the last year like it never has before. There is obviously a demand for basketball among NFLers, so adding a basketball-themed event to the Pro Bowl Games could be a possibility.
It would continue to take the Pro Bowl Games away from their roots, but they’ve got to try something. The Slam Dunk contest has taken a massive hit to its credibility in the NBA, so perhaps the NFL could stage their own version and do it right. One fan thinks an “NFL dunk contest might go hard.” We would tend to agree.
Another was excited about the possibility of a basketball game, saying they’re “definitely trying to watch Myles Garrett post up Tyreek Hill in a basketball game!”
The overwhelming majority of responses did not look kindly on the idea, however. It does take the weekend further away from football, and, as another fan said, it’s “too risky. I can just see somebody f***ing their ankle or something. A three-point shot contest, maybe.”
Too risky. I can just see somebody fucking their ankle or something. A three-point shot contest, maybe.
— Harry Berries (@MrHarryBerries) April 11, 2025
“I would watch basketball if that’s what I wanted to watch,” another added.
For our money, the best way to fix the Pro Bowl is to go back to its roots. No, we don’t mean the padded game. That’s long gone at this point. But we could at least go back to the classic competitions of the Pro Bowls of days gone by. Things like fastest man (when it includes the actual fastest players in the game), strongest man (bench press), distance kicking, best hands, and QB accuracy.
