It's time to watch our favorite NBA All-Stars play again -- in an old-timers' game

Just imagine the scene. Magic Johnson waddles the ball up the court. On one side of the broken break, he has Shaquille O’Neal lumbering as if he’s recovering from one of his famous trip-and-falls on Inside the NBA. On his other side is all-time great shooter Reggie Miller trudging through the mud of the hardwood.

Magic had Showtime. Now, he’d have slowtime. The fastbreak might fall apart, but somehow, if only for the one throwback pass from Magic, if only for the nostalgia, we’d all want to watch.

The NBA needs an old-timers' game on All-Star Weeekend.

It's happened before, although admittedly with mixed results. The NBA first experimented with a "Legends Game" in 1957, according to Wikipedia, and tried again in 1964. Then, the idea stayed dormant for a while, until 1984 — a game which still exists for the most part on YouTube:

The Legends Game continued into the early 1990s, when the league canceled the concept because of injury concerns and a disparity in ability between younger and older retired players.

But an entire generation (or two) of NBA superstars has cycled through the league since then, many of whom are now Hall of Famers. More importantly, they've remained in the public eye through various broadcasting and entertainment endeavors. We see these guys on TV all the time, and we see them talking basketball. Doesn't it make you kind of wonder if they have anything left?

Besides, doesn’t it irk you just a little when some player from the ‘90s reminisces about how much better the game was back in his day? Don’t you want to know if that’s actually true? And wouldn’t it be cool to see him back it up ... quite literally back it up if it’s a post player getting wistful about the days of behind-to-the-basket play? Conversely, don’t you want to see Miller dart to the 3-point line on that break as if he’s Klay Thompson? The adjusted parts of the game — especially for shooters, considering shooting is usually the final skill to erode with age — could yield endless fun moments.

Of course, the retirees wouldn’t be going all out. They’re in their 40s and 50s. Maybe their 60s. But this doesn’t have to be about just the players. The NBA could bring everything ‘80s and ‘90s back: The music, the culture, the short shorts, Ahmad Rashad. Heck, we can even pry former referee Dick Bavetta from the ranch he retired to and have him officiate one last game — and maybe he can race Charles Barkley again while he’s at it.

In the end, All-Star Weekend is supposed to be fun. In some ways, it’s become routine.

We have the celebrity game, a made-for-TV event which seems to be lacking in big names each year and which, frankly, isn’t so great on TV. We have the dunk contest and 3-point contest, which can be hit or miss. We have the All-Star Game, which is good for some alley-oops and fun highlights, but which isn’t actually a basketball game.

An old-timers' game wouldn’t be a basketball game, either. If you have a problem with the lack of defense you see on Sunday nights during All-Star Weekend, then you’d certainly be up in arms while watching former All-Stars go at it years after their primes. But it’s worth it for the sentimentality. It’s worth it to see Barkley panting. It’s worth it to watch one last potentially brilliant dime from Magic or to see if Michael Jordan still has a smidge of greatness in him. One hook shot from Kareem Abdul-Jabbar or a barely-off-the-ground, bottom-of-the-rim-scraping dunk from Dominique Wilkins would send the crowd roaring — and deservedly so.

So, make it happen, NBA. Shake up All-Star Weekend. And when looking for something new, you might be able to find the best in something old.