The NBA’s latest attempt to fix the All-Star Game drew a mixed reaction from the players involved, according to Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press.
Amid declining ratings and a feeling that the All-Stars weren’t motivated enough to really compete, the league scrapped the traditional 48-minute game and divided the players into four teams — three of which were selected by TNT personalities Shaquille O’Neal, Charles Barkley and Kenny Smith and the other consisting of young players who advanced through Friday’s Rising Stars event.
The teams played three mini-games to 40, with O’Neal’s team defeating Barkley’s in the finals and hometown favorite Stephen Curry winning MVP honors. Curry is among those who welcome the changes after last year’s lifeless 211-186 contest.
“I think it was a good step in the right direction to reinvigorate the game in some way,” he said. “And then you tinker with it again next year and see what changes you can make. I don’t want to compare it to any other era because the world has changed, life is different, the way people consume basketball is different. So, it’s not going to look like it used to. But it still can be fun for everybody.”
More defense was on display this year, Reynolds observes, as the teams shot 50% in the three mini-games, as opposed to 56% a year ago. There were also three combined blocked shots in 48 minutes in the 2024 game, a number that was matched in the first three minutes of the opening contest.
Jalen Brunson is also intrigued by the new format, but suggests that the games should be longer. Jayson Tatum questions the idea of having Rising Stars involved in one of the league’s showcase events.
“Obviously happy for those guys,” Tatum said. “But there is something to be said, it’s kind of a big deal to be an All-Star and play Sunday night. Some guys get snubbed and other guys have to work really, really hard to make the All-Star Game. Playing on Sunday night is special, and it always has been. I’m not saying that that was the right or wrong decision. Trial run, I guess. They’ll continue to make tweaks or whatever.”
There were also concerns that the night had too many stoppages for entertainment purposes, per Michael C. Wright of ESPN. Time was set aside for emcee Kevin Hart to banter with the crowd, and there was a 20-minute break during the final game for a retrospective on the TNT crew.
“To be honest, I didn’t like it at all,” Trae Young said. “I didn’t like the breaks. The games were so short. Obviously, we can score. So, they’re trying to, I feel like, trying to extend the game, extend the TV time with the breaks and things like that.”
Here are a few more reactions from players and media members:
- Draymond Green, who served as a guest commentator during the broadcast, was also critical of including the young players and the format change in general (Twitter video link from NBA Central). “I had to work so hard to play on Sunday night of All-Star Weekend,” he said. “And because ratings are down and the game is bad, we’re bringing in rising stars. That’s not a fix.”
- Damian Lillard prefers the traditional East-West matchup and said he would be fine with borrowing Major League Baseball’s idea by giving home-court advantage in the Finals to the conference that wins, per Rachel Nichols of Fox Sports 1 (Twitter link). Lillard also suggested replacing the Rising Stars with an “all-snub” team of players who weren’t selected for the game.
- Responding to a question about replacing the game with a one-on-one tournament, Kevin Durant said he’d “probably” take part (Twitter video link from Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic). “You never know. We never thought we’d see a tournament in an All-Star weekend, either,” Durant said. “Anything is up in the air. I think (NBA commissioner Adam Silver) and those guys are doing a great job of pushing the envelope, trying to be creative, trying to reignite the All-Star weekend. That might be a solution.”
- Tim Kawakami of The San Francisco Standard suggests separating All-Stars by age, matching a team of under-30 players with those 30 and older (Twitter link).
- Rod Beard of The Detroit News gave the new format a one-star review, calling it “nearly unwatchable” and a “disjointed patchwork” of basketball and entertainment. He pointed to Cade Cunningham, who only got to play five minutes in his first All-Star appearance because of the shortened games. Beard suggests dividing the All-Stars into three eight-player teams and putting them into a round robin competition.
I like the one-on-one idea.
They’re willing to try everything EXCEPT the one thing that would make the event meaningful:
USA vs The World.
And, we know why they don’t wanna do that.
All star games aren’t meaningful.
All the players complaining about the rising stars getting to play in the all star game because they worked so hard to become all stars and play on SUNDAY NIGHT… the actual all stars have put so little effort into the games for so long how do they seriously critisize that? That’s a complete affront to all the fans. At least the idea of if these guys refuse to take it seriously maybe someone else will.
I’m a total hoops junkie. I not only watch NBA religiously, I watch, Gleauge, Euroleague and the NBL.
I haven’t watched anything to do with the all-star game in 20 years.
It’s a joke,
USA vs World should be the format. We have reached to new heights with worldwide NBA talent. Jokic/Luka/Wemby/Shai etc versus USA’s best in Steph/KD/Edwards etc. That would be fun to watch. I just don’t see enough players caring about the game or the events themselves. The game has reached global heights and levels that we never thought majority would see 20-30 years ago. Talent is there, it’s just the drive and hunger to be better than your fellow peers in a exhibition game is what is missing.
USA vs World will not change a thing. Luka will still chuck up 3’s and play zero defense. The behavior of this generation of NBA players is not going to change. Even regular season games are starting to look like all-star style play: tons of 3’s and limited defense. Comparing this to the NHL format of 4 Nations is idiotic. In the case of the NHL, the rosters mirror more of an Olympic style bracket with individual countries represented, versus the generic ‘World’ approach. That is where the pride factor comes from. A collection of non-USA all-stars is NOT going to rally behind some made for tv emotional theme.
You can’t force an alcoholic to quite drinking because you want them to. They have to want it for themselves to effectively change. Same goes for the NBA players. We can force any new format we want, hoping they change their approach to the event for the better. Until they take personal ownership in this process, you will continue to see the same crap we saw last night. Half court three pointers mid game, along with wide open lay-ups in ‘crunch time.’
I wonder how the hockey version of four different national teams playing against each other turned out in the ratings.
I know here in Florida. A lot of people were excited to watch it and so perhaps the NBA can try a variation of it? Probably not enough players from three other countries to make it competitive, but I’ve thought of this…
How about different states? The four best all-star teams from states? We could have California New York and whatever other states have the most All-Stars.
That could be regional pride to play for? It could be either where guys were born or you could have all stars from California Versus three other regions perhaps the south or the north east and then the fourth the Midwest from current NBA teams the guys play for? Either way, whatever works?
I don’t know. I just think that hockey did well this year. Maybe the NBA can try some form of that?
They should do what baseball had done – make the winner also the home town advantage when the finals arrive. At least then there’s something to play for and represent.
Baseball stopped doing that for a reason.
They need to add “to play for” theme like MLB does with the World Series. Throw in an NFL version of X amount of dollars for a win. They need to do something because NBA All-Star games are boring and unexciting to watch. It’s non competitive and strictly a showcase for offense only. I rather watch cars going in circles or men chasing a tiny ball down the fairway than the All-Star game.
probably time to stop asking the players what they think. the all star game is for the FANS, and their message is pretty clear: if the players aren’t going to compete, then we’re not going to watch. by all means, have the voting so the players still get the recognition (not to mention the contract incentive), but it’s time to give up on actually playing the game.
What an awful format. It just keeps getting worse. Make the all star game mean something, like home court for finals and go back to conference vs. Or us v world and somehow making it count for the finals.
Isn’t this debate a microcosm of the actual games? I have my doubts of the % of people who keep up with the nba and actually watch at least a half of a game. I would expect this number to be an all time low.
I can’t imagine any formula that could make the all star game better. Full 100% trying defense would dissuade even more players to not participate. And certainly a few injuries, as these are much more common.