Feb 18, 2024; Indianapolis, Indiana, USA; Eastern Conference forward Giannis Antetokounmpo (34) of the Milwaukee Bucks defends Western Conference forward LeBron James (23) of the Los Angeles Lakers during the first quarter in the 73rd NBA All Star game at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. Mandatory Credit: Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports
NBA: 73rd All Star Game-Western at Eastern
(Indianapolis, IN) – One night before the latest NBA All-Star Game, commissioner Adam Silver still had hope.
“I think we’re going to see a good game,” he said. But 24-hours later? Not so much.
The 73rd All-Star game resembled past contests where defense was more or less nonexistent. When it was all over, the Eastern Conference had set a record by scoring over 200 points to secure the exhibition victory. As the late, great Kobe Bryant infamously said: guys try harder at UCLA pickup games. And Silver wasn’t pleased, saying after the game: “And to the Eastern Conference All-Stars, you scored the most points… Well … congratulations.”
It wasn’t supposed to go like this.
The NBA had tasked former Detroit Pistons guard and current executive vice president and head of basketball operations Joe Dumars with making a change. Getting top effort out of the All-Stars was the priority. Sadly that didn’t come to pass. The energy level was low on the court and in the stands, with scant defense to be found.
Case-in-point: Lakers C Anthony Davis said his favorite moment involved hype teams from the Chicago Bulls and Indianapolis Pacers putting on a display: “I think the best [moment], we were talking about it, was the Bulls and the Pacers dunkers. With the trampoline? They were very, very impressive.”
Well, at least there’s that. Silver was likely hoping for more. Davis went further in describing his views on the league’s mid-season showcase.
“Obviously the fans and the league and everybody wants to be competitive, but then you also as players think about trying not to get hurt. Obviously injuries are a part of the game, and no one wants to get hurt in the All-Star Game. … All these guys here are very valuable to their teams. So it’s some mixed emotions about it. You try to go out there and compete a little bit and not just be a highlight show. But at the same time, do you guys really want to see somebody going down for a dunk and somebody going to contest it and, God forbid, something happens in the All-Star Game when it could have been avoided?”
And Davis perfectly highlighted the absurdity of the situation with that quote. These days, top NBA talent can’t be expected to play an entire season. Rather than risk injury, or late season effectiveness, the NBA has embraced “load management.” When that sort of silliness is the norm for regular season games that actually count in the standings, what can be expected from a meaningless All-Star game?
Lebron James, who just set a record by appearing in his 20th All-Star game, says something needs to change. “I think it’s something we need to figure out. Obviously from a player’s perspective, it’s fun to get up and down. But at the end of the day, our competitive nature don’t like to have free-flowing scoring like that. But I think the good thing that came out of tonight was none of the players were injured, and everybody came out unscathed or how they were before the game started. So it’s a deeper conversation.”
The truth is, no matter the sport, All-Star games have lost their luster. At this point, it’s merely an in-season award and acknowledgement. The game itself is not only an afterthought, it’s pointless.
