The issue is them catering too around Lebron who's clearly out here just stat padding not trying to win a championship. Put guys in there who appreciate the ASG and want to be there.
I cant help but feel an 80+ game season is a domino that leads to uncompetitive NBA AS game. To many games -> to many injuries -> s**t AS game because people want to rest & not get hurt. Also Jokic is there and he is only in America for his 9 to 5 lol
I don’t watch anymore. I just can’t. I too feel it’s gotten to be simply a break for the players. Gamesmanship, give a damn, those all left a couple decades ago.
I really can't give a damn about it if it's not West vs. East. Not that I cared all that much before, but I completely stopped following as soon as they started doing the draft gimmick, and I definitely don't care for any of the other gimmicks they've introduced since. From what I hear, they might as well be playing H-O-R-S-E out there, it'd make just as much sense as the current format.
Don't take it so seriously, it's just an all-star game and break to see all the stars play at once and have fun. Not trying to see guys get hurt or intensely compete. Just go through the motions and have a good time Not trying to see an intense championship format competition, like the NFL Pro Bowl or other contact sports just have fun. Fans need to lighten up sometimes.
Ending the game wouldn't be a problem. Nobody cares. Same with the skills contest. Dunk contest is ok and so is the 3 point contest. Rising Stars can stay too. Gives some guys you might not see regularly a chance to showcase their talent
Agree with this. Regardless of how many people complain about it, the game still gets somewhat good ratings, even though it's dipping like the NBA ratings in general. It also gives a needed in season break, unless/until they cut the season down to ~50 games, which is a different conversation. If you don't like the game don't watch, but it's still going to serve a purpose. I was also somewhat liking the new format during the first two games. There was a bit more of a competitive edge in those games, especially with the game with the Rising Stars. But then the breaks ruined it and the last game was really bad. I flipped it off and turned it back on during the last game. Would've turned it back off but it was pretty short and the 8 second call made it worthwhile.
Do you watch the Pro Bowl? Game is pointless. I get they don't want to get hurt and don't care so why play it at all. Put the best shooters in the 3 point contest and the best athletes in the dunk contest
I'm not sure "don't get hurt" and "best athletes in the dunk contest" are compatible either. Ja jumping over cars or maybe hot coals to keep up with Mac probably wouldn't be any safer than going out and really competing for ~20 minutes in a live game. I think there's a better chance of somehow unlocking these guys competitive side in the actual game than getting top tier stars to regularly compete in the dunk contest, especially because they don't want to look bad missing dunks. We may get it next year because these guys are getting their competitive switch turned on to dethrone Mac, but it won't be a regular occurrence.
i’m reminded of an old buffett quote to invest in businesses so wonderful even an idiot can run them, because eventually one will. and it now appears this league was unfortunately not sufficiently wonderful enough to be able to weather $ilver’s scheming
What you say makes sense but the All Star game has just become extremely boring. I just can't enjoy it. Maybe if some our players are more involved I'll change my tune
Oh, you could definitely get effort. All it takes is money. Lots and lots of money. I’m talking about huge money to the winners and nothing for the losers.
They’re now trying to cheat in the Skills Challenge How many times are you going to watch the same dunk? ASG is a dead horse “But what if we incentivize with money?” “But what if we have more all stars and more all star teams?” “But what if we go back to East vs West?” “But what if we go back to what the Rising Stars once was and have Team World vs Team USA?” Cancel ALL all-star games across all sports. They’ve outlived their usefulness. Give the players a week off or move your gimmicky NBA Cup to February.
I haven't watched it in at least 15 years. Works fine for me. edit: I actually just remembered that the last time I watched, Brent Barry won the slam dunk contest. So I think it's been a lot longer than 15 years.
I agree this is how to manage expectations when watching the game. But most of us watch and follow sports for high level competition and watching these guys goof around for a full game just isn't entertaining for most people. I had kind of stopped watching most ASGs other than maybe flipping in for ~10 minutes or so. Gave the new format a shot this year and thought the first two games were actually kind of entertaining. But it was a train wreck after that and I'll probably go back to flipping it on for 10-15 minutes next year. I'm not going to get mad about it though, because I understand why it's devolved into players jacking around.
Anonymous GM is right. https://frontofficesports.com/nba-all-star-nbc-changes/ Sources who were in the Bay Area this weekend—in hotel lobbies and at cocktail parties and sponsorship events—say several changes for the weekend are being discussed for next year even before Sunday’s game tipped off. An earlier start NBC has a gauntlet of premium live sports rights in early 2026, including the Super Bowl in the Bay Area, the Winter Olympics in Milan, and NBA All-Star Weekend in Los Angeles. NBC and the NBA have discussed starting the NBA All-Star Game at 5 p.m. Eastern next year, sources told Front Office Sports. This makes sense on several levels, both for the network and sports fans at large. Sunday’s All-Star Game started after 8 p.m. and didn’t finish until around 11 on the East Coast. Next year’s All-Star game is scheduled in the middle of the Winter Olympics, but Milan is six hours ahead of the U.S. Eastern Time Zone, meaning even a 5 p.m. start would be after that day’s Olympic sports had mostly finished. The 2026 All-Star Game is set for Feb. 15, while the Olympics will be Feb. 6–22. A one-on-one tournament The upstart Unrivaled league recently held a one-on-one tournament, won by cofounder Napheesa Collier for a $200,000 grand prize. One spy told FOS that a $1 million prize has been discussed for a one-on-one event at NBA All-Star Weekend. During pregame media availability, Rachel Nichols asked Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo if he would be interested in competing in a one-on-one event, noting that Kyrie Irving and James Harden had already indicated they’d be up for it. “Yeah for sure,” Antetokounmpo said. “If I had the chance to play one-on-one with anybody, I’d love to do it. Anything that can make the weekend more exciting, more fun, for the viewers and for the fans and for the players, I would love to participate.” Antetokounmpo emphasized that this tournament would put an emphasis on defense and could highlight fascinating stylistic mismatches like Irving vs. Victor Wembanyama—who could get stops? Antetokounmpo stopped short of “promising” that he’d play, but reiterated his interest. During his press conference, Antetokounmpo also proposed a USA vs. World format for the All-Star Game—a variation of the idea that the NHL had great success with this past weekend—where the weekend rotates between domestic and international locations. Responding to a FOS tweet summarizing his idea, Antetokounmpo wrote, “2027 All star game should be in Rio de Janeiro or in a city in China!” (2027 is set for Phoenix, but 2028 is still up for grabs.) Stars in Dunk Contest For years, everyone involved with the NBA has been trying to figure out a way to get the league’s stars to be willing to participate in the Slam Dunk Contest.
The play-in has been great for the product overall. I'm not even sure what the argument is against it at this point. The in-season tournament has been a net positive overall so far, though not a game-changer and I don't know if it will last long term. I think Silver and everyone would love to go back to East/West and have the players go out and really compete, but they are trying to come up with something to flip the competitive switch with these guys. This format seemed to actually sort of work with the first two games but the long break and all the rando stuff during the break pretty much killed that.
Getting rid of back to backs would be my all star game. Udoka said something like 'we will give back the rest from the All Star Break with all these back to backs.'
