“He’s got the ball in his hands again… to Garnett… back to KOBE!”
That was Bob Costas’ call of Kobe Bryant’s thrilling alley-oop dunk in transition off an assist from Kevin Garnett in the 1998 NBA All-Star Game. A marquee matchup that took place in Madison Square Garden, it was the first All-Star Game where Bryant and Michael Jordan both played, and featured a star-studded roster with many big names. The final score saw the East taking victory 135-114, and Jordan receiving the honor of All-Star Game MVP.
Let’s contrast that with the 2024 NBA All-Star Game from a couple of weeks ago. It was played in Indiana, a state that could be associated with historic basketball (the lore of the Indiana Hoosiers comes to mind), and featured a profusion of young and veteran talent from across the league. It also came with a change of pace from games played in years prior, as it was a return to the traditional “East vs West” format that had not been seen since 2017. With all this in mind, one would think that this year’s All-Star Game would be just as good, or if not better, than ones played in years past. And yet, fans, reporters and coaches alike watched a game in Indianapolis that was the most unserious and competitive they had ever seen.
That’s not to say that today’s NBA lacks the talent it once had. Not at all. In fact, many would say it is bubbling with talent, with players in today’s era being more skilled and more athletic than their ’90s counterparts. Take a look at Nikola Jokic, who is seen by many executives as the best player in the league. Despite being relatively slow in terms of lateral quickness, as well as not being a traditionally great defender in the paint, his sublime ability to score easily in the paint or at the three point line, as well as his superb passing, makes him a serious threat to anyone defending him on the floor. And there are countless other all stars who share Jokic’s Swiss Army knife style of play. Or future All-Stars, such as the 7-foot-4 rookie Victor Wembanyama, who has been dubbed “the alien” by fans for his otherworldly potential on the basketball court. So if no fault can be found in the players talent and skill set, why was this year’s All-Star Game so lackluster?
The answer may sound cliché but it’s true. The NBA All-Star weekend lacks the heart and soul it once did. And it is because of the subpar effort of the players. The All-Star Game used to be a prestigious event, a true privilege to play in where NBA athletes would give their all. Now it looks like they are not even playing as hard as they would during a summertime scrimmage. The final score of this year’s All-Star Game was 211-186. That looks like something you would see in an NBA2k game, where your younger brother tinkered with the sliders so he could play on the easiest difficulty. This was, of course, the most points ever scored by a team in the All-Star Game, and the most points ever scored by both teams, with a total of 397. That wasn’t the only record broken either. There were a combined 67 three point field goals made, as a barrage of shots from beyond the arc would not cease throughout the game. Damian Lillard won MVP, but he was far from the only player who racked up points on both rosters. Lillard scored 39, but Tyrese Halliburton, the hometown hero point guard playing for the Indiana Pacers, scored 32. Jaylen Brown of the Boston Celtics scored 36. On the west side, Karl Anthony-Towns of Minnesota casually dropped 50 points, while OKC Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 31. Reading that list of players, does this look like a realistic game, passionately played with suffocating defense? By no means!
Every year the game seems to get worse, while the talent on the floor is just as good, if not better than ever before. And frankly, it will not change until the players feel motivated to show effort. I, as well as many others, understand that players do not want to play so hard as to get injured. What we are simply asking for is a final score that does not look cartoonish, and for players to show a little more enthusiasm in an event that was once a great honor.
The dunk contest did not have much to offer either, which has been in decline each year since the peak of the contest in 2015 and 2016, where players such as Zach Lavine, Victor Oladipo and Aaron Gordon gave impressive feats of athleticism that will remain in the consciousness of NBA fans for years to come. While the three point contest was slightly better, as Lillard also won that one, the only occurrence that really stood out was the special contest between Stephen Curry and WNBA sharpshooter Sabrina Ionescu. The fact of the matter is that fans are growing tired of three point contests that are not as thrilling as they once seemed and dunks that they have already seen. To shake it up, I propose to shut down not just the NBA All-Star Game, but the whole weekend in general. In place of it, fans can watch and experience special exhibition contests like the one we saw between Ionescu and Curry, which was the big draw out of all of the events. It is often said “You don’t know what you got until it’s gone.” Perhaps, with a short break of a few years, the NBA All-Star Game and other events can return with players having a renewed sense of enthusiasm and vigor, where the game is not a chore but a place where they can embrace their accomplishments and put their heart into what they are doing.
