The 2024 NBA All-Star Game was not great.
The return of the format that pits the Western Conference All-Stars versus the Eastern Conference All-Stars produced a blowout as the East scored the most points in All-Star game history in a 211-186 win.
When NBA Commissioner Adam Silver awarded the trophy to the Eastern Conference, he seemed to begrudgingly
"To the Eastern Conference All-Stars, you scored the most points — Well, congratulations," Silver said.
Silver has expressed that he was hoping this game would be more competitive than in years past. But that was clearly not the case as the game was filled with players chucking one wide-open three after another.
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There was mass criticism about the game and some of the biggest names in sports media made their displeasure heard.
ESPN's Stephen A. Smith hopped on "First Take" on Monday, Feb 19 and criticized the effort of the players.
"What transpired last night was an absolute travesty," Smith said. "No defense, no effort whatsoever. This is the ultimate indictment against the NBA stars who show up on NBA All-Star Weekend: You play harder in the Summer League when you're training. That's all anybody's asking ... You can give the fans at least that."
But Smith said as presently constructed, he doesn't think this game is fixable.
Smith's partner, Shannon Sharpe, said the game was "not as bad as the Pro Bowl," which is the NFL's All-Star game equivalent that has already gotten rid of tackle football to protect its players from injury. But he still agreed with all of Smith's points.
"[The game] has basically morphed into lay-ups, dunks, and threes," Sharpe said. "There is a blatant disregard for the game ... these are the best players in the world and that is ridiculous."
Former NBA players Kendrick Perkins and Austin Rivers also reacted to the game on ESPN's "NBA Today."
“It was embarrassing and it was disrespectful to the game of basketball, to the NBA," Perkins said. "To be an NBA All-Star, it’s an honor!"
Perkins never made the game in his 14-year career, but used that as a way to show the prestige of the award.
"Do you know how I would've felt if I made the All-Star game?" Perkins said.
He then pointed to one obvious solution: player incentives.
"Players wont say it publicly, but in order to move the needle, in order to get an All-Star game where they're actually competing, you know what's going to have to happen: the NBA is going to have to increase the incentives," Perkins said.
Perkins said that it's probably going to have to monetary incentive for the players, similar to the $500,000 prize that was given for the winners of the NBA's inaugural In-Season Tournament.
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"This past weekend was a tough watch," Rivers said. "Listen, I'm not expecting guys to be Game 7, dive on the floor, give everything you've got. But there's a fine line between not playing hard and even what they did last night."
Rivers pointed at a tweet that his ESPN colleague Scott Van Pelt posted during the game.
"It's really simple: if you don't care, neither do we," Van Pelt wrote.
It’s really simple: if you don’t care, neither do we.
— Scott Van Pelt (@notthefakeSVP) February 19, 2024
Another ESPN voice, JJ Redick, who was just promoted to the lead broadcast team that will call the NBA Finals, said he isn't aware of what to do exactly.
"I don't know that there's a fix," Redick said. "We gotta figure it out."
The 15-year NBA veteran said he doesn't know the mindset of the players because he was never an All-Star, but knows they have many obligations during the week for the league. He just isn't sure what exactly they need.
Redick's former boss, The Ringer founder Bill Simmons, did offer an interesting solution. He pointed at the 1991 NBA All-Star game which the was only a two-point win by the Eastern Conference.
There were less than 20 three-point attempts, and the winning East team actually did not make a single three during the game.
"I figured out how to fix the NBA All-Star game," Simmons said. "Here's my idea: let's get rid of three-pointers. It's just twos and ones, and we can say in the last six minutes of the fourth quarter, now people are allowed to shoot threes."
Simmons said it rids the game of players shooting very long three-pointers. The idea is radical, but Simmons may have a point considering that of the 289 field goal attempts taken during the 2024 All Star game, 168 of them were three-pointers.
The league has clearly moved into a three-point shooting era, but this game has become the most polarizing parts of the new style of play. It's no wonder why even amid all these suggestions, many are left like NBA social media star Kenny Beecham, who simply seemed resigned to the mediocrity of the NBA's supposed showcase game.
I dont know how you fix this
— KENNY BEECHAM (@KOT4Q) February 19, 2024
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