As a lifelong fan of the NBA, I think it is safe to say that I witnessed the worst All-Star Weekend in the league’s history.
It was already at a low point after watching the Slam Dunk Contest be full of players that I’ve never heard of for the past few years and with the lack of defense being played at the actual All-Star Game, this year was the straw that broke the camel’s back.
When I am watching basketball, I like to watch a game where the players play great offense and defense. It seemed like last year’s game had all offense and no defense.
The final score of that game was 211-186 with an East All-Star victory, according to ESPN.
Although that game was really bad, I would rather watch that than whatever I saw a week and a half ago.
For starters, why were there four teams in the game? Why couldn’t they keep the East vs West format? I was not a fan of the tournament style that they implemented.
When I was a kid, I would look forward to seeing the best players in the Eastern Conference play the best players in the Western Conference in a competitive matchup.
This year the players played like they didn’t even want to be there. They were just throwing passes from full court and jacking up 3-pointers.
The game was the second-least watched all-star game ever behind the 2023 All-Star, according to a Feb.19 article from Front Office Sports.
The last three all-star games are the only ones that had a sub 6 million viewership, according to the same source.
When I saw the Spurs guard Chris Paul and his teammate, center Victor Wembanyama get disqualified from the Skills Challenge, I knew it was going to go downhill from that point.
Paul and Webanyama tried to take a shortcut to the challenge by throwing the balls toward the rim instead of taking an actual shot as a way to cut on the time it took them to finish the course, violating the rules of the challenge.
While I am happy for Orlando Magic guard Mac McClung and his dunk contest victory, I didn’t know any of the other players who participated. I was genuinely asking myself “who are these people?”
With his victory, McClung became the first player in NBA history to win the dunk contest three times in a row according to an article from ESPN.
I’ll admit although I have never seen him play in a single NBA game in my life, Spurs guard Stephon Castle put up a good fight against McClung in the final round of the dunk contest.
The only thing that has stayed consistent in my opinion is the 3-point contest because it’d be pretty difficult to mess that up; it’s only NBA players with high 3-point percentage competing to see who can make the most shots behind-the-arc. Congratulations to Miami Heat guard Tyler Herro for winning that by the way.
I can now see why NBA viewership has been decreasing this season.
TV ratings are down 5% from last season according to a Feb. 19 article from Front Office Sports.
It hurts to see the sport I loved watching as a kid get this kind of criticism from sports analysts, including ESPN First Take host Stephen A. Smith and co-host Shannon Sharpe. I can’t say I blame them.
It seems like the players don’t play with passion anymore; it’s almost as if the allure of the NBA is diminishing before my eyes.
I really hope next season has a better all-star weekend, but based on the trajectory of the league I wouldn’t hold my breath.
