Mateo’s Hoop Diary: NBA’s All-Star Game is a waste of time

The All-Star Game was once an anticipated, star-studded spectacle that attracted casual observers, hard-core fans, and those who covered the game because of its dazzling plays, fierce competition and passionate participants. Now, it’s a sham. – an unserious, nearly three-hour lollygag fest that sedates viewers at home and players can’t wait for it to end.

Believe it or not, defense was once expected and highlight plays on that side captivated the crowd and audience at home.

For example, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar rejected six shots in the 1980 ASG. In 1987, Hakeem Olajuwon was so active on D that he fouled out. In 1990, coach Hubie Brown, working as a broadcaster, said during the first half of the game, “Guys are making shots, but the defense is right up there, challenging it, and you can feel the intensity level. People are in this game and appreciate defense.”

What changed? Players don’t have interest, and many insult the intelligence of observers with drivel: We don’t want to get hurt.

It’s gotten so bad that at last year’s postgame presser, Denver Nuggets coach Michael Malone (2023 West ASG coach) said it was the worst game ever played and that he didn’t know if it was fixable.

Then Utah forward Lauri Markkanen tried to be diplomatic, saying games with high and low RPMs are worthwhile. “It’s fun to get out there and do some dunks and stuff like that. But we’re all competitors. I think everyone would enjoy [it] if we play against each other and it gets competitive.”

And Celtics forward Jayson Tatum was asked at press if more defense is preferred. He said, “Safety first right? You don’t want anyone to get injured.” He added that the exhibition in Chicago in 2020 was the best one he’s been a part of. (Seventy 3-pointers were attempted in the 2020 ASG.)

Word. And the fans don’t want to get ripped off. Imagine forking out between $400-27,000 for some seats and/or meet and greet passes, then most of the players treat the event like a walkthrough. It wasn’t cute when Warriors guard Stephen Curry laid down as if artillery fire was blasting to the side as Giannis Antetokounmpo advanced on the break for a dunk in 2017. And LeBron James hammering the rim on uncontested lobs is boring, too.

And worst of all, the broadcasters, who in fairness are league partners, gaslighting the audience into thinking what they are watching is quality is some underhanded trash.

The reality is injuries can happen at any moment a player steps on the court- for training or competition- and that’s something reps in the NBA office will tell you themselves. The attitude adopted by current All-Stars disrespects the past entrants that busted their rears in this exhibition when the league wasn’t a billionaire-dollar empire. The OGs going hard in the ASG helped grow the game and, in turn, the league, making everyone richer and happier today.

These players don’t have a clue or are too shallow to care. In 1964, way before guaranteed contracts, undervalued NBAers, such as Oscar Robertson, Jerry Lucas, Wayne Embry, and the remaining All-Stars threatened to sit out of the game before the league’s first national TV exhibition as union leader Tommy Heinsohn and unofficial member and attorney Larry Fleisher pushed for a boycott. These ballers had something to lose.

According to Sam Smith’s Hard Labor: The Battle That Birthed the Billion-Dollar NBA, owners tried to bully the players to suit up, informing them the league would dissolve if it got humiliated on TV. But pensions and workplace rights mattered to the athletes more. Eventually, owners caved, in writing, to discussing pensions at a later time. Subsequently, the show went on, and Robertson won Most Valuable Player at Boston Garden that evening in front of 13,464 fans.

Perhaps current hoopers wouldn’t give fans the proverbial bird if more knew what it was like for the torchbearers previously. And sadly, the way things are going today, players have inadvertently diminished the significance of the ASG MVP crown to nothing. The award used to carry weight for a Hall of Fame ballot, but no mas.

The NBA’s All-Star product is so second-rate that no real basketball lover can watch it and ask for more. For reference, in 2003, the ASG generated 10.8 million viewers in the United States. In 2023, it accumulated 4.6 million observers. The NBA was lucky even that many tuned in.

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