In 1951, the NBA All-Star Game was created to bring attention back to the NBA after the college basketball point-shaving scandal that took attention away from the NBA. Many college players, especially in New York, confessed to fixing games. Ever since, the All-Star Game has been one of the most looked forward to parts of each NBA season. Unfortunately, in recent years, something has just felt off. Scores have been skyrocketing, and intensity is at an all-time low. With a lack of effort from players and the front office desperate for more viewership, fans have been left to wonder, where did it all go wrong?
This year, the NBA All-Star Game switched up its format in an attempt for a more intense game. Instead of the classic 12-minute quarters between two teams, there were four teams and untimed games. These games include the OGs are a team full of NBA veterans who have already been to several All-Star games. The Young Stars is a team consisting of young players with a bright future. The Global Stars is a team that includes the best players in the world who are not USA natives. Finally, the Rising Stars, which was the team that won the Rising Stars tournament two days prior. Unlike a traditional NBA game format, these teams played a four-team tournament. Instead of a game that ends when the clock hits zero, the first team to 40 points wins. The winners of this tournament get 125 thousand dollars each.
The NBA’s goal for this new format was to create a more entertaining and enjoyable game for viewers, but this plan backfired. Fans were extremely disappointed with this new format. According to the New York Post, 4.7 million people tuned in to this year’s All-Star Game, a 13 percent decrease from last year’s 5.4 million viewers. Many players came out and expressed their opinions on this year’s new format.
Warriors forward and three-time NBA All-Star Draymond Green says, “When you’re talking about chasing after the points record— Melo and Kobe, all of these guys who have had great scoring nights. They don’t get the opportunity to do that with this game.” He was also not a fan of the Rising Stars team. “All so we can watch some Rising Stars. Now we get the treat of watching the Olympic team play against a U-19 team. Come on, what are we doing?”
To understand this situation, let’s look at the history of the NBA All-Star Games. The 1980s and 1990s were considered the ‘golden ages’ of the All-Star games because games were still high intensity, and stars like Michael Jordan and Magic Johnson attracted viewership. In the 2000s, the game became a little less intense and focused more on highlight-reel plays. The 2010s was when the falloff of intensity became extremely apparent. There was little to no defense and an absurd amount of threes being taken. Overall, it was just an ugly brand of basketball. In the 2010s, the NBA added many new features to the All-Star Game, such as team captains instead of an East vs. West format, a target score to end the fourth quarter, and a generous donation in the name of the players who won. In 2024, with the team captain system no longer working, the NBA decided to go back to the East vs. West format, which ended up being a massive mistake. In contrast to previous, lower-scoring All-Star games, the final score of the 2024 NBA All-Star Game was 211 to 186. The highest-scoring and lowest-intensity All-Star Game in history. In hopes of never having an All-Star Game like 2024 again, the new All-Star format was born.
Avid NBA fanatic Ries Tuttle, a freshman at BHS, has a strong opinion on this year’s format. He states, “I thought it was definitely a below-average All-Star game. The intensity was barely restored, and defense was still non-existent.” Tuttle continues, “Many first-time All-Stars like Cade Cunningham were only able to play for a few minutes due to the new format. I think that it is extremely unfair to first-year players who barely got on the hardwood.” He believes that the reason fans have been disappointed is because “people want to see the best basketball players in the world go at it, and it is disappointing to see them just going at 50 percent.” Another BHS freshman and longtime NBA fan, Isaiah Dagle, thinks that there is a way to improve the game. He says, “There needs to be a better incentive for the winning team. Whether that be a playoff advantage or something else, the NBA needs to find a way to get these players going all out!”