Though the final score shattered records — a whopping 211 to 186, combining for nearly 400 points — some left Sunday’s NBA All-Star Game feeling there was still much to be desired by way of competition.
Though it’s true that hosting All-Star festivities poses unique challenges across any league, including striking a balance between good competition while mitigating injury risks, the NBA has struggled of late to entice fans to engage with the star-studded weekend.
According to Statista, the 2023 All-Star Game was the least viewed since at least 2003, with viewership only reaching 4.3 million. The game was widely criticized by fans and even those involved — Team LeBron coach Michael Malone called last year’s game “the worst basketball game ever.”
In an attempt to inject the game with competitiveness that was sorely lacking in 2023, NBA commissioner Adam Silver re-introduced the East versus West format, replacing the team captain format that had exist for six years prior.
Fans were treated to some highlight-reel moments, such as Toronto Raptors star Scottie Barnes going coast-to-coast to put down a two-handed dunk, or MVP Damian Lillard of the Milwaukee Bucks hitting a remarkable 51-foot 3. Even so, defence was sorely lacking, as evidenced by the outrageously high score.
When asked after the game if he thought this style of play is what the fans and players want out of the weekend, Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James said, “I don’t know. I think it’s something we need to figure out.”
“I don’t know. … Where’s the median? Because this is what a lot of the games are starting to look like now too,” he continued. “We wanted to get more pace into the games, we wanted to get more shots, we want the game to be more free-flowing
“It’s a deeper dive into a conversation on how we can shore-up this game. Obviously, from a player perspective, it’s fun to get up and down but at the end of the day, our competitive nature don’t like to have free-flowing scoring like that.”
James did mention that one of the biggest successes of the weekend was that no players suffered injuries that would keep them out of the lineup for regular season games down the stretch.
Boston Celtics guard Jaylen Brown acquiesced that players likely weren’t putting forth their best effort on the court. He thought it was an improvement from last year and overall, felt the game was a success from a player’s perspective.
“It was cool,” Brown told reporters after the game. “Before I think we were attempting to put a little bit more effort into it, but I’m not sure how successful that was. Hopefully, as the year goes on, it gets back to what the fans want to see. Maybe it was a little bit more effort this time, I think.”
Brown also acknowledged the difficulties of playing hard and keeping the game competitive while also not risking the health of players.
“Guys are trying to figure out how to do that at the same time of having fun, being safe and being injury-free,” he said.
Though players have been less critical of their performance this year, only time will tell if the NBA has managed to successfully rebound after suffering the serious ratings blow of last year’s event.
