This year’s NBA All-Star Game marked the league’s final broadcast on TNT before switching television partners. The NBA All-Star Game was a starting point, with the league actively modifying the format to a four-team mini-tournament aimed at reducing bloated scores and increasing competition. And the NBA All-Star Game was a showpiece, a reminder that Stephen Curry and the Bay Area are integral parts of the modern game’s story.
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The NBA All-Star contest was not a contest,
At least not in the classic sense. Perhaps it doesn’t need to be one. LeBron James did not play due to foot and ankle pain, with the goal of returning to the court Wednesday when the Lakers open their season. Anthony Edwards dressed for his team but did not play due to chronic groin pain. He, too, indicated he expected to be OK once the regular season commenced.
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No player was replaced. The decision for James and Edwards to sit, despite their 17-year age difference, highlighted the cost-benefit analysis that players are making as the NBA and fans push for the game to be played with the intensity and energy that makes 48 minutes on any given night a memorable event. For a young player like Cleveland’s Darius Garland, his first All-Star Game appearance was memorable. It wasn’t worth endangering the rest of his season for the Cavaliers, who were in first place.
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“I don’t want to take that chance. I honestly don’t know. “I wish I had an answer for that because I know it’s been circulating all weekend,” Garland remarked of the disagreement. “But we get around a hundred games of tremendous basketball and competition throughout the season. All-Star weekend should be about communicating with our fans and providing them with something to watch that is enjoyable.” The format change, with games played to a target score of 40 between teams made up primarily of senior stars, international players, younger All-Stars, or rising stars, resulted in enhanced competition, particularly in the semifinals.
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Foreign talents defeated a squad
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Victor Wembanyama, and the foreign talents defeated a squad that included Jaren Jackson Jr., Jalen Brunson, and Garland in the opening game. Curry, the All-Star MVP, led a squad that included James Harden and Kevin Durant against Lakers rookie Dalton Knecht and the Rising Stars, despite Knecht’s eight points. “It was fun. “A lot of fun,” Knecht added. “Everyone watched the All-Star Game. And now we get to play in it. So it was a lot of joy just going out there and eventually competing.”
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The inclusion of the Rising Stars seems to stir some feathers. They were given a less dramatic entrance than the All-Stars. Draymond Green, who worked the game for TNT, compared it to an under-19 squad facing squad USA. “Obviously a lot of conversation around the fourth team and the rising stars,” Curry told reporters. “And the All-Star experience on Sunday is extremely sacred. And you have to earn your way into there.”
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All-Star Sunday has become more difficult to sell
In recent years, the purity of All-Star Sunday has become more difficult to sell. Harden stated that the game’s competition has decreased significantly, and that he “really disliked” the current structure. And, while the league is encouraging players to play harder, it is not as straightforward as it appears. Curry, who was involved in conversations about the new-look All-Star Game, outlined his priorities.
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“Where we were last year, we needed to change,” Curry said. “Needed some new life, new juice in the game, something unexpected. What that answer was a collaborative effort to, I think, one, condense the amount of time you’re actually playing so that it gives us more clarity on [when] we can raise our level of competition and keep it fun for everybody. I think that was a big part of it.”
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Tournament finals
While the format itself provided some more juice—”Yeah, I actually sweat. “I didn’t think I was going to sweat,” Oklahoma City’s Jalen Williams remarked – the process was hindered by extended breaks in between games and, oddly, a nearly 20-minute tribute to TNT and “Inside the NBA” during the tournament finals. Sunday marked the network’s final All-Star broadcast, as it will lose games to NBC and Amazon next season. ESPN will license and transmit “Inside the NBA” and its broadcast team next season.
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“I would say that’s not ideal to stop like that if you want guys to play, be physical and kind of play harder,” Jaylen Brown, a Boston player, said. “But I believe guys are still out there having fun. All the OGs, team old knees and old backs…we won, therefore I don’t think anyone else should have made excuses. But it’s certainly not perfect.” There is a growing recognition, at least among All-Stars, that there is likely no real solution to any of this, which can lead to the game being tinkered with as it inevitably becomes stale.
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“I believe it was somewhat competitive,” Jackson stated. “But it only depends. It only depends. If someone made this game extremely competitive and someone got wounded, we would simply explain that we needed to find out something else. Do you understand what I mean? If too many people were injured in an All-Star Game, which has thankfully not occurred, the entire story would be, “We need to figure something else out so we don’t wreck the product.”
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Our teams are the reason we are here
“And the most important thing is our teams. That is why we are here. Our teams are the reason we are here. It’s more than just an individual achievement. This is who they send out. So that’s the primary point. Curry said he thought Sunday’s game, while imperfect, represented improvement. “It was a positive move toward reinvigorating the game in some way. “And then you tinker with it again next year to see what changes you can make,” he explained. “I don’t want to compare it to any other era since the world has evolved. Life is different. The way people consume basketball varies. So it won’t look like it used to, but it can still be enjoyable for everyone.
Maybe improving the All-Star Game isn’t that important. “I think it’s not a question for me,” Nikola Jokic remarked. “I do not know. I believe we should prioritize other tasks before focusing on All-Star. I believe it will always be like this, so we should accept it. This story originally ran in the Los Angeles Times.
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