Several of the players who participated in Sunday night’s NBA All-Star Game had the same complaint about the game’s new format.
Some players complained about the frequent stoppages during Sunday night’s festivities, with the multiple All-Star games slowed significantly by other events that the league wanted to work into the proceedings. Most notably, the championship game was halted in the middle for a lengthy amount of time in order to show a lengthy tribute to TNT’s “Inside the NBA.”
Atlanta Hawks guard Trae Young bluntly questioned why the NBA did not want to put more focus on the players.
“I feel like the fans want to see us playing more, rather than just some little shows in between breaks,” Young said after the game.
Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum concurred.
“I think the toughest part was stopping the game for the presentation while we were halfway through it. We were sitting down for 20 minutes, whatever it was,” Tatum said. “It was kind of tough to get back in the game after that.”
This complaint was echoed by the fans, which only makes matters worse. Even if people were comfortable with the format, the structure and execution of it turned a lot of people off.
Starting the game, only to enforce a lengthy pause in the middle of it, could be classified as an injury risk as well. It also gave off the impression that the NBA did not think the games itself would be entertaining enough to hold viewers. That may have been a fair concern, but the way they did it failed to capture anyone’s imagination too.
Ultimately, even commissioner Adam Silver is not sure the All-Star Game can be salvaged and made into something worth watching. There may have been elements of a solution in Sunday’s format, but the league did itself no favors with how it was presented.
