March 28, 2024

NBA again left seeking solutions after uncompetitive All-Star Game


INDIANAPOLIS — After months of stressing the significance of getting a extra aggressive product on the court docket for this weekend’s All-Star Game, NBA commissioner Adam Silver doubled down on that entrance Saturday night time, declaring, “I think we’re going to see a good game” within the NBA’s annual midseason showcase at Gainbridge Fieldhouse on Sunday.

But after the 73rd All-Star Game appeared precisely like final yr’s lackluster efficiency in Salt Lake City — with the Eastern Conference setting the all-time scoring report by changing into the primary workforce to surpass 200 factors in what was finally a 211-186 victory over their Western Conference counterparts, Silver’s annoyance at what befell was clearly on show.

“And to the Eastern Conference All-Stars, you scored the most points,” Silver stated flatly. “Well … congratulations.”

It was a becoming finish to a night that did nothing to cease the discussions over what the way forward for the NBA’s marquee midseason occasion ought to appear to be shifting ahead. The NBA threw its weight behind making this recreation a precedence for its gamers all season lengthy, with each Silver and Hall of Famer Joe Dumars, the NBA’s government vice chairman and head of basketball operations, repeatedly saying it was a precedence for gamers to point out some type of effort.

Instead, it was one other recreation with nearly no effort on protection and with little-to-no life contained in the constructing — to the purpose the place Anthony Davis stated he thought his most memorable second of the night time was when the hype groups from the Chicago Bulls and Indiana Pacers went by means of their dunk routines between the third and fourth quarters.

“I think the best [moment], we were talking about it, was the Bulls and the Pacers dunkers,” Davis stated. “With the trampoline? They were very, very impressive.”

And, finally, it left issues in the very same place they had been in a yr in the past: with the NBA throwing up its palms in regards to the truth this weekend, one of many tentpole occasions on its calendar, ended with a thud, and the gamers all however universally admitting that they sympathize with everybody concerned, however that it isn’t as easy of an answer as simply deciding to play a little bit more durable.

“I think it’s something we need to figure out,” stated LeBron James, who set a brand new report along with his twentieth All-Star Game look Sunday night time, however did not play within the second half as he manages a balky left ankle. “Obviously from a player’s 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.

“But I feel the great factor that got here out of tonight was not one of the gamers had been injured, and everyone got here out unscathed or how they had been earlier than the sport began. So it is a deeper dialog.”

“For me, it’s an All-Star Game, so I will never look at it as being super competitive. It’s always fun. I don’t know what they can do to make it more competitive. I don’t know. I think everyone looks at it … it’s a break, so I don’t think everyone wants to come here and compete.”

Anthony Edwards

“Obviously the fans and the league and everybody wants to be competitive, but then you also as players think about trying not to get hurt,” Davis stated. “Obviously injuries are a part of the game and no one wants to get hurt in the All-Star Game … all these guys here are very valuable to their teams. So it’s some mixed emotions about it. You try to go out there and compete a little bit, and not just be a highlight show. But at the same time, do you guys really wanna see somebody going down for a dunk and somebody going to contest it and, God forbid, something happens in the All-Star Game when it could have been avoided?”

Then there was Minnesota Timberwolves star Anthony Edwards, who admitted he wasn’t excited by enjoying all that onerous in an All-Star Game, interval.

“For me, it’s an All-Star Game, so I will never look at it as being super competitive. It’s always fun. I don’t know what they can do to make it more competitive. I don’t know. I think everyone looks at it … it’s a break, so I don’t think everyone wants to come here and compete.”

That has been obvious in recent times — a development that’s not remoted to the NBA, because the NHL, NFL and Major League Baseball have all gone by means of radical modifications to their very own All-Star occasions throughout the previous decade or so with the intention to attempt to add some spice and competitors to them.

The NBA, although, was definitely louder than any of these leagues in regards to the significance of that altering — with no yet one more so than Silver himself.

And, within the wake of one other failed try to vary that, it is unclear what course he, and the league, will take issues in from right here.

“There were definitely some [discussions about the game being more competitive],” Boston Celtics ahead Jaylen Brown stated. “I’m not sure how successful that was, but there was definitely some discussions. I guess guys are trying to figure out how to do that at the same time as having fun, being safe, being injury-free.

“I suppose extra solutions must be needed to determine that out”



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