NBA All-Star Game: Lack of Competitiveness and Fan Engagement

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00:00 [MUSIC PLAYING]

00:03 I did not watch the All-Star game.

00:05 My son was watching it and sort of giving me some commentary.

00:09 He's 11.

00:09 And so he's like, was this the way it always

00:12 was, where it just looks like they don't want to play?

00:14 I'm like, actually, no.

00:15 It really was semi-competitive through the years.

00:19 But we're reaching levels now, Carlin, of--

00:24 you cannot even call this pickup basketball,

00:25 because in pickup basketball, the defenders defend.

00:28 So I just don't know what the answer is here.

00:32 A lot of complaining on social media.

00:34 That's nothing new.

00:35 People complain about everything.

00:37 But do you think that we've come to the end of the line

00:40 as far as keeping the game the way it is?

00:44 Because what I would say is there's

00:47 nothing wrong with playing an All-Star game that's

00:49 150 to 140 or 170 to 160.

00:52 But it did seem like there was some apathy,

00:55 I got to be honest, on the side of the players,

00:58 meaning that just get me out of here,

01:00 because I know we have four days off after this, too.

01:04 So complicated answer, I know.

01:06 And I guess I'll put your commissioner hat on for a minute.

01:09 What do you do?

01:11 Yeah, it's interesting, because it really

01:14 feels like the NBA is actually officially back, right?

01:17 Like, people are complaining that it was in a cold weather

01:19 city.

01:19 People are complaining that the All-Star Saturday night

01:22 didn't live up to the hype.

01:23 And then complete people are complaining

01:25 that the All-Star game didn't have any competitiveness

01:28 at all throughout the 48 minutes that they played.

01:31 You're right, Craig.

01:32 It wasn't a great game.

01:33 It wasn't a great showcase for the league.

01:35 And when the league talks about this All-Star game,

01:38 they talk about a couple of things.

01:39 One, it's a showcase for the greatest players on the planet.

01:42 We did not see a showcase of the greatest players on the planet.

01:45 All we saw is the greatest players on the planet kind

01:47 of walk through, really, a basketball game.

01:50 The second thing they say, it's really for the fans.

01:53 And when they say the fans, they mean kids, right?

01:55 They mean the younger generation.

01:57 They introduce them to the stars so that maybe they'll

02:00 beg mom and dad to bring them to the game.

02:01 Maybe they'll beg mom and dad to have them buy a league pass

02:04 so they can follow their favorite stars all throughout.

02:07 And when you start the game--

02:09 it was supposed to start, by the way, at 8 Eastern.

02:12 When you start the game at quarter to 9,

02:14 is it really about the kids at that point?

02:16 No, it's not about the kids, right?

02:18 You look at the All-Star game in the NHL.

02:21 They started that at 3 Eastern on a Saturday.

02:23 That's a perfect family-friendly viewing experience.

02:27 Same with the Pro Bowl.

02:28 Everyone always says, we're not going to watch the Pro Bowl.

02:30 You check the ratings.

02:31 People actually watch the Pro Bowl.

02:33 That started at 3 Eastern on a Sunday.

02:35 Why is the NBA All-Star game starting at a quarter to 9

02:40 Eastern time, and then you try to say that you're

02:43 going to market this to kids?

02:44 Kids got to go to sleep at some point,

02:46 and normally they're in bed by quarter to 9.

02:48 I hope they are anyway.

02:49 So when you look at this, it's the Leafs kind

02:52 of slapping everybody in the face by saying one thing

02:54 and doing the other.

02:56 And you know what?

02:57 I'm not going to get too bent out of shape over one game.

03:00 The All-Star game is never going to be competitive.

03:02 I've come to terms with that.

03:04 But Craig, I actually think this is a larger picture deal here.

03:07 And what I mean by that is the competitiveness overall

03:11 in the NBA has waned throughout the years.

03:14 I grew up on '90s basketball, early 2000s,

03:17 where guys wanted to beat each other regardless

03:20 of whether it was a regular season game, an All-Star game,

03:23 a preseason game.

03:25 Now we only see people really try when it's in the playoffs.

03:29 It used to be at some point, hey, we're on national TV,

03:31 we're going to try.

03:32 We're going to try to compete through 182--

03:35 through 82 games.

03:36 We're going to try to compete.

03:37 It's not the case anymore.

03:39 You can watch a random Wednesday night NBA game

03:42 and see some lack of effort there.

03:44 And that's kind of seeped into the All-Star game.

03:46 And the All-Star game is just a little bit of, to my opinion,

03:49 a microcosm of what's happening overall in the NBA

03:51 is that players don't want to compete

03:54 unless they're playing for those 16 wins from April, May,

03:57 and June.

03:59 (upbeat music)

04:01 [BLANK_AUDIO]

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