NBA avoiding fixing the all star game?

In hopes to better All Star weekend, the NBA just announced that the 2018 All-Star game will no longer be the the best players in Eastern Conference against the best players in the Western Conference.

The new rule is a step forward in improving All-Star weekend. This year’s All-Star exhibition game will have all of the best players on the court. The days of snubbing All-Stars talent is over. However the All-Star game will still be a disappointment if at the end of 48 minutes the score is high in the 200s.

As a fan of basketball, the recent All-Star games have been boring and uninteresting. Past All-Star games have been interesting to watch because of the high intense competition between the Eastern and Western Conference. Sadly the match up between the best of the best has become a mediocre YMCA scrimmage.

These elite athlete are not concerned about the lack of effort the display on the court. They use the weekend as a social event to promote their endorsements. The new generation of players lack the competitive mentality that the older generation had.

Players don’t show pride in winning like past players. This only proves that this era of basketball is not about competition and who has the will to win. Rather it is the era of self promotion.

Players are not willing to play hard and risk injury. Injury results in the loss of money from endorsements. All-Star caliber players will jog up and down the court and attempt long range threes to avoid injury. Therefore taking it to the rim aggressively is rare since players are afraid of landing on someone’s ankle or bumping into someone by accident.

It is understandable to avoid injury however these games are less interesting than a pre-season game. Why are All-Star caliber players showing more effort in October than mid season exhibition game?

The NBA has a huge problem. It is bad look for the league with the best players in the world to have a sub par All-Star game that doesn’t create memories. In past years people are left with memorable experience. Whether it’s Shaquille O’Neil and Kobe Bryant holding up the CO-MVP trophy or Lebron James matched up with Kobe. The NBA is lacking the production of hardwood classics.

By adding incentives in order to win then maybe the players will increase their level of effort. The NBA should try to find a way to convince these player to play hard, even if it is for the the final quarter.

The All-Star game has been a laughing stock and the NBA should make it a priority to fix it.