The NBA's All-Star festivities are about to end as the annual All-Star Sunday game is wrapping up. However, we didn't see one standout matchup this season between the 24 All-Stars, we saw them divvied up into three groups of eight while a fourth team, the winner of the Rising Stars Challenge on Friday, got to join a four-team single-elimination-style tournament.
This new format has been supported by some but panned by many. Draymond Green trashed it live on-air on TNT, repeatedly attacking the new format. He was particularly angry about the inclusion of Rising Stars on All-Star Sunday.
"I worked so hard to play on Sunday night of All-Star Weekend and because the ratings are down and the game is bad, we're bringing in Rising Stars. That's not a fix. I never played in the Rising Stars game, and these guys get to touch the All-Star floor on Sunday night?... Those guys did not make the All-Star team. To be playing on All-Star and you did not make the team, it's absurd.”
"You work all year to be an All-Star and then you get to play up to 40 and you're done. This is so unfair. to Victor Wembanyama who just took this game very seriously, and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander who took this game too seriously. You talk about chasing after the points record, Melo, Kobe, and tall these guys who had great scoring nights, they don't get the opportunity to do that with this game. Also, we can watch some Rising Stars. Now we get the treat of watching the Olympic team play against a U-19 team, come on, what are we doing?"
After the first game of the new format, Green was asked if he was enjoying it more. He firmly lets everyone know that he actively hates what he's watching.
"10 being the best? A zero. It sucks."
This was a scathing indictment of something new the NBA was trying this season. The overall response from all stakeholders will likely filter in over the empty week ahead, but the early reception doesn't seem popular.
Green was a voice on national TV promoting the game, so his repeated slamming of the format likely would've tuned fans away who didn't want to see the new format.
Even Charles Barkley slammed Draymond's harsh take by reminding him that it was his generation of NBA stars who devalued the All-Star Game by not competing hard enough in it. If current players feel slighted at the inclusion of the Rising Stars to add competitive fire to this contest, they should take a look in the mirror.
“Your generation messed the game up, so we have to experiment with the Rising Stars.”
It's hard to imagine this format remaining unchanged for next season. We'll have to wait and see what the league does to bridge the gap between the angry players and bored fans.
