NBA All-Star Game, the Bane of the Lebron Era

I'm sure I mentioned in this blog before that one of the worst things about being an NBA fan during the Lebron Era is how much of a snoozefest the All-Star Game has become - a fact that now, finally, even the mainstream media is acknowledging.  The Lebron Era is also the player-empowerment era, whereas NBAers have become increasingly-less dedicated to their teams, conferences and, I guess it can be said, fans even.  Yes, I do believe that Lebron is genuinely proud to be a Laker.  But back in his younger days, he was wilder and freer.  And once Kobe retired and he became the undisputed star of the NBA, like you might as well just forget about truly compelling all-star games.

It isn't all his fault though.  At any given time 5 out of the 10 top stars in the NBA can and likely will be injured anyway.  But earlier, even with Lebron's lackadaisical approach to the All-Star Game, at least you had players Blake Griffin and CP3 to put on a show.  Now, teams are so dedicated to protecting their 'assets', and players in general have become so tender that no Zion, no KD, no Steph, 20 seconds of Giannis (even though he was a captain) and all that type of nonsense.  And then even with guys the guys who did make it, like the scabs and shit who you think would have something to prove, all they did was like open-lane dunks and three-point chucking.

By contrast, take the 2001 All-Star Game, which I still consider to be the best basketball game I've ever seen.  You have Iverson vs. Kobe, East vs. West.  You had the likes of Motumbo and Tim Duncan playing defense like he had something to prove, and every player that participated did so with a sense of pride.  The All-Star Game, not the Finals, is supposed to be the general fan highlight of the NBA season.

The NBA did get incepted and eventually followed my advice, somehow, by letting dudes pick their own teams.  But I'm also pretty sure I said at the time that they should be allowed to pick their teams out of the entire pool of NBA players, you know, like dudes they actually want to play with.  Then, the teams will have some pride.  Instead, Adam Silver and them have mixed the conferences up and all types of goofy shit (though it was cool seeing Brown vs. Tatum).  Also, whereas it may be a good watch to have the captains pick their teams live, all things considered it prolly ain't for the best.

CONCLUSION

As cheesy as it may sound, things may reach the point where the NBA has to offer the winning squad like a million dollars each in order to compete in the All-Star Game.  If an organization is afraid their star player will get hurt, you know, in the name of pleasing the fans as opposed to pushing the organization further into the playoffs, then it's best they just let his tender ass stay home.  Adam Silver and them can't keep changing the format every year, experimenting with players and fans alike.  They need to realize that the NBA has permanently changed and catchup accordingly.