Opinion: The 2023 All-Star Game Was a Disaster

02/20/2023

By: Matthew Cahill

Last night’s All-Star game featured a ton of issues that show the event is in need of a total rehaul. 

 

For starters, the night started with Vin Diesel giving an extremely awkward speech before the players were announced that had us all questioning why he was given a microphone at center court. 

 

Watching LeBron and Giannis draft their teams was enjoyable, but the moment was littered with technical difficulties where Charles Barkley and Shaq’s mics were mistakenly on, making the two captains inaudible at times. 

 

The game finally started 45 minutes after schedule, and it got even worse from there. There wasn’t an ounce of defense being played. With no pressure on the perimeter and nobody contesting shots at the rim, it was essentially 48 minutes of shootaround. There was also about a 45-minute halftime show, which was longer than the Super Bowl. It really felt like the game would never come to an end. 

 

Players and coaches were well aware of how poor the game was. Celtics All-Star Jaylen Brown said “That’s not basketball” when asked about how he felt it went, and Mike Malone, the coach of Team LeBron, said, “That is the worst basketball game ever played”. The fans, players, and coaches all are dissatisfied with the state of the All-Star game.

What needs to change in order to improve this disgraced event? Let us know on Twitter & Instagram (@thesportsletter), or hit us up via email (team@thesportsletter.com) to share how you would shake things up.

 

Photo: Tim Nwachukwu / Getty Images