The NBA rolled out an all-new All-Star Game format last night in an effort to drum up excitement for it’s once beloved event — which replaced the old East-West battle in favor of a mini-tournament that also featured the Rising Stars squad.
Not everybody was in favor of it, however. Including Warriors forward/TNT analyst Draymond Green who called the idea “absurd.”
“You work all year to be an All-Star, and you get to play up to 40, and then you’re done. This is so unfair to Victor Wembanyama, who just took this game really seriously. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who just took this game really seriously,” Green began.
Draymond Green: “You work all year to be an All-Star and you get to play up to 40 and then you’re done… Come on, what are we doing? This is ridiculous.”
Adam Lefkoe: “Scale of 1-10, your thoughts of the format.”
Draymond: “A zero. Sucks. This ain’t basketball.” #NBA pic.twitter.com/L7dlhwLprm
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) February 17, 2025
“When you talk about chasing after the points record. Melo, Kobe, and all these guys who’ve had great scoring nights. They don’t get the opportunity to do that with this game. All so 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? This is ridiculous.”
Draymond, who last appeared in an All-Star Game in 2022, then rated the game a zero out of 10. “Sucks,” he said. “This ain’t basketball.”
That didn’t exactly sit well with Hall of Famer and fellow TNT partner Charles Barkley, who wasn’t afraid to call out the four-time NBA champ on his comments.
“I’m going to disagree with Draymond A LOT,” Barkley replied. “I used the analogy, like, when your kids mess up the house you make them clean it up and they complaining. They messed the game up! That’s why we’re trying to kamikaze stuff out here right now. His generation messed the game up. So don’t act like he’s mad that they trying to use rookies… we’re doing every type of trick to make this weekend exciting.”
Clearly the ASG has become a pretty polarizing topic among fans and players (both current and former). And it certainly seems like there’s a generational divide between how it should be played — if it even should at all.
In a perfect world, there would be no need for the league to go out of its way to get people excited. Because the idea of the best players in the world all taking the court at the same time (and actually competing) would be enough for a lot of people.
But that’s not the world we live in at the moment. And until then, we’ll have to settle for night’s like Sunday.
Related: Taylor Rooks Turns Heads With Her NBA All-Star Weekend Outfit