This week’s NBA pulse discusses the importance of the All-Star game and why…

Jack Hammond | Sports and Co-Online Editor

What has the All-Star become? I watched five minutes last Sunday because I was waiting for my family to get ready for dinner, and boy was I bored. 163-158 is not a basketball score and it never will be. There was zero defense played yet I completely understand why. The NBA season is too long and the players need a rest. All-Star weekend provides a perfect break to rest up injuries and take a few days off. Sure, it is great to be named an All-Star, but wouldn’t it also be nice to not have to play a game? 

Go ahead, tell me the guys really want to play this game. This is supposed to be the “dream game” right? The best 24 players in the NBA go head-to-head! Yet I believe these guys could care less about this one. You can throw away the fact that nobody wants to play defense and yet over 50 percent of the field goal attempts were three-pointers? Nobody even bothers to drive to the basket because everyone just wants to shoot threes. The accolade and honor of being named an All-Star is what all these guys want, but they should seriously drop the game. I like the dunk contest and the three-point contest. Those were very entertaining. I also really enjoyed the USA versus World Rising Stars event. The final score was 121-112, and the players seemed to actually be trying out there. 

Obviously replacing the All-Star game would be very difficult, but why not have 1v1 or 3v3 contests. Can you imagine a 1v1 cutthroat contest that featured LeBron James, Kevin Durant, James Harden, Russell Westbrook and Stephen Curry? That would be incredible. Overall, the All-Star game needs to get cut, and whether they replace it or not is up to the commissioner.