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Over the past few All-Star Games, players received widespread criticism for how their lack of effort impacting the watchability of the event, but this year's game was notable for the frequent stoppages in play. Players liked the new format of the game, particularly when Candace's Rising Stars gave Shaq's OGs a challenging 42-35 game in the semifinals.

The championship game had a nearly 20-minute break to honor the Inside The NBA crew as they broadcast their final All-Star Game.

"To be honest, I didn't like it at all," said Trae Young. "I didn't like the breaks. The games were so short. Obviously, we can score. So, they're trying to, I feel like, trying to extend the game, extend the TV time with the breaks and things like that."

"I would rather play without breaks," Shai Gilgeous-Alexander said. "But I had fun, nonetheless. I feel like it was a little bit more towards the competitive side tonight, which is a good feeling, a step in the right direction. I guess it's up to the guys that handle all that stuff to figure out what's next and how to keep making it more and more interesting. Hopefully, we get there one day."

Added Jaylen Brown: "I would say it's not ideal to stop like that if you want guys to be physical. I think guys were still out there having fun. All the OGs, team old knees and old backs, we came out on top, so I don't think anyone else should have had any excuses. It's definitely not ideal."

"Once we got into the flow of things, it was pretty good," Durant said. "The first game we played against the Rising Stars I thought was pretty good."

Via Tim Bontemps/ESPN

Also awful for the fans.

It was terrible to try to watch. Not a fan of the tournament-style format.

I'm not particularly interested in whether the players are fond of the changes when the result is a pathetic product for the fans.

The notion of selecting an MVP at the end of that mess was incredibly underwhelming.

They keep jacking this thing up, but people keep watching. My TV died last week so I bought a new TV this weekend. I up-sized a bit and all I could think was, wish there was a game on. I didn't even consider turning on All Star Weekend.

Keep it simple, stupid! Rising Stars game, 3pt, dunk, All Star Game. That's two games and two contests. It isn't difficult.

Pickled Prunes wrote:They keep jacking this thing up, but people keep watching. My TV died last week so I bought a new TV this weekend. I up-sized a bit and all I could think was, wish there was a game on. I didn't even consider turning on All Star Weekend.

Keep it simple, stupid! Rising Stars game, 3pt, dunk, All Star Game. That's two games and two contests. It isn't difficult.

What. So your problem with the weekend is that the Skills Challenge and celebrity game exist?

beefymajesto wrote:Also awful for the fans.

I enjoyed it a lot more than previous format.

jmnvcavs wrote:

beefymajesto wrote:Also awful for the fans.

I enjoyed it a lot more than previous format.

I think your comment is the first positive comment I've seen in regards to this year's All-star game. I just figured id mention that because I've read/heard nothing but negative about it.

23artest23 wrote:

jmnvcavs wrote:

beefymajesto wrote:Also awful for the fans.

I enjoyed it a lot more than previous format.

I think your comment is the first positive comment I've seen in regards to this year's All-star game. I just figured id mention that because I've read/heard nothing but negative about it.

I will say that this one was better for me than the last 2.

The worse one for me is the Tatum show in 2023 where he was a complete ball hog where he shot a whopping 31 shots, including 18 3s. I also hated the way players got picked right before the game basically making any type of strategies and the coaches obsolete. Second worse was last year when the score was an insane 211 to 186. This year's is probably 3rd. Also, I completely disagree with Draymond, the Rising Stars is what made it a little better because they actually came out to compete, forcing Team Shaq to play some defense and compete as well.

The best thing about the last 3 all stars for me has been a g-league player, McClung. I feel he should be able to be someone's 15th player at a minimum. He would definitely bring in some energy and be a crowd favorite for any team.

To me they need to put something worthwhile up for grabs at the game. If that's Finals home court advantage, next host city being from the East Coast or West Coast, or something else that makes the players actually compete. Maybe make a "golden snitch" rule where if a team gets a combined 10 steals and blocks first they win the game no matter the score, I don't know but they have to compete. Otherwise, take out the game entirely and just have a one on one or two on two tournament with all of the all-stars instead.

cavs4872 wrote:

Pickled Prunes wrote:They keep jacking this thing up, but people keep watching. My TV died last week so I bought a new TV this weekend. I up-sized a bit and all I could think was, wish there was a game on. I didn't even consider turning on All Star Weekend.

Keep it simple, stupid! Rising Stars game, 3pt, dunk, All Star Game. That's two games and two contests. It isn't difficult.

What. So your problem with the weekend is that the Skills Challenge and celebrity game exist?

I didn't know they existed anymore. I did watch the skills challenge once about a decade ago. Never watched the celebrity game. Why take time to watch people suck at basketball?

My point was, if they want to make it interesting, they need to condense it to about 3 hrs a night. And if they want players to compete, give the winning team custom Bentley's.

It was a good show overall. They needed to fill out the time to get commercials out. Maybe just make it first to 60