I don't understand the ASG Dooming

[ryguy613]

Its mostly just the people who think the 3pt line has ruined the game looking for any excuse to bash the NBA and pretend like it is collapsing or whatever.

The ratings speak for themselves to show where the NBA is at today. Sponsorship money and tv deals are bailing em out but if the trend continues it'll be Silver's ass on the line soon enough.

One thing's for sure, Silver can't make any adjustments without making things worse.

Do you think sponsors and network executives give billions of dollars out of the kindness of their hearts, or because of some personal affinity to basketball? These are gigantic deals with the expectation that these companies will make a profit. Why do you think those companies would do that to a league whose ratings "speak for themselves"?

[ryguy613]

I agree with OP. The ASG has been garbage for as long as I can remember. Once a decade we get lucky and the score is close and the players get competitive towards the end and that’s about it.

I have no idea why everyone every year wants to fix the All-Star game. It’s a meaningless game.

I think I'm realizing that most of these people couldnt name more than one or two all star games from yesteryear... but im sure they can point to every time Michael Jordan competed in the dunk contest. Ive watched the NBA for the better part of 40 years, and I can count on 1 hand the number of memorable all star games ive witnessed, but I certainly remember a lot of dunk contest winners. I wonder if people are conflating the decline of the dunk contest's popularity with the lack of effort in the actual ASG, which I agree has always been there.

[mastermixer]

I agree with OP. The ASG has been garbage for as long as I can remember. Once a decade we get lucky and the score is close and the players get competitive towards the end and that’s about it.

I have no idea why everyone every year wants to fix the All-Star game. It’s a meaningless game.

I think I'm realizing that most of these people couldnt name more than one or two all star games from yesteryear... but im sure they can point to every time Michael Jordan competed in the dunk contest. Ive watched the NBA for the better part of 40 years, and I can count on 1 hand the number of memorable all star games ive witnessed, but I certainly remember a lot of dunk contest winners. I wonder if people are conflating the decline of the dunk contest's popularity with the lack of effort in the actual ASG, which I agree has always been there.

I can think of two.

Magic Johnson bombing 3s after he first retired and when Kobe got everyone to play competitively that one year.

Those are the only two memorable All Star Games I can think of.

I’ve always only enjoyed the 3 point contest because that is the one event that is not subjective. It’s just a pure competition and doesn’t take too long.

[ScrantonBulls]

Its mostly just the people who think the 3pt line has ruined the game looking for any excuse to bash the NBA and pretend like it is collapsing or whatever.

Yep. Such a miserable group of "fans". They look for any reason to bitch and moan about the game. Nobody gives a **** what they think tbh. It's funny they still return here over and over again to complain.

[duppyy]

NHL showed the proper blue print of how to make an allstar weekend and I don’t like hockey lol.

[Black Mage]

Don't get me wrong, I find NBA All Star Weekend as unwatchable as the next guy, but I think some people are going a little overboard in response. I don't really see how the decline of the ASG is indicative of a league in decline. Where is this smoke for the NFL? The Pro Bowl has been a complete joke for longer period of time, and I dont think Ive ever heard anyone claim that the sky is falling because of it. I've heard minor grumblings about how pointless the Pro Bowl is, and how they should just get rid of it, yet I dont hear people talking about how the league is ruined, or the players are spoiled. What's the difference exactly? Why is it no big deal for the NFL, but its outrageous for the NBA?

Apples to oranges. NFL is a contact sport. The entire point of the game is players hitting each other. Serious injuries are a real risk.

The NBA players just aren't giving effort, period. It's extremely unlikely that playing competitively will result in a serious injury.

Its also extremely unlikely that a single Pro Bowl game will result in any one player getting hurt. Injuries happen all the time in both sports, but the odds of them happening in any given game are of course slim. Yes, the chances are greater for the Pro Bowl, but contact DOES happen in a competitive NBA game so they have as much a chance of getting hurt then as they would during any other game... so if there is no incentive to put your body on the line why would you?

Look, the fact you just tried to equate the contact in football to basketball suggests to me that you already made up your mind to your own question. The level of "contact" between these two sports is enormous; there's a reason the NFL plays 18 games to 82 and their playoffs are 1 and done versus best of 5/7 game series.

In basketball you rarely see a "contact" knee injury, most are non-contact. That's 82 games. In any given NFL year we see multiple catastrophic knee injuries to QB's, lineman, RB's, WR's etc. If you can't see the difference in the degree of "contact" then as I said, it would appear you had already made up your mind and weren't looking to have an open discussion.

[California Gold]

Its mostly just the people who think the 3pt line has ruined the game looking for any excuse to bash the NBA and pretend like it is collapsing or whatever.

The ratings speak for themselves to show where the NBA is at today. Sponsorship money and tv deals are bailing em out but if the trend continues it'll be Silver's ass on the line soon enough.

One thing's for sure, Silver can't make any adjustments without making things worse.

Do you think sponsors and network executives give billions of dollars out of the kindness of their hearts, or because of some personal affinity to basketball? These are gigantic deals with the expectation that these companies will make a profit. Why do you think those companies would do that to a league whose ratings "speak for themselves"?

Um.. because the game was in better shape even just a few years ago?

This isn’t rocket science. The narrative going around right now is what a laughing stock the NBA is in general. The concern among die hard fans is where the marketable alpha stars truly are, there are a few but the list is small and nowhere near what it used to be. Even younger fans that haven’t watched past eras complain about the vanilla play style across the league.

The NBA basically has to pray that they get great games and matchups come April/May/June or else what you’re going to find is the ratings will continue to stay where they are.

You have a commissioner that is in way over his head, doesn’t have the ability to make the correct adjustments moving forward for anything. He’s be commissioner long enough and from a monetary standpoint he was able to get the big tv deal landed as the last era of good ball set himself up for it. But now into this era, you will see the market self adjust if the product stays where it is and you’ll see him on the hot seat amongst the owners. This isn’t some fear mongering, it’s the reality of the state of the league and where it currently sits.

This forum has the same people being defensive over the sport they love while the rest of us are in reality land seeing what most casual fans are seeing - a declining product. Bias takes aren’t going to take you guys anywhere. Get over it.

[Infinite Llamas]

The ratings speak for themselves to show where the NBA is at today. Sponsorship money and tv deals are bailing em out but if the trend continues it'll be Silver's ass on the line soon enough.

One thing's for sure, Silver can't make any adjustments without making things worse.

Do you think sponsors and network executives give billions of dollars out of the kindness of their hearts, or because of some personal affinity to basketball? These are gigantic deals with the expectation that these companies will make a profit. Why do you think those companies would do that to a league whose ratings "speak for themselves"?

Um.. because the game was in better shape even just a few years ago?

This isn’t rocket science. The narrative going around right now is what a laughing stock the NBA is in general. The concern among die hard fans is where the marketable alpha stars truly are, there are a few but the list is small and nowhere near what it used to be. Even younger fans that haven’t watched past eras complain about the vanilla play style across the league.

The NBA basically has to pray that they get great games and matchups come April/May/June or else what you’re going to find is the ratings will continue to stay where they are.

You have a commissioner that is in way over his head, doesn’t have the ability to make the correct adjustments moving forward for anything. He’s be commissioner long enough and from a monetary standpoint he was able to get the big tv deal landed as the last era of good ball set himself up for it. But now into this era, you will see the market self adjust if the product stays where it is and you’ll see him on the hot seat amongst the owners. This isn’t some fear mongering, it’s the reality of the state of the league and where it currently sits.

This forum has the same people being defensive over the sport they love while the rest of us are in reality land seeing what most casual fans are seeing - a declining product. Bias takes aren’t going to take you guys anywhere. Get over it.

2016-17 and 2017-18 were two of the most boring NBA Finals ever and the league recovered from that.

[Mephariel]

The NFL is setting new ratings records every year. The pro bowl has never mattered to anyone under 12 years old. The NFL doesn’t act like it matters. No one is passionate about the pro bowl.

The All Star game and the weekend in general used to matter. We had stars like MJ in the dunk contest. Players were competitive and prideful and didn’t want to lose the all star game. There was some effort. The NBA markets the all star game like it’s a big deal. It’s supposed to matter

...youre kinda making my point for me. The Pro Bowl doesnt matter and the ratings are skyrocketting. And you're saying thats ok because it never mattered and that everyone knows it doesnt matter and doesnt care. So I guess by that logic... if people realize that the All Star Game doesnt matter and stop caring, its the same thing.

Yeah except the nba has lost like half its television audience since the 90’s. There is a very loud audience of people not liking what the game has become and are tuning out. Adam Silver has acknowledged that. The players have acknowledged it. The national Media is finally starting to acknowledge it. The All Star game is just the annual reminder that it is not what it was once. You’re saying the solution is to just forget about the past and stop caring? Idk if that will work out for the NBA like you hope it will

The NBA got the largest TV deal in its history and is more popular than ever. I don't think TV ratings is the only thing that measures success.

[Edrees]

Don't get me wrong, I find NBA All Star Weekend as unwatchable as the next guy, but I think some people are going a little overboard in response. I don't really see how the decline of the ASG is indicative of a league in decline. Where is this smoke for the NFL? The Pro Bowl has been a complete joke for longer period of time, and I dont think Ive ever heard anyone claim that the sky is falling because of it. I've heard minor grumblings about how pointless the Pro Bowl is, and how they should just get rid of it, yet I dont hear people talking about how the league is ruined, or the players are spoiled. What's the difference exactly? Why is it no big deal for the NFL, but its outrageous for the NBA?

Apples to oranges. NFL is a contact sport. The entire point of the game is players hitting each other. Serious injuries are a real risk.

The NBA players just aren't giving effort, period. It's extremely unlikely that playing competitively will result in a serious injury.

The average number of fouls CALLED in an NBA game is 38.8. We all know many fouls go uncalled. that's a lot of contact. Then there's stuff that isn't a foul, like two players going for a rebound and one of them boxing out. That's contact.

The contact isn't as aggressive as the NFL, but there is a lot of contact the entire 24 seconds of every posession almost non stop on an NBA court.

Baseball, tennis, badminton, these are real examples of non contact sports where you can count the number of times players touch each other in a game or that number is 0 always.

[Sidthekid87]

I think I'm in the minority, but why is this such a big deal? Who gives a flying **** about 1 week of the NBA season being dull and depressing? It's a exhibition that takes place once a year and means absolutely nothing, there's far bigger issues in the NBA.

[rand]

It sucked and I am prepared to see more and worse in the coming seasons.

[nbanflguy]

...youre kinda making my point for me. The Pro Bowl doesnt matter and the ratings are skyrocketting. And you're saying thats ok because it never mattered and that everyone knows it doesnt matter and doesnt care. So I guess by that logic... if people realize that the All Star Game doesnt matter and stop caring, its the same thing.

Yeah except the nba has lost like half its television audience since the 90’s. There is a very loud audience of people not liking what the game has become and are tuning out. Adam Silver has acknowledged that. The players have acknowledged it. The national Media is finally starting to acknowledge it. The All Star game is just the annual reminder that it is not what it was once. You’re saying the solution is to just forget about the past and stop caring? Idk if that will work out for the NBA like you hope it will

The NBA got the largest TV deal in its history and is more popular than ever. I don't think TV ratings is the only thing that measures success.

Based on what? The media telling you that? Views on tik tok? Inflation making prices go up? It’s a bubble that will burst eventually. The broadcast companies making absolutely terrible financial deals is because they are panicking and trying anything to get people to watch live tv. It has nothing to do with the “success” of the NBA or the quality of the product. The NBA changing the all star game format every year, adding the play in tourney, adding the in season tourney, begging players to play by enforcing a games played rule for major awards, etc is because they are losing popularity not gaining it. Hell there is even a not small theory that Luka being traded was forced by Silver to try to increase NBA ratings. That’s not a theory at all if the league is more popular than ever

[dhsilv2]

Don't get me wrong, I find NBA All Star Weekend as unwatchable as the next guy, but I think some people are going a little overboard in response. I don't really see how the decline of the ASG is indicative of a league in decline. Where is this smoke for the NFL? The Pro Bowl has been a complete joke for longer period of time, and I dont think Ive ever heard anyone claim that the sky is falling because of it. I've heard minor grumblings about how pointless the Pro Bowl is, and how they should just get rid of it, yet I dont hear people talking about how the league is ruined, or the players are spoiled. What's the difference exactly? Why is it no big deal for the NFL, but its outrageous for the NBA?

Apples to oranges. NFL is a contact sport. The entire point of the game is players hitting each other. Serious injuries are a real risk.

The NBA players just aren't giving effort, period. It's extremely unlikely that playing competitively will result in a serious injury.

Guys get seriously hurt almost every other game...

[nbanflguy]

I think I'm in the minority, but why is this such a big deal? Who gives a flying **** about 1 week of the NBA season being dull and depressing? It's a exhibition that takes place once a year and means absolutely nothing, there's far bigger issues in the NBA.

That’s the issue. It USED to mean something to people. It’s USED to be special. Now it’s a joke. That makes people angry

[maxpower8888]

Don't get me wrong, I find NBA All Star Weekend as unwatchable as the next guy, but I think some people are going a little overboard in response. I don't really see how the decline of the ASG is indicative of a league in decline. Where is this smoke for the NFL? The Pro Bowl has been a complete joke for longer period of time, and I dont think Ive ever heard anyone claim that the sky is falling because of it. I've heard minor grumblings about how pointless the Pro Bowl is, and how they should just get rid of it, yet I dont hear people talking about how the league is ruined, or the players are spoiled. What's the difference exactly? Why is it no big deal for the NFL, but its outrageous for the NBA?

Apples to oranges. NFL is a contact sport. The entire point of the game is players hitting each other. Serious injuries are a real risk.

The NBA players just aren't giving effort, period. It's extremely unlikely that playing competitively will result in a serious injury.

Its also extremely unlikely that a single Pro Bowl game will result in any one player getting hurt. Injuries happen all the time in both sports, but the odds of them happening in any given game are of course slim. Yes, the chances are greater for the Pro Bowl, but contact DOES happen in a competitive NBA game so they have as much a chance of getting hurt then as they would during any other game... so if there is no incentive to put your body on the line why would you?

You can watch five NBA games in a row and not see anyone get injured. You'll be hard pressed to watch even a single NFL game and not see at least one injury. The Pro Bowl is filled with Pro Bowlers, do you think they want to **** up all that non-guaranteed money? NBA players get their money no matter what. There's a big difference between playing hard in the All-Star game and the Pro Bowl.

[DOT]

Its mostly just the people who think the 3pt line has ruined the game looking for any excuse to bash the NBA and pretend like it is collapsing or whatever.

could be wrong but i get more of a "sports have gone woke" "player empowerment ruined the NBA" "LeBron and Klutch sports secretly run the entire NBA" vibe than a "the 3 point line ruined the game" vibe... though Im sure there is overlap.

Brother, that Venn Diagram is a circle

[Slava]

I understand that it is supposed to be an exhibition weekend for casual fans but I don’t know why any casual would ever become a regular if you firehosed that obnoxious, vertically challenged person, Kevin Hart up their butt for 48 hours.

[Larry_Russell]

Just do away with the game entirely.

Have interviews with who the fans want, have a celebrity game, show highlights of the season to date, music performers all that junk.

I would have the fans vote on who competes in dunk and 3pt shootout personally. And have the be the big part of the allstar weekend.

large sum to the winners.

[JayMKE]

If you don’t care why do you care if other people care? I don’t think there is anybody in the world that defends the Pro Bowl, I thought the whole thing was canceled? I think most people would rather NBA ASG was just canceled and they scheduled less back to backs, the only thing people care about are the flowers for making the team.