The NBA All-Star Game, which pitted the best from the conferences against each other, was at one point one of the most prestigious fixtures of the year. Of course, its results didn’t count, but then bragging rights were everything back then, and the superstars turned up with intent. The game has, however, started to lose that allure, and Kevin Garnett has blamed LeBron James for it.
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Garnett, a 15-time All-Star, went on his podcast to claim that the demise can be traced back to 2016. During the game, James passed the ball while Kobe Bryant was guarding him. Garnett said that the Black Mamba was irate that he didn’t get a chance to go one-on-one with LeBron for the fans’ sake.
Garnett feels the entire All-Star game experience has been off since then. He also spoke about how the league brings in Street ballers to participate in the dunk contest to try to garner people’s attention. However, Carmelo Anthony doesn’t agree with the Celtics legend.
Anthony defended Bron on a recent edition of the 7pm in Brooklyn podcast. He said he knows why Garnett made that claim in the first place.
“He’s only saying that because at that moment, of what we know and how we looked at the All-Star game, like was, ‘The stars rise to the occasion,'” Anthony said. “We just know this is what everybody wants. We have to give it to them.”
Melo then admitted that when he came into the league, it was explained to him that the players would all coast for the first three quarters before turning it up in the 4th during the All-Star game. “Now everybody [is] in cahoots because it’s almost like a wrestling match,” continued Anthony.
It’s like, ‘Alright, look. First two, three quarters. Let me get my sh** off.’ Let’s go have some fun. Fourth quarter comes, we all agree that we [are] getting to it. That’s the information that was passed down to us,” he added.
Anthony then said that after the 2016 game, the league kind of started blaming LeBron for everything that went wrong in the ASG.
Melo decodes Kevin Garnett’s comments about LeBron ‘ruining’ the NBA All-Star Game pic.twitter.com/bc1hUsV8AD
— 7PM in Brooklyn (@7PMinBrooklyn) January 26, 2026
“So when he didn’t do that, people started looking like, ‘Oh sh**. Alright bet. Oh, Bron f**ed the All-Star game up. Oh, Bron f**ed the dunk contest up because Bron’s never been in the dunk contest. Bron f**ed the 3-point contest up.’ He [is] gonna get blamed for every single thing,” said Melo.
The truth probably sits somewhere in the middle. LeBron didn’t “break” the All-Star Game with one pass, but moments like that did signal a shift. The league stopped pretending the game meant anything competitively, and the players leaned into the exhibition part even harder.
Once everyone realised it’s scripted energy until the fourth quarter, the magic was bound to fade. Fans can feel that. You can’t fake stakes, even when the talent is ridiculously elite.
What’s really changed is the relationship between stars and expectations. Older generations took pride in showing out every second. This era is more aware, more careful, and more business-minded.
That’s not necessarily a bad thing; it’s just different. And if the All-Star Game wants its juice back, it won’t come from blaming LeBron. It will come from giving players a real reason to care again, or accepting that the event is more content than competition now.
