Kevin Durant Shrugs Off All-Star Game Criticism, Says It’s “Way Bigger” Than Just a Weekend

Every year since Adam Silver took over as the NBA commissioner in 2006, he has been trying to spice up the All-Star Game in the hope of resurrecting it to its erstwhile stature. And each year, he has failed. At this point, the fans seem to be more interested in knowing what new rabbit Silver pulls out of the hat than the actual All-Star Game itself.

Truth be told, there is a visible lack of enthusiasm among star athletes who are chosen for the NBA All-Star Game. Of course, it’s entertaining watching Kevin Hart try to dunk something, and the like. But the actual games have been a snoozefest for the better part of the last decade.

Different players and analysts have different takes on what has brought about this slide. For instance, Golden State Warriors star Draymond Green has blamed the NBA, asserting that every single night, a couple of players get injured, so athletes just don’t see a reason to risk their health.

Lou Williams had suggested that all these new ideas were kind of pointless, and all the game needs is for the players to play hard for a quarter. But according to NBA veteran Kevin Durant, there is nothing wrong with the All-Star Game, and all the complaints are arising because the media has nothing else to do.

“I just feel like fans and media need something to complain about, and the All-Star Game don’t make them feel like they feel back when they were kids. They need something to complain about. I don’t think it’s that big of a deal, to be honest, the All-Star Game, All-Star Weekend,” Durant said ahead of the 75th All-Star Game.

“People at home [are] complaining about the game and the intensity of it. I don’t think we’ll ever get past that,” continued the Houston Rockets star.

“But to see everybody still here, showing up, doing their jobs, pushing the game forward through this weekend, you go around the city, it’s so much energy in the city, so many past greats … representing the game of basketball, I just think it’s way bigger than that this weekend,” he argued.

Durant doesn’t think that the lack of intensity is as much of an issue since the All-Star Weekend is really about bringing people together and helping the game move forward.

Well, that’s fair. Just that the game cannot possibly move forward with sloppy displays of effort and athleticism. If commercialism is all there is to it, then sure, let’s just do that whole song and dance, have photo ops, and make a comic con out of it.

Adam Silver, of course, believes that making it a World team vs Team USA would ignite some kind of larger rivalry, stirring up the national spirit even. At this point, he can only hope that it works.