“Take Pride Like We Did”: Shaquille O’Neal Discusses How Players Can Help Fix the All-Star Game

The NBA All-Star Game has steadily declined in viewership over the past few years. A lot of factors have played a part in this, but former players believe it stems from the current All-Stars’ disinterest in the event. Shaquille O’Neal, who made the All-Star team 15 times in his career, discussed this on Inside The NBA and claimed the current crop of players are the only ones who can salvage the once-great event.

After announcing the All-Star Reserves last night, the Inside guys discussed possible ways for the weekend to be more enjoyable for viewers. With the main game only 2 weeks away, Shaq suggested the players need to take pride in their selection.

He claimed his generation would always be proud to be given a chance to lay against the best players, and that the current crop of All-Stars needs to do the same.

“They. They have to go in and take pride like we did, and say you know what I appreciate it.”

https://twitter.com/NBAonTNT/status/1885204831268151795

Shaq’s comments make it clear that he thinks the All-Stars should give the fans and audiences a proper show. After all, they are voted in by a combined effort of fans, media, and coaches. He believes it’s an honor to be selected to represent the league on such a grand scale, and the players have an obligation to perform their best, like the All-Star Weekends of old.

Kenny Smith, an honorary GM for this new ASG format, claimed his drafting strategy was simple. He claimed he’d only draft guys hungry to prove themselves. He also seemed to take a shot at LeBron James and Kevin Durant, saying he didn’t want any “old heads” on his team.

Charles Barkley, who’s been extremely vocal about the drop in quality of the All-Star Game, suggested the solution starts with NBA media. He said that as a part of the NBA family, they need to impress upon the players the importance of the occasion on the players.

But this isn’t the first time Chuck has taken a stand on the state of the games. A month ago, on the Dan Patrick Show, he had a unique solution to “fix” the game in his eyes.

Barkley wants USA v The World in the All-Star Game

Chuck suggested to Patrick that the NBA incorporate a “Team USA vs. Team World” strategy for the main All-Star Game, like they did from 2015-2021 for the Rising Stars Challenge. Chuck’s logic lay in the fact that players would be more motivated to perform if they were representing their respective countries, as they have more pride in it.

“I’ve always suggested we do the United States against The World. I think that would be fantastic.”

While the USA v World Rising Stars challenge was scrapped in 2022, it did draw in a lot of crowds when it was on. Not a lot is known about how the new All-Star format will impact viewership, but if Adam Silver has shown anything over the last 5 years, it’s that he’s not afraid to experiment.

If his current mini-tournament idea fails, then who knows? Maybe he’ll listen to Barkley and implement the USA vs. World idea from next year.