There’s been plenty of blame being passed around regarding the fans’ declining interest in the NBA All-Star Weekend. The constantly changing rulesets, the lack of incentives, and the absence of competitiveness, all have been called out as reasons by former players and pundits. However, Jeff Teague looked at the problem from a different point of view, underlining how today’s players don’t even want to compete in the midseason festivities.
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The former point guard explained how the players have a bunch of obligations to fulfill that weekend apart from the All-Star game itself. That’s why most would rather take the time off for some extra rest or spending time with friends and family rather than participate in the weekend’s activities.
The 36-year-old acknowledged that he was only a one-time All-Star, but he still knows the immense energy it takes to cede recovery time in favor of the exhibition match.
“You gotta think of the disadvantage of making the All-Star team,” Teague said on his show, the Club 520 Podcast. “It’s a dope thing… you get acknowledged as one of the best players in the league… but you gotta think, it’s a whole other 300 other players who are on vacation. They chilling, they resting up while you doing all these activities…”
“This whole weekend to play in this game you really don’t wanna play in. Cause you really like, ‘Damn, that motherf***er got eight days off, I got three,'” JT added.
While the former Atlanta Hawk didn’t explicitly blame the players, he did point out how today’s All-Stars have taken the passion out of what is supposed to be a celebration of the NBA’s premier talents. Instead, the competition has turned into a pickup-style match featuring lax defense, uncontested dunks, and controversial three-point attempts, making the whole thing a joke.
This kind of a revelation is pretty shocking for many fans who vote ardently for their favorite players every year. The NBA should look at reducing the number of events All-Stars have to attend before the game on Sunday. But the fact that players value a few extra days off more than playing in the All-Star game exposes a problem at the very core.
If the players don’t care about the All-Star Game, fans certainly won’t, and it will continue to be a stale and unimpressive product. The NBA’s desperation to get people to pay attention again has led to several revamped formats in recent years, including this season. Teague wasn’t shy about sharing his distaste for the changing formats and doesn’t believe the new one this year will be the event’s savior.
Teague doesn’t believe the new format will fix the ASG
The 12-year veteran already made his stance clear on why he believes the All-Star game has been failing. So while going over the new ruleset for the 2025 edition on his podcast, both the former All-Star and his co-hosts appeared bored and unmoved by the changes.
When DJ Wells questioned how this new format would help fix the competition’s issues, Teague bluntly mocked the idea of players taking any of it seriously, saying, “Y’all think they about to play, for real, right here? Y’all crazy. They not about to play for real.”
Only time will tell if this newly introduced format will boost the weekend’s ratings, but considering the past format changes haven’t mitigated the lack of competitiveness, the NBA may have to keep looking for solutions.
