Why NBA Players Don’t Play Defense In The All-Star Game

The All-Star Game are meant to be fun gatherings for the most talented basketball players on the planet. The entire All-Star Weekend is geared towards promoting the very top-of-the-top.

In the very first All-Star Game played in 1951, we saw the Eastern Conference team emerge victorious. Ed Macauley of the Boston Celtics was voted as the MVP of the game. The final scoreline for the game was 111-94, which seems like the score of a normal modern game.

However, this wasn’t going to be the case for too long. After the NBA introduced the shot clock in April 1954, the pace of the game grew drastically over the years. By the 1961 All-Star Game, we’d seen a score of 153-131 at the festivities.

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Scores continued to be in the low-100s for the duration of the 1970s and early 80s, except for 1980. However, by one point in the mid-1980s, the scores consistently hovered around the 150 mark.

Why would the All-Star Game yield such high scores? Doesn’t the sport of basketball have 2 sides to play – both offense and defense? One would think that the best in the game would take pride in playing the other half of the game in a contest against the best.

Why don’t NBA players play defense in the All-Star Game?

#1 Health

The All-Star Weekend is supposed to be a time when players enjoy the fruits of their labor for the season. It’s not a time they would want to subject their bodies to undue stress.

Granted, there is a certain amount of pride associated with winning in an All-Star Game. However, it’s a game that doesn’t count in the statistical records. It also doesn’t impact who wins the championship in any way.

Many stars, therefore, play this exhibition game at half-pace. After all, they wish to stay healthy for the games that do matter. The playoff games and the late regular season games are much more important and deserve first priority.

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#2 It’s a showcase event

One of the reasons the All-Star weekend is so special for the players is that it allows them to exhibit their very best moves in front of their friends and family while competing against their best peers.

There is, thus, an implicit understanding between the selected participants to stay out of each others’ way. The players like being able to build on their highlight reels without concern of having to overcome All-NBA level defense.

#3 Defending superstars is a tall order

With the exception of injuries and some debatable choices, the All-Star Game pits the 24 best players against each other. The 24 best offensive players are, by definition, very hard to stop from scoring at will.

Expending energy on that end with such little effect can be frustrating and counter-productive too. For that reason, players opt to conserve their energies for the offensive end of the game.