El new format of the All-Star Game It seems destined to leave no one indifferent. With a change as radical as the transition from a single party to a sort of mini fourth finalit seems like a desperate move by the NBA to try to breathe some life into a night that hasn’t had much to offer in years, but it’s not a solution that seems to have been found. Not at all in the case of Kevin Durant, who does not seem at all enthusiastic about this experience.
“I hate it. “I completely hate it,” he bluntly told PHNX Sports reporter Gérald Bourguet. “It’s terrible. We should go back to the East against the West and play just one game. They tried to bring back some excitement for the All-Star, but I vote for returning to traditions. But let’s see how it works. “Who knows, maybe I’m wrong.”
The truth is, even though Durant defends the East vs. West format, this year’s matchup makes a pretty strong argument against that idea. If the All-Star is already a less serious match, this last edition sublimated this concept and offered a party in which no one had any interest, with a score of 211-186 demonstrating the lack of defensive effort. Something that needed serious intervention.
But the problem is always the same: without real interest from the stakeholders, nothing can be done. Creating the perfect format won’t do any good if no one takes the game seriously. And, to be honest, since this is the only semi-free weekend many candidates get between October and May, there may be no way to get them to treat this night like something stake.
(Photo de couverture : Matthew Stockman/Getty Images)
