This year the NBA All Star Game came as a shock to everyone. Many players disagreed with having an All-Star Game this year for many reasons. Some players expressed continuing with the All-Star Game tradition was disrespectful because players did not get enough time to rest from last season, which started late due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Players in the league were not happy with the decision and were verbal about their feelings. Lebron James said he would rather spend the time off during the break and it was a slap in the face to him and all the players who didn't get time to rest during the interruption from the previous season (Newberry, 2021). Lebron James continued with “I have zero energy and zero excitement about an All-Star Game this year. I don’t even understand why we’re having an All-Star Game (O’Donnell, 2021).”
Commissioner Adam Silver feels otherwise. When the players concern about the All-Star Game was addressed during a press conference, Silver said, “All-Star is part of our league. It’s no different than all the other games we play. It begins and ends with the fans. This is an event the fans want; they love to see the players come together” (Newberry, 2021). Adam Silver is going on with the All-Star game, but they did change it up this year to make it safe using new Covid-19 safety protocols. Instead of having a full weekend of All-Star events, they changed it to having all the events in one day rather than three days as it is traditionally.
I understand James’ point of view and I agree with him. Players did not get enough time to rest because of the previous season being pushed back due to the pandemic. Because the season was delayed, the offseason was shorter than the usual 72 days. The NBA is not being fair to the players who are the ones putting their bodies on the line to make the All-Star game entertaining for fans. I also think that Commissioner Silver did not show appreciation for the players by proceeding with the All-Star events.