Reporter: “Are yall gonna give more effort this year or is it kind of like it is what it is at this point?” | Anthony Edwards: “Yeah it is what it is at this point”
Lmao I appreciate the warning
Right lmao, was considering speeding through my workout to watch it JUST in case they actually tried this year. Goes without saying I’ll take my time lol
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Not the way I do it.
Cocaine alone?
You doing the shake weight flesh light combo too, or something different?
It is when your mums operating the shaft
You need to love yourself more
Ant slowly lowering his brow like “bro you know what typa time we on”
Ya at this point if you watch and get bored by the shit game that’s on you for tuning in.
Maaaaaan at least the players had fun at the pro bowl and played around backyard football style, these guys just don’t give af
I think it helps that at the pro bowl the NFL guys get to a play a very different, very low stakes version of their game.
These NBA dudes are doing the same thing they always do, just with no stakes, and also more people watching.
Pro Bowlers in the NFL get to play with the best players not on their team. Imagine being a star WR and having the privilege to get targets from Shedeur Sanders
Had me in the first half
I don’t watch much nfl, is Sanders the worst dude ever to make the pro bowl? Only thing i know about him is his dad was like a hall of fame level defender lol
There were 10 QB’s better than him, that were not injured.
What’s his nba equivalent, like bronny or something?
It’s hard to compare, he was pretty much the worst starting QB in the league last season but he played well enough to get extended run as a starter at the most important position in the sport. Maybe similar to like Scottie Pippen Jr. if you had to make a comparison, he’ll stick around as a fringe starter/back-up for a while unless he improves significantly
Pip Jr is solid don’t do him like that
He finished 8th in Heisman trophy voting…so he was one of the best players in college football. Bronny was one of the weakest players on a bad team in college. He’s like a mid 1st round NBA draft pick. Their success is largely dependent on the team/situation they get drafted into.
Heisman voting really doesn’t matter in after college performance. There’s many top 5 Heisman vote getters that are going door to door selling solar for a living these days.
I never suggested that there was a correlation with the Heisman and the NFL. He asked if he was like Bronny James. Sheduer earned his way into the NFL by his college performance and earned his starting job in the NFL over 2 other quarterbacks. Bronny didn’t even earn his seat on an NBA bench.
Damn.
The stakes for the all-star game are not that crazy. Nobody remembers who ever won an all-star game, at most it’s who won MVP. They just remember people doing 1v1’s and trying hard down the stretch. It’s really the bare fuckin minimum. These guys try harder at summer open gyms.
I genuinely cannot think of a player who had a showing at the ASG that caused them to suffer in other people’s opinion beyond the lack of effort.
I’m saying there are no stakes in the ASG for the nba.
All the incentive is to play with minimum effort, blend in with everyone else doing the bare minimum, and not get clowned on social media for either playing too lazy OR too hard.
nobody would clown a star for “going too hard” if they dropped 60 and won. the issue is they’re not even playing with minimum effort (ie, open gym effort). several players straight up grief the game
It’s also after the season has ended, and for some guys their chance to be seen as good even though they are trash and have no place in a pro bowl.
The NBA would at least be wise to move the all star game to the half way point - we are getting close to real crunch / focus time and the playoff push.
Great point about it being after the season is already over for the nfl dudes.
I don’t even think it’s that. This generation of players has no pride. There’s no way Kobe or MJ or any of the previous generation stars would sleep walk their way through this game.
They at least had enough respect for the fans who were paying for tickets to see them in person or spending their time to watch them play to at least make it entertaining.
I get that the players are being rewarded for being good at their job with more work but if they don’t want to put in effort they should at least ask out so someone more unknown can make a name for themselves on national TV.
As long as we’re in the era of load management players aren’t going to care about the all star game. They don’t even care about playing most games during the season. The days of John Stockton refusing to sit out a pre season game because the fans paid to see him are long gone.
Someone behind the scenes who has influence in the league needs to get the message across to these dudes to simply give off the illusion that you give a shit. This is supposed to be the weekend where the NBA showcases its best talent and is supposed to be for the fans while the league is supposed to shine.
The lack of effort and to where it’s so obvious these dudes don’t care. It’s just so off putting to me. Like I’m sure there’s been players who don’t give a shit in the league for decades. But at least they didn’t make it blatantly obvious.
Goes beyond the ASG. But it blows my mind how the idea of stars sitting out the second night of a back to back has pretty much become normalized. But these teams aren’t offering any type of ticket discount for this. I’m at a point where if I’m going to go to a game. It makes no sense to buy tickets ahead of time. I have to be mindful if it’s the second night of a back to back. They may have their stars be a healthy scratch for whatever other reason. I could live with buying tickets in advance and a player is legitimately injured. But all these other reasons why they may sit players. Makes no sense to buy tickets ahead of time.
With the pro-bowl all the attendees finished their season so there’s not much else to do afterwards. These guys just want to show up and go on vacation to rest up before making their playoff pushes.
I’d also say that the pro bowl being at the end of the season helps. NBA players still have to be locked in on the mission but instead have to go play a meaningless game mid-season. The pro bowl is at the end of the year and so nfl players are done and it’s just kinda a final hurrah for fun
Yeah the NBA really needs to revisit all star weekend as a whole. 3 point contest is fine, I guess the celebrity game is what it is and probably fun for some, but everything else needs heavy scrutiny.
I’ve personally wanted to see games of HORSE or PIG or something as a fun game. Make it get rid of the dunk contest. Or games of knockout, or 21, or something.
As for the all star game itself, just do like 8 teams of 3 doing 3v3 half court games. Something different. The all star game 5v5 is clearly dead at this point, and like you pointed out with NFL, players may enjoy and somewhat play when it’s at least a different style than they’re used to.
Get Tacko Fall out of the celebrity game. If you ever got paid to play basketball, you should be disqualified.
Just have them do non basketball things, I would love to see them do game shows, dance contests, pub quiz, karaoke, swimming, dominoes, drag show. Give them a chance show off another aspect of themselves they’re proud of and can have fun while taking a break from basketball basketball.
Make it convention style where fans go to different events throughout the day.
Give theml Allstars a sign up sheet and tell them to take three activities each.
I think the way to fix this is by letting the players decide. If they have fun then people would enjoy watching. It’s never going to be a high octane game. These guys don’t play together and a big part of basketball is the team aspect. Just let them go out and show off their athleticism.
I’m the NFL thing was just as big of a joke as this if not worse. Shidore Sanders made the pro bowl
Would the All Star game be better if it was held at the end of the year?
How many of these guys are looking at second half and not getting hurt in an all star game?
Most of the league out in Cancun by that point
I think it would still be comparably bad because in offseason injury isn’t all that much better. It’ll hurt people’s free agency
😂😂😂😂😂😂 in June?!?!?
Yeaaahhh riggghhhhttt
No one is putting any effort because there’s no competition. Give us a 1v1 tournament between each positions
Then players will pull out like the pro bowl lol. You’re not going to be able to incentivize them, most are making ridiculous money just from their NBA contract. The last time they were incentivized was when they did target score when Kobe and Gianna died. The players went hard that year and gave a great game. They did target score again the year after and they stopped caring. Idk if there is a gimmick you can use to motivate, you’d have to punish the loser somehow not just reward the winner. Like a season end statline boost for winner and reduction for loser lol.
Maybe they should kill off an NBA legend each year to give them a reason to play hard.
Karl Malone first
Gotta take first-born, too. It’s like a Thanos thing.
Honestly just have the losing team do suicides or push-ups. At the very least the memes of them slacking off on those would allow for some type of public shame
I think asking the losing team to kill themselves is a lot.
They would probably choose the push-ups
Name it the “Kobe and Gianna Bryant Memorial NBA All Star Game.” Winners get to give some amount of earnings to a charity their team collectively voted for—each player picks one and they can’t vote for their own—while losers get nothing. I think they’d show out.
East vs West. Winner gets home court advantage in finals. Simple.
Let’s keep it away from individuals especially ones with questionable life choices.
Unironically this would work. If not only from a PR standpoint, players would have to show out. How you gonna show up at the childrens hospital when you literally couldnt be bothered to even play a game seriously to help them out
I’ve come to this conclusion after thinking about the competitiveness problem for a few years now. It’s the issue though that no analyst or commentator will touch…..plain and simple, these guys make too much money to care.
And yeah then there’s the issue of if the contracts weren’t so big, then that money will just go back into the billionaires pockets. I don’t have an answer to solve any of these issues, but it’s where I’ve landed.
It’s a shame we moved away from target score because everyone focused on the supposed advantage of making people care in the final minutes and forgot or ignored the advantage that target scored made that second dogshit game wrap up a lot quicker.
You think they’d wanna do that lol. I’m just happy Steph did the shooting contest with Sabrina. These guys wouldn’t wanna lose a 1v1 even if it was against other superstars.
yes, i was watching the women’s unrivaled 1v1 and it was great, they were trying to win
200k is a lot of money for them. It was really fun to watch.
Yeah I caught part of that, it was pretty dope. When you’re playing ones and people are watching you kind of have to go hard so you don’t get embarrassed
They wouldn’t come, everyone is afraid of being embarrassed
Replace the NBA cup and ASB with a week long 1v1 tourney, every team sends a player, winner is eligible for a supermax or something
Those guys don’t want the spot light on them—at least not the stars. They don’t want to risk getting cooked
That would take forever
Ant would actually be a menace in those 1v1s. He loves iso defense in big moments (and hates like all other forms of defense) and with his midrange game he’d be a tough cover.
No he wouldn’t. he’d fuck around and only play with his left hand or close one eye the whole time.
ant is way too competitive to let himself get clowned on 1v1. getting clowned on as a team is different.
They’ll be too chicken shit to do this
Oblivious opinion lol
Great product you have here Adam Silver
David Stern would’ve dragged him behind the barn for this, Silver just takes it like a good boy
Dragged him behind the barn and did what?
just a quick wank
cradle the balls, stroke the shaft, work the pipe, swallow the gravy.
Bent him over a barrel and showed him the fifty states
I don’t know what that means.
It’s a phrase.
I’ve never heard it
Any sentence is a phrase
The Stern glazing is crazy
Adam Silver and the passage of time following Stern’s death have been Stern’s greatest PR agents as of late.
Stern oversaw the NBA’s worldwide expansión and golden era.
You might disagree with some stuff he did (or didnt) but to pretend he wasnt great for the sport overall is dumb.
Oh man, picturing Adam Silver’s glistening bald head as he jumps in the air and services my balls on command… I am so fucking turned on right now.
“Player empowerment”
I mean really what’s the point of going hard in this game? The league is already injury riddled and we specifically don’t give a break to our most important guys. Why the fuck would you try?
As a Wolves fan this is exactly what I want for Ant, he’s been dealing with a lot of little things and could definitely use the rest lol
Then decline the invite, don’t get credited with being named as an All-Star and if it’s in your contract then take the contractual hit too.
This is part of the agreement for being in the privileged position they are. If the fans didn’t show up to games they wouldn’t be in that position so take the stick outta your ass, give something back to the people who helped pay to get where you are and stop being an arrogant douchebag.
Again, nobody is asking them to go 100%. People just want to see more than 0%.
50%? Amazing. 30%? Cool.
for most of these guys i think it’s just a binary on/off switch. not sure you could “half” give a fuck
Plus anyone that plays hard even in meaningless pickup knows how the game is completely ruined when people aren’t trying. It’s like playing poker without any money on the line.
First, nobody is asking them to go hard. Nobody is asking them to be 2001 Iverson leading an 18 point comeback in the last 6 minutes to win the game.
Why would any player play basketball in the offseason when they could get hurt? Go to Summit on a random Tuesday in July and nba players are exerting exponentially more energy and competitive nature.
They’re asking them to at least showcase their talents; something more than 0% effort. Have the competitive drive to want to prove yourself against all the best players in the league. Have the want to put on a show. Have respect for the game. It’s an insult to the fans there’s no way around it
the media people and reddit are quite clearly asking them to go hard
also they litearlly showcase their talent all season long
the all star thing is just a glorified popularity contest to pick guys to be all star. The game does not matter and its kinda stupid to even hold the game.
Reddit: Season should be shortened to 70 (it should!)
Reddit: We need guys to go hard in a meaningless game (they shouldn’t)
Going hard and not giving a single fuck are not the same thing.
About respect, dominance and getting in your opponents heads for the rest of the season. These guys aren’t competitive these days, no one gives af. Can’t tell me this is a better era of basketball
Oh I don’t know, this is one of the NBA’s premier showcases and to prove that you are the best. It’s not a big ask
It’s such a premier showcase that we shit on it every year.
Nba keeps bleeding viewers
Maybe they should try to keep their high salaries before the revenue goes down cause fans will move to something else, specially in this “on demand” era.
They should just leave the All Star game as is, but the losing team will be ineligible for All Star selection for the next year
I’ve been saying this for years. Why are the guys who don’t have nearly the pressure and load bearing during the 82 game season relaxing on mini vacations while the actually tired guys have to continue dealing with media, practice, have to play in an actual game and get no break?
Extend the All Star BREAK so that you have the festivities, but then the stars actually have the time to get away from the game and reset for the stretch run.
I remember how they started out with effort last year and then the league kept interrupting the game every 90 seconds for Kevin Hart bits. They got exactly what they wanted from the players last year and took a massive shit all over them to thank them. The all-star game deserves to die at this point.
And then on the final they stopped the game to suck off Inside the NBA which killed the momentum of the game
It was really weird, like I liked the idea of a tribute, but why during the middle of the game?
That’s the main issue for me, if the league won’t respect their own All Star game then why should we?
It’s like: “Ok guys, please go hard and give everyone a show” but then you’re constantly stopping the game for stupidity
They’ll do absolutely anything to make this basketball game interesting except having people actually compete at basketball
kinda sad they play harder at pickup games during the summer in random gyms than during a weekend thats supposed to be for fans (mostly children) to see all the best players of the game play together.
We know ant dont care about no kids.
Get da….
Fuck them kids
there is nothing about fans with that pricing lol
oh yeah i forgot, this isn’t a televised event
That’s what bugs me the most.
In games where they make no money, where there might not even be cameras filming, and they’re playing with random guys off the street, they go all out. But when the lights are bright, they’re paid to be there, adoring fans/ media or coaches honor them with the spot, they can’t be assed to gift an inch of effort.
the lights havent been “bright” at the ASG since the first elim ending year (and they did try that time) and before that who fuckin knows
also i PROMISE theyre not going anywhere resembling “all out” in those offseason games dude lmao though it may appear that way because of the dogwater competition
You can’t get injured 2 months from the playoffs in a summer pickup game.
We clown on them not trying in the all-star, but people would be absolutely furious at their stars if they went hard and got injured, and basically sold the season for the team on a game that has no benefit.
Funny how half these guys idolize MJ and Kobe yet have this soft ass attitude.
Seriously cancel the all star games nones having fun
Jalen Brunson said the same thing
For real. Imagine being in this situation where no one is really having fun along with no one really there to watch. Then you have Josh Hart posting on IG that he’s in some tropical beach somewhere with his family. One of these is clearly better lol.
Lmao Josh Hart is hilarious, man is just living his best life
I’d love to see random ass competitions between star guys.
Give me Ant vs Brunson in ping pong. Wemby and Fox vs SGA and Chet in beach volleyball. Jokic vs Doncic is bean bag toss/cornhole. Let them do low stakes yet competitive things.
Ant in a ping pong tournament would be funny as fuck. I’d watch a whole Netflix limited series about it.
Pro Bowl is on life support right now after Sheduer made it. NBA All Star game is probably next
I honestly don’t see the point of having the game lol. The only way to make them play harder is to have actual stakes. Go back to east vs west and have the winning conference get home court in the finals lol. Other then that it’s a waste of time
Who are we actually having the All-Star Game for at this point? Players don’t care, fans don’t care. We’re somehow tied to this “tradition” and “prestige” and caring about how previous generations of players judge things.
Just admit nobody gives a shit about it anymore, name some mid-season East and West All-Star squads to give players recognition without playing the actual game, and be done with it.
The All-Star game is for the sponsors.
It’s for kids. They see their favorites all together in one place and make connections with them. That stuff keeps people engaged for life.
The league and the players have been dropping the ball on this type of marketing for years and are going to wake up someday with very few new fans.
I mean would you not genuinely love an all star game that was east vs west with them actually trying? The best players in the world playing basketball against each other, I couldn’t imagine watching anything better. The fans don’t care because the players don’t care, these aren’t mutually exclusive imo
That’s what I’ve been saying. Home court advantage in the finals would be a huge motivator. And it kinda makes sense to decide it this way, since regular season standings are not reliable, since teams play most of their games against their own conference.
Also, reduce the number of games in the regular season. Give the players a two-week break in the middle of the season and do the ASW just before the second part of the season starts. You’ll have players more rested, relaxed and eager to play.
I don’t think that’s fair. Imagine if the 1 seed in either conference has a 5+ win advantage over the 1 seed in the other conference, but loses out on home court advantage because the all star game didn’t go there way.
Tough shit. The All Star Game matters now. That example would directly make next year’s game better IMO.
Yeah it’s an awful idea. Baseball tried and it didn’t work. Imagine your team wins 70 games and plays game 7 on the road
Real talk is anyone actually watching All Star weekend? Shit is so bland.
The three point contest was pretty fun, but that’s the highlight of all star weekend now.
The shooting thing was alright, but somehow nobody really knew what they were doing, and there were a ton of bricks. At least give them a rehearsal, damn.
Yes 3 Pt shootout was great! The shooting stars started slow but had a good final. I’m definitely going to give the game a shot tomorrow too
Tbh I didn’t even know it was happening so early. Like why is it not at night
Fuck it, make the 3pt shootout the main event going forward. It’s the most competitive event most years anyway.
Vote on all-stars, give them recognition, and let everyone rest. Instead of an all-star game, play an alumni game with recently retired players who can risk spraining an ankle. (That way you don’t have Linsanity and Bol Bol embarrassing a bunch of mortals.)
Have the NBA and the WNBA all star game together. 4 coed teams in a single elimination tournament. Three 24 minute coed games. The women will play hard and compete, and if the men don’t they’ll be embarrassed.
A full 3 point shoot out tournament could be dope. No risk of injury, limited effort required, but possibility for some bragging rights
Just scanning the sub and getting more boring content than on a normal day.
Not at this point. Since they don’t care, I don’t care enough to watch.
Rising stars was fun, 3pt contest was also really fun!
Blame the media for making nothing matter but the playoffs.. This shit started with ring culture ruining the regular season IMO
It got way worse after wade broke Kobe’s nose in the all star game. It feels like after that everyone was just like….”nah”
Surprised I had to scroll this far to find the answer. If players didn’t get destroyed at the end of every season for not winning a ring, then maybe they would somewhat care about competing against the best players in the league in an exhibition game.
Media?
Nah we can blame everyone. Silver. Fans. Players. They’re all part of the problem. Paid way too much money not to put in a little bit of effort in a game like this.
Lmao
Blame players for not trying
Period
Literally it’s the only thing that’s changed
You know Ant gonna keep it a buck
If we keeping it a buck, all star game is ass.
😂 facts.
And people paid money to see this? When the stars admit it’s not worth it?
I imagine a lot of the younger players will take their cues from the old heads and how hard they decide to play
Cancel the fucking game at this point holy shit. This is embarrassing.
Honestly, not much would be lost if all-stars just goes away completely. We already have all-nba and other end of year awards and that’s fine. Any award voted on by the public is gonna be a joke anyway.
They literally had to make a rule you can’t sit out too many games or you can’t win awards and that’s for regular season games that actually matter. Yall thought they’d care about a game with no incentives?
Having to incentive guys who make ~150m+ over a ~10 year career is hilarious
This is just disrespectful for the fans honestly
People gonna complain about this until one year they start trying and someone gets hurt in a meaningless game.
We’ve literally seen them try harder in meaningless Drew League games. Nobody’s asking them to go all out. But just trying shouldn’t be too tough of an ask.
The whole meaningless game thing is bullshit though. NBA players get heated and try in gym pickups, 5v5s at practice, etc. It doesn’t need to be more intense than that and it would still be miles better than this thing where the players consciously sell the whole game. It’s a fuck you to the league, is what they’re doing; they’re playing like shit as a way of negotiating for the game to either be compensated better or go away entirely. but in effect, it’s just a fuck you to the fans.
If someone happens to get injured, it should be viewed the same as getting injured at practice, or in any game. It’s part of the season.
Love him. New baby for him born in LA within 9.5 months on Kalshi yet?
His line is 10.5 points for the game and he’s saying out loud he’s not even gonna try. Something to think about
Yeah you realize they aren’t trying on defense either though right
The players don’t wanna play an 83rd game.
No one in this soft ass league is playing 82 games. Sorry, actually 11 players played 82 last year.
Meanwhile NHL players have the same length season and play through broken bones and torn ligaments for 1/100th of the salary that this bum is getting. This shit is embarrassing, and it’s a problem with the nonchalant culture of the sport. People have literally been saying they don’t even try in the regular season for well over a decade. Adam silver and the media have propped these guys up on a pedestal and told them they’re bigger than the league for their whole careers.
In case anyone’s curious: Ant is making 45.5 million dollars this year. Just FYI.
“yeah we don’t give a fuck about the fans”
If they played the level and intensity the players in rising stars play then it would be entertaining. Doesn’t have to be super try hard
All they have to do is put some money to win like they do for the cup. Doesn’t matter how rich they are if there’s something to win and come to work for they will perform.
please just cancel the All-Star game because ts is so stupid. we don’t want to watch because they don’t want to play and they’re just openly admitting it now. it’s embarrassing for the NBA to have a star like Ant say this.
They need to make it east vs west again and the winner gets home court advantage in the finals. Then you’ll see people caring a bit more
I’m sorry, but this guy is a complete asshole. Ya, fuck the fans that watch or attend the all-star game. Thats a great attitude for one of the “faces of the league.”
I mean he’s a great player but even from his own words he said he’s not the face of the nba because he’s not exactly a good role model, leader or good speaker
After the 2024 all star game/weekend I vowed to never waste my time watching that shit show until either A) Silver doesn’t run the show or B) I get Fomo after I hear how awesome it was and I tune in the following year.
Kinda ridiculous that the NBA can’t get big names to do a dunk contest and care about it. Play a scrimmage game and care about it. Bad product.
This guy is such a loser man, such a shame he’s so talented
Agree. Comments like this make us fans question why we even watch this shit.
I’ll still watch wemby go and clown these lil hoes
Wemby should humiliate these dudes
The all star game is outdated, both fans and players don’t give a shit about it
Fans did though once upon a time. Money and corporate mindset ruined it. Nobody has self respect because they’ve turned humans in to brands. If a brand looks weak or fails that’s bad business so nobody tries. That’s the poison of corporate brained mentality stealing the color out of life. If no one tries no one can fail. And now w gambling is anything even real anymore? Love of money sucks the joy and color out of everything. It really is the root of all evil.
Season is way too long and there’s an uptick in guys suffering lower leg injuries that they shouldn’t be at their respective ages, and we’re complaining about the players not playing hard in an exhibition game? Come on now.
Adam Silver, your animal is not eating or sleeping and is constantly in pain. Please do the humane thing here
So KD calling out Jokic and luka like his teammates don’t have this attitude
The fans should boo them the whole time TBH. What’s the point.
Players, media, and fans have been vocal on this. Now we all need to not tune in.
Just have the all star weekend after the finals at this point.
With the amount of ACL tears plaguing the league I don’t blame these dudes for taking it easy for a game. Imagine being sidelined for a year because you got competitive about a game that doesn’t matter.
He’s honest
Just get the top 16 players in the league in a “Jordan vs Bird” one on one tournament over 3 days.
80s boys will understand “Jordan vs Bird”. Hehege
He’s being honest lol. Why be face of the league anyway lol. Y’all gonna crap on him and talk about his personal life all day instead of his skillset. Just don’t watch then lol.
Might as well just fucking cancel it. We have gone beyond the path of no return.
How about we just extend the play in to February and “all star weekend” is just the pay in tournament? We can still do the skills contests and stuff and name All star teams but who cares about the actual game?
It’ll make the play in more fun and meaningful and who cares about the all star game at this point?
I guess just screw the fans then 😂
Who cares bro it’s just an exhibition game, you wanna make it competitive you gotta provide incentive. Leagues ruled by money atp, not pride.
I mean, they don’t even try anymore in a regular season game. Why should they break a sweat at this nonsense ?
The game doesn’t matter. I feel it’s actually fans fault because of the ring culture. When all that matters is winning rings, why waste energy on a meaningless pick up game in the middle of the season?
Man, just give them the week off at this point. Name the all stars, they still get their credit, but stop wasting everyone’s time with this garbage. The players don’t like it, the fans don’t like it, just give everyone a week long vacation.