*Many sports fans took to social media to express their disappointment with the NBA All-Star Game, with one CBS reporter dismissing it as nothing more than a drawn-out spectacle.
Sunday’s 74th annual NBA All-Star Game aired with a revamped format. Last year’s 211-186 score reportedly left Commissioner Adam Silver unimpressed, prompting a shift from the traditional conference matchup to a four-team mini-tournament.
This year, three teams featured eight All-Stars each, while the fourth consisted of the Rising Stars Challenge winners plus an additional young player. Games were played to 40 points, and Shaquille O’Neal’s OGs emerged victorious by defeating Candace Parker’s Rising Stars 42-35, then cruising past Charles Barkley’s International Stars 41-25 in the final, per The Athletic. Steph Curry took home the Kobe Bryant All-Star Game MVP award.
Notably absent were LeBron James and Anthony Edwards who sat out due to injuries.
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Damian Lillard felt the 2025 All-Star Game was “a little bit more competitive”” than previous years.
Meanwhile, Draymond Green seemed less than impressed with the inclusion of Rising Stars in the event.
“You work all year to be an All-Star, and you get to play up to 40 [points], and you’re done. This is so unfair to Victor Wembanyama, who just took this game really seriously. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who just took this game really seriously,” said Green on a TNT broadcast after the first mini-game. “When you talk about chasing after the points records, Melo and Kobe and all these guys, who have had great scoring nights. They don’t get the opportunity to do that with this game. All so we can watch some Rising Stars. We’re about to watch the Olympic team, now we get the treat of watching the Olympic team play against a U-19 team. Come on, what are we doing? This is ridiculous.”
Despite lasting nearly three hours, the actual competitive basketball could was only 30 minutes. For some viewers, the gameplay felt like an extended warm-up session.
Then there was Kevin Hart, who dominated the broadcast far more than necessary. According to the critics, his comedic bits fell flat, raising the question of why he was given such a prominent role in the first place.
CBS Sports reporter Brad Botkin writes:
“Kevin Hart? I’ve been wondering for years how this man, who came off Sunday as the living antithesis of funny, became so wildly popular. But now I’m far more curious about the people who were responsible for deciding it was a good idea to have a cringeworthy comic serve as an “on-court emcee.”
The whole 3 hours was hard to watch. It makes you wonder who is the NBA All-Star Game is being made for these days. The answer is money, of course. Sponsors are sponsors and TV deals are TV deals, but a bad product is a bad product.
Meanwhile, 15-time All-Star Kevin Durant responded to criticism of the new format.
“I think it’s more fun to complain about the NBA than to actually watch it,” Durant (jokingly) wrote on X on Monday. “Crazy, cancel all star weekend and let’s just give everybody a break since we’re so miserable around this time…”
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