Another year, another NBA all-star weekend. For the past few seasons, it’s felt like the NBA has been going through the motions with the NBA all-star game. They’ve tried several new formats to try and make the game more interesting but it doesn’t seem to be doing anything.
The 24 NBA all-stars were split up into three teams, coached by Shaquille O’Neal, Kenny Smith, and Charles Barkley. The games weren’t terrible but the format made the viewing experience wonky, with way too many commercial breaks. Also, guys like Jalen Brunson who were voted in as starters barely played.
Team Shaq
Shaquille O’Neal got to coach the team of “OGs” which featured four players he had played against in his playing career. These players were LeBron James (who didn’t play due to injuries), Kevin Durant, Stephen Curry and James Harden. Part of what made this format feel weird is that the drafts felt like a stage show rather than a legitimate decision made by the coaches. We’re expected to believe that O’Neal just so happened to draft all the veteran stars. I believe that if the NBA all-star game is going to have a format like this in the future, they should just get rid of the theatrics and assign the three teams based on the coolest matchups.
His team surprisingly got off to a cold start. They only beat the Rising stars team by seven points. The Rising Stars team won Friday’s Rising Stars game coached by WNBA legend Candace Parker. Damian Lillard was the best player in matchup one with nine points and two assists. In the final matchup vs team Barkley, O’Neal’s team did way better. Jayson Tatum led the team in scoring with 15. Stephen Curry took home the NBA all-star game MVP with 12 points. O’Neal won the first all-star game tournament.
Team Chuck
Charles Barkley ended up with representatives all across the basketball-playing world. Although this team dynamic got messed up a little bit by Giannis Antetokunmpo missing the NBA all-star game due to injury. He was replaced by the American-born Trae Young. Donovan Mitchell and Young were the two American representatives, although Mitchell’s mother was born in Panama. However, Mitchell still represented Team USA in the 2019 FIBA World Cup.
In game one vs. team Kenny, the Canadian born Shai Gilgeous Alexander scored 12 points and had two rebounds. They won this game and made it to the final game vs. Team Shaq. As mentioned earlier, team Shaq won the final game. The French-born Victor Wembanyama did everything he could, getting 11 points and three rebounds, but it was no use vs. a team with that much experience. On paper, it looked like Barkley’s team was going to be the best, even with Antetokounmpo out due to injury. However, sometimes experience wins over.
Team Kenny
Kenny “the Jet” Smith got to coach the league’s youngest stars. The oldest was Jalen Brunson who’s just 28 years old. As stated earlier, despite being voted as a starter Brunson only played eight minutes in the NBA all-star game. This was very disappointing for Knicks fans who wanted to see their star on the brightest regular season stage. In turns out experience matters more in the NBA all-star game than you’d think.
It’s important to note that Anthony Edwards of the Timberwolves didn’t play due to injury. This NBA all-star game had two players back out last minute. Since it was so last minute the league didn’t replace them on the rosters. If the NBA knew even a day before, De’Aaron Fox of the Spurs and Domantas Sabonis of the Kings (teammates before the trade deadline) could’ve been put on the roster as replacements.
In the one-game team Kenny did play in the NBA all-star game, Darius Garland played the best with six points and three assists. Garland was playing in his second all-star game. Garland’s career hit a bit of a funk after his 2022 all-star debut. The next couple of seasons saw Garland struggle to make a consistent impact, particularly in 2024. This was likely due to the trade the Cavs made to get Donovan Mitchell. However new Cavs coach Kenny Atkinson has done a great job of reincorporating Garland into the Cavs offense.
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