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00:00 [MUSIC PLAYING]
00:03 I did not watch the All-Star game.
00:05 My son was watching it and sort of giving me some commentary.
00:09 He's 11.
00:09 And so he's like, was this the way it always
00:12 was, where it just looks like they don't want to play?
00:14 I'm like, actually, no.
00:15 It really was semi-competitive through the years.
00:19 But we're reaching levels now, Carlin, of--
00:24 you cannot even call this pickup basketball,
00:25 because in pickup basketball, the defenders defend.
00:28 So I just don't know what the answer is here.
00:32 A lot of complaining on social media.
00:34 That's nothing new.
00:35 People complain about everything.
00:37 But do you think that we've come to the end of the line
00:40 as far as keeping the game the way it is?
00:44 Because what I would say is there's
00:47 nothing wrong with playing an All-Star game that's
00:49 150 to 140 or 170 to 160.
00:52 But it did seem like there was some apathy,
00:55 I got to be honest, on the side of the players,
00:58 meaning that just get me out of here,
01:00 because I know we have four days off after this, too.
01:04 So complicated answer, I know.
01:06 And I guess I'll put your commissioner hat on for a minute.
01:09 What do you do?
01:11 Yeah, it's interesting, because it really
01:14 feels like the NBA is actually officially back, right?
01:17 Like, people are complaining that it was in a cold weather
01:19 city.
01:19 People are complaining that the All-Star Saturday night
01:22 didn't live up to the hype.
01:23 And then complete people are complaining
01:25 that the All-Star game didn't have any competitiveness
01:28 at all throughout the 48 minutes that they played.
01:31 You're right, Craig.
01:32 It wasn't a great game.
01:33 It wasn't a great showcase for the league.
01:35 And when the league talks about this All-Star game,
01:38 they talk about a couple of things.
01:39 One, it's a showcase for the greatest players on the planet.
01:42 We did not see a showcase of the greatest players on the planet.
01:45 All we saw is the greatest players on the planet kind
01:47 of walk through, really, a basketball game.
01:50 The second thing they say, it's really for the fans.
01:53 And when they say the fans, they mean kids, right?
01:55 They mean the younger generation.
01:57 They introduce them to the stars so that maybe they'll
02:00 beg mom and dad to bring them to the game.
02:01 Maybe they'll beg mom and dad to have them buy a league pass
02:04 so they can follow their favorite stars all throughout.
02:07 And when you start the game--
02:09 it was supposed to start, by the way, at 8 Eastern.
02:12 When you start the game at quarter to 9,
02:14 is it really about the kids at that point?
02:16 No, it's not about the kids, right?
02:18 You look at the All-Star game in the NHL.
02:21 They started that at 3 Eastern on a Saturday.
02:23 That's a perfect family-friendly viewing experience.
02:27 Same with the Pro Bowl.
02:28 Everyone always says, we're not going to watch the Pro Bowl.
02:30 You check the ratings.
02:31 People actually watch the Pro Bowl.
02:33 That started at 3 Eastern on a Sunday.
02:35 Why is the NBA All-Star game starting at a quarter to 9
02:40 Eastern time, and then you try to say that you're
02:43 going to market this to kids?
02:44 Kids got to go to sleep at some point,
02:46 and normally they're in bed by quarter to 9.
02:48 I hope they are anyway.
02:49 So when you look at this, it's the Leafs kind
02:52 of slapping everybody in the face by saying one thing
02:54 and doing the other.
02:56 And you know what?
02:57 I'm not going to get too bent out of shape over one game.
03:00 The All-Star game is never going to be competitive.
03:02 I've come to terms with that.
03:04 But Craig, I actually think this is a larger picture deal here.
03:07 And what I mean by that is the competitiveness overall
03:11 in the NBA has waned throughout the years.
03:14 I grew up on '90s basketball, early 2000s,
03:17 where guys wanted to beat each other regardless
03:20 of whether it was a regular season game, an All-Star game,
03:23 a preseason game.
03:25 Now we only see people really try when it's in the playoffs.
03:29 It used to be at some point, hey, we're on national TV,
03:31 we're going to try.
03:32 We're going to try to compete through 182--
03:35 through 82 games.
03:36 We're going to try to compete.
03:37 It's not the case anymore.
03:39 You can watch a random Wednesday night NBA game
03:42 and see some lack of effort there.
03:44 And that's kind of seeped into the All-Star game.
03:46 And the All-Star game is just a little bit of, to my opinion,
03:49 a microcosm of what's happening overall in the NBA
03:51 is that players don't want to compete
03:54 unless they're playing for those 16 wins from April, May,
03:57 and June.
03:59 (upbeat music)
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