For several years now, the NBA All-Star game has mutated into a disastrous dinner plate of mush and slush. Every year’s showcase seems to worsen, and the players try less. With the league unveiling its brand new format just weeks ago, the backlash has been harsh and to the point from media members and current players. Even former legends are chiming in on the All-Star game, as Isiah Thomas, an ’80s and ’90s Detroit Pistons icon, recently shared his thoughts on the new format.
’80s Pistons Icon Measures All-Star Game Format to Streetball
Detriot Pistons Icon Isiah Thomas Slams NBA All-Star Game Blueprint
Another former ’90s NBA star, Mark Jackson, had Thomas on his podcast, The Mark Jackson Show, this week. Both former players discussed the league’s new attempt to formulate a different version of the All-Star game. Thomas did not mince words when sharing his opinion while looking back to the past.
“What made the NBA and professional sports special is that the guys at the park, can’t do it. Now all our game is trying to emulate, what they doing on the streets, what they doing at the YMCA. When you become a pro, they aspire to do what you do.” Thomas continued, “We got it all backwards in the NBA right now, we trying to take it back to the park how we used to play as kids and the kids are saying, no trying to be like y’all in the NBA and the NBA said no, we want to be like y’all in the park and the kids are saying, alright I’ll play NBA 2K then, cause we all the same.”
Streetball—what the All-Star game has been reduced to—is what Thomas calls it today, and he’s not wrong. Take it from somebody with first-hand experience and 12 All-Star nods from his time in the league. Thomas was an All-Star in 12 of 13 seasons played in the NBA. While his opinion on today’s game is hard-nosed, consider how the All-Star games were played when he was lacing up beside Michael Jordan, Larry Bird, and Magic Johnson. They played for something back then, even if it didn’t matter in the standings. It mattered for the brand—the fans who got up for it. While the talent is considerably higher in today’s overall NBA, the quality is flawed.
Would East vs West Help Initiate Change?
Last week, the future of the NBA, Victor Wembanyama, signaled that a change needed to happen. He went a step further to say he wanted to personally figure out a solution to making the All-Star event higher quality. In response to Thomas’s comments, Jackson entered the East versus West blueprint into their conversation.
“You’re 100% right. My problem is and I hate to sound like an old school old head like get off my lawn type guy, but if we went to the All-Star game, it was East versus West.”
You want to stay optimistic—stay in a “wait and see” frame of mind before all conclusions are drawn. For all we know as outsiders, the NBA’s new All-Star version could work. That said, it could also crumble in failure. At that point, it may behoove the league to consider returning to its past. With Wemby’s help as the future multi-MVP, multi-champion, and extended face of the league, the NBA might strike gold by resurrecting the East versus West All-Star format. I predict they will, sooner rather than later.
