People losing faith in Adam Silver after ‘worst All-Star Weekend ever’
Adam Silver has come into people’s crosshairs after another lackluster NBA All-Star Weekend.
The NBA commissioner caught plenty of ire after the league’s new All-Star Game format came under heavy scrutiny – especially from Warriors star Draymond Green – after years of non-competitive games that lacked much defense.
Sunday was debut of the league’s four-team mini-tournament with games to 40 points.
One team wasn’t even made up of All-Stars, but rather of winners from the Rising Star challenge to make up Team Candice Parker.
Shaquille O’Neal’s team ultimately went on to win the new format with the Warriors’ Stephen Curry taking home MVP honors.
It put a cap on a weekend in San Francisco that left more than a few people unhappy with the state of the NBA under Silver’s leadership.
“NBA needs a new Commissioner,” WFAN host Brandon Tierney wrote on X. “Silver is driving the league into the ground. It’s unrecognizable.”
It was part of a host of issues with the weekend that included players voicing their displeasure with the breaks between games.
“To be honest, I didn’t like it at all,” the Hawks’ Trae Young told reporters. “I didn’t like the breaks. The games were so short. Obviously, we can score. So, they’re trying to, I feel like, trying to extend the game, extend the TV time with the breaks and things like that.”
G-Leaguer Mac McClung won his third straight dunk contest as the NBA top stars continue to skip it.
LeBron James pulled out of the All-Star Game at the last minute because of discomfort in his left ankle and foot and Timberwolves star Anthony Edwards sat out with a groin injury.
Both took roster spots from potential replacements.
“I don’t think All-Star weekend could get any worse and somehow it did. Kevin Hart got more TV time than the All-Stars themselves,” NBA analyst Kevin O’Connor said on his show. “LeBron and Edwards didn’t play. The long breaks ruined the game. There’s a 20-minute break for TNT in the middle of the finale.
“They are relying on a G-Leaguer to save the dunk contest. Adam Silver can’t even get Steph (Curry) to participate in the 3-point contest in San Francisco. This was the worst All-Star Weekend ever.”
The Ringer’s Bill Simmons didn’t like what he saw over the weekend but noted the All-Star Game has long been an issue the league has yet to right.
“Not sure NBA All Star Weekend could have gone worse,” Simmons wrote on X. “But it’s been an issue since the mid-2000s and the NBA is in deep denial about it. They take a huge L every February. It’s like they rebuilt the weekend specifically so everyone could complain about it. I don’t get it.”
One anonymous GM took aim at Silver’s believed love for tournaments, which included the NBA Cup and Play-in tournament and doesn’t think they have helped the NBA.
“Adam Silver is obsessed with tournaments,” an anonymous GM told WireHoops. “Play-in, in-season, now All-Star. They’ve not proven to benefit our league.”
However, it wasn’t all negative.
Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander called the new All-Star Game format a “step in the right direction” from a competitive standpoint but did love the breaks.
Knicks guard Jalen Brunson called it interesting and different but would like the games maybe pushed to 50 points.
