LeBron James’ All-Star Game reaction is a big problem for the NBA
By Ian Levy
The NBA has announced plans to hold an actual All-Star Game and LeBron James is loudly questioning what the point is.
When the NBA originally laid out their schedule for this season, against the backdrop of an ongoing pandemic, they included a mid-season All-Star break. However, the idea was simply to provide a break as opposed to the usual weekend full of festivities, recognizing the potential issues and complexities of pulling this off safely.
However, this week the league announced an agreement with the NBA Player’s Association to hold an All-Star Game and related events in Atlanta on Mar. 7. The announcement was met with fairly widespread disbelief considering a nationwide spike in cases has barely begun to level off and the league itself is still navigating its own challenges with positive test results and a slew of player absences for contact tracing and quarantine that has necessitate rescheduling multiple games. In addition, players like De’Aaron Fox were quick to dismiss the idea as “stupid.”
What did LeBron James have to say about the NBA’s All-Star plans?
Speaking with the media last night, LeBron made it clear that he’s not in favor of the idea at all.
LeBron: “I have zero energy and zero excitement about an All-Star game this season.” He said he was looking to a five-day break in March after the shortened offseason and believes it is not a wise decision during the pandemic, either. “I’ll be there physically but not mentally”
— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) February 5, 2021
LeBron’s statement is problematic for the league for a host of reasons. LeBron is the highest-profile player in the league and is usually front-and-center in the NBA’s efforts to promote All-Star Weekend. He is regularly among the top vote-getters and has served as captain for one of the two All-Star teams in each of the three seasons the league has gone with a picking-teams approach.
There’s no real reason to hold an All-Star Weekend other than revenue. Players can’t still be recognized as All-Stars even if the game isn’t held. Only a handful of fans will be allowed in the arena and the entire weekend has been an uninteresting ceremony for years. Hearing the league’s most popular player say he’ll show up but won’t mentally engage at all certainly isn’t going to help sell it to fans or advertisers.
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