Kevin Durant hates the new All-Star format, and the irony is overwhelming

Nobody seems to likes the new NBA All-Star Game format — which consists of three teams of six NBA All-Stars and one team of six "Rising Stars" competing in a four-team tournament where the two "semifinal" games being first to 40 points, with the two winning teams meeting in the final.

NBA players are among the group of non-believers in the change to the ASG. As Kevin Durant said "I hate it. Absolutely hate it. It'll be terrible," when asked by Suns reporter Gerald Bourguet his thoughts on the mini-tourney.

This is a sentiment that I'm guessing will be echoed by players around the NBA, which would be funny if it weren't so ironic. Maybe it's funny and ironic.

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Players are the reason the All-Star Game stinks

Kevin Durant doesn't shoulder any more blame than other All-Stars for what the ASG has turned into, but he's certainly not above reproach in the matter.

The ASG situation is far simpler than fans and the league have made it out to be: if the players cared, the All-Star Game would be good. Great, even! Effort from the players is the one and only reason so many changes to the format have been necessary. If the best basketball players in the world played with effort in a game against each other, the product would still be phenomenal. Pretty simple.

Instead, we've seen players phone in the All-Star Game for about four straight years, and last year's edition of the game was the worst in recent memory. No one even pretended to care; it was pretty sad to watch. I don't know when players got too cool for the ASG, but it's pretty wack.

I don't want to hear about the "potential for injuries" either, because fans aren't asking for players to pretend they're in Game 7 of the Finals. No one needs to contest a dunk attempt in the second quarter. All we ask for is some real defense. Like, 70 percent effort is good enough for us. But we couldn't get that, so here we are.

Yes, Kevin, the new format is terrible! And it's kind of your fault!