I’m not a very combative person, so the idea of being able to go out and showcase stuff I’m good at (like procrastination, eating too much and looking at my cat) without any sort of competitive element would be great! It just sounds like a talent exhibition. We don’t get a lot of those after grade school.
The problem is that none of my talents are “things people care about” or “anything other than a coping skill that has gotten so out of hand that it’s almost become a personality trait.” I’m okay with that.
So yeah. I very much understand if NBA players see this the All-Star Game as an opportunity to try silly stuff they wouldn’t do in NBA games — or if they don't want to wear themselves down in a game that doesn’t matter at the potential expense of the ones that do. I get where they are coming from.
The All-Star events were actually good this weekend. It seemed like the players may have tried to compete just a little bit more! The Rising Stars vs. OGs game was entertaining. And Victor Wembanyama was even running the floor dunking. And the players seem to be smiling and having fun! Steph Curry’s eight-second violation was funny! I liked that!
Maybe the best bet is that everyone watching the game should realize expectations deserve to be pretty dang low now. It’s going to be less competitively thrilling than marble racing. The show is about the offense. But man. I also remember playing defense itself being kind of fun. Oh well. That’s not the point of this.
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One player seemed to especially care about the NBA All-Star Game
And I would like to highlight someone who did care — at least a little bit. Victor Wembanyama looked frustrated at the uncontested Jayson Tatum dunk. Wouldn't you be?
Victor Wembanyama looks irked as Alperen Sengun gives up an uncontested game-winning dunk to Jayson Tatum pic.twitter.com/yfpnFQCJ0A
— Ben Golliver (@BenGolliver) February 17, 2025
You can see part of it on the broadcast as well. Victor does the “aw man” crossover-arm-flail, a clear “this sucks” demonstration. A clear depiction of marginal displeasure. Cooked emotion. Fettered rage.
But isn’t that nice? For at least one fleeting moment the outcome of the game mattered to one of the players playing it. Or it could have just been the particular uncontested nature of that play in general. I don’t know. It seemed like most everyone out there, including the winning team, gave up when the score differential was 15+ in a game to 40.
That said, Wemby gave that extra 10% effort the others didn’t offer. That put him at a solid 30%.