The NBA’s All-Star Game is experiencing exactly what the NFL’s Pro Bowl endured — before it was euthanized. Nobody plays hard.
They shouldn’t. Why risk injury in a meaningless game? For NFL players, they’ve gotten through the season healthy enough to play another game. For NBA players, the push to the postseason is coming.
In both cases, it makes no sense to go all out in a game that doesn’t matter. The NFL eventually realized the folly of trying to cajole players into playing the Pro Bowl harder. The NBA could be getting there.
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver wasn’t impressed by the 397-point game, which the East won, 211-186.
“And to the Eastern Conference All-Stars, you scored the most points,” Silver said. “Well, congratulations.”
Nothing can make the players play harder. The NBA’s only solution is to do what the NFL did. Adapt and react. And, if need be, pull the plug on the game.
No one misses the Pro Bowl. No one would miss the All-Star Game. They could come up with other competitions that entail minimal physical risk. Already, Saturday night has far more sizzle than Sunday.
That’s where the ball is moving. The NFL got there two years ago. The NBA would be wise to do the same thing.
