The 2024 NBA All-Star Game ended up being a massive dud. The East beat the West 211-186 in a contest that was marred by a lack of effort from the players, and after the game, Anthony Edwards made some interesting comments.
“For me, it’s an All-Star Game, so I don’t think I will ever look at it like being super competitive. It’s always fun. I don’t know what they can do to make it more competitive. It’s always fun. But I don’t know what they can do to make it more competitive. It’s a break. I don’t think nobody wants to come here and compete.”
Anthony Edwards says the All-Star game is considered a 'break' and is not viewed as competitive
“For me, it’s an All-Star Game, so I don’t think I will ever look at it like being super competitive. It’s always fun. I don’t know what they can do to make it more competitive. It’s… pic.twitter.com/aWwkuye601
— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) February 19, 2024
Edwards says he will never look at the game as super competitive, and that’s really how he would have seen it when he was growing up. There was a time when players put in some effort and competed fairly hard in the All-Star Game, but the 22-year-old Minnesota Timberwolves star might have been too young back then to remember.
This was Edwards’ second All-Star Game and in 13 minutes, he recorded 4 points, 1 rebound, and 1 assist. Unlike his teammate Karl-Anthony Towns, who had 50 points, he didn’t seem all that bothered about having a big night and just took it easy.
The worry for the NBA is that the longer these games continue to be duds, the less seriously the next generation of players take it, as we see with Edwards. If the best players in the league, the ones they look up to, don’t really care about the game, then why should they? It has gotten to the point where, as Edwards says, this is just a short break for the players before the second half of the season.
NBA Stars Reportedly Want To Get Paid To Participate In The All-Star Game
Edwards and basically everyone else who took part stated they had no idea how to make the game more competitive. Well, it appears there might be a way, as it was reported that the NBA stars want to get paid for the All-Star Game.
As of now, every player on the winning team gets $100,000, while players on the losing team get $25,000 each. Those numbers apparently need to be bumped up, and a reference point of sorts was the In-Season Tournament. Every player on the team that won the competition got $500,000, and the players could be seeking a number closer to that.
Another suggestion to make the game more competitive is to reward the conference that won with home-court advantage in the NBA Finals. I am not sure that would be a great idea, and it would present a lot of issues of its own.
Anthony Edwards Says He Is The Best Player In The NBA
Getting back to Edwards, we should get to see him back to his best when his 39-16 Timberwolves take on the 35-21 Milwaukee Bucks on Friday. He has had a great 2023-24 season thus far, with averages of 26.3 points, 5.2 rebounds, 5.3 assists, 1.2 steals, and 0.5 blocks per game, and Edwards believes he is the best player in the league now.
You admire his confidence and mindset, but Edwards still has some ways to go. He does have the potential to be the best player in the NBA in the future, though, which speaks to just how special of a talent he is.
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