LeBron James and Anthony Davis discussed the lack of competitiveness in this year’s All-Star contest and whether it needs to change.
James played in his 20th All-Star game on Sunday – the most in NBA history, so he’s seen how the games over the years have become decreasingly about effort.
The Lakers star doesn’t have an answer for how the All-Star game can be revived so that the fan’s are happy, but provided some positives and negatives after the East’s historic 211-186 win over the West.
“I think it’s something we need to figure out,” James told ESPN. “Obviously from a player’s perspective, it’s fun to get up and down. But at the end of the day, our competitive nature don’t like to have free-flowing scoring like that. But I think the good thing that came out of tonight was none of the players were injured, and everybody came out unscathed or how they were before the game started. So it’s a deeper conversation.”
As for Davis, he presented the crossroads that the NBA finds itself in, as the leagues tries to strike and balance between keeping the fans entertained and keeping the players healthy.
“Obviously the fans and the league and everybody wants to be competitive, but then you also as players think about trying not to get hurt,” Davis said. “Obviously injuries are a part of the game, and no one wants to get hurt in the All-Star Game. … All these guys here are very valuable to their teams. So it’s some mixed emotions about it. You try to go out there and compete a little bit and not just be a highlight show. But at the same time, do you guys really want to see somebody going down for a dunk and somebody going to contest it and, God forbid, something happens in the All-Star Game when it could have been avoided?”
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