Stiles Points: NBA All-Star Game Needs More Hoops, Less Hoopla

Comedians, concerts, tributes and stoppages littered the 2025 NBA All-Star Game. As the NBA went back to the drawing board in an attempt to recapture the magic of the Mid-Winter Classic, Adam Silver and company dropped the ball. This time, the players are not to blame.

The NBA All-Star format took four teams, made up of three All-Star units and the winner of Friday's Rising Stars challenge to compete in a tournament on NBA Sunday night. This change, on the heels of bellyaching and bemoaning the effort levels of the athletes who the league was so quick to point the finger at, was a move to entice more competitive basketball in the Bay Area.

However, despite the rigged draft that magically matched All-Stars into tribal groups of stars with teammates they wanted to play with and against, the night featured more hoopla than hoops. This time, the finger can only point at Silver and staff.

As the players turned up the intensity level a few notches and lived up to its promise of righting the ship, the games never caught a flow in these race-to-40-point exhibitions.

Not only were the hoopers interrupted by influencers, stand-up routines and stars of yesteryear clinging to their last big spotlight to belt out forgotten pop songs, they simply were not given enough time on the court.

In the three-hour-long telecast wrongfully branded as the All-Star Game, approximately 40 of those minutes (being generous) were spent playing 5-on-5 basketball. The rest of the allotted time was yielded to a circus, with the audience - who elected to believe in the league's efforts to change - found wearing a red nose with clown-painted faces.

“The toughest part was they stopped the game for the presentation. It was tough to get back into the game after that," Boston Celtics star Jayson Tatum said after his Team Shaq won the NBA All-Star title.

After Team Chuck got down 11-1 to start the title tilt, Mark Daigneault hopped off the bench to call a timeout - one that he might not have known would span 30 minutes as the league pays tribute to the Inside the NBA Crew...The same group of talking heads who will be plastered on NBA coverage next season, just with a different logo on their mic flags.

First-time All-Star Jalen Williams saw his life-long journey be diminished to seven minutes of action with an alley-oop, block, steal and assist to show for it. Sure, the Santa Clara product will be back and perhaps next time will get to work up a sweat, but you always remember your first - Williams' debut was more about Kevin Hart than hoops.

“I do think it’s a little short. I had fun… I wish I would’ve played longer. You’re going to 40 with guys that don’t miss a lot of open shots," The Thunder All-Star said postseason.

Sunday night was disrespectful to the players, who fell on the sword for this corporate event, being bashed relentlessly and made the changes needed to bring the effort, intensity, fun and entertainment NBA fans and the league itself craved - Was met with the All-Stars being shoved in a corner for more important things such as a Mr. Beast Youtube video.

“I guess it wasn’t ideal. I would rather play with no breaks, but I had fun either way. I feel like it was a little bit more towards the competitive side tonight, a step in the right direction. It’s up to the guys that analyze to figure out what's next and how to keep making it more and more interesting, and hopefully, we get there one day. But yeah, I'm glad it's not my job to figure that stuff out," Oklahoma City Superstar Shai Gilgeous-Alexander said post-game.

Gilgeous-Alexander is spot on. While it is tough to strike the right balance, it is easy to spot where the NBA missed the mark in this All-Star weekend that looks less and less recognizable as the seasons pass by.

Despite the tone of this column and the taste left behind from Sunday night's debacle, it is important to not zag too hard.

The league still needs bells and whistles, as much as basketball sickos want 48 minutes of uninterrupted hoops, this is an event to draw in casual views and a younger audience as football season comes to a close and sports fans search for something to watch.

However, as players and coaches constantly say during the season "You have to keep the main thing, the main thing."

Yes, the league should always have a concert. Yes, the streamers and influencers are great for bringing in the younger demographics, that if done right become lifelong fans. But no, it should not be the biggest talking point left in the wake of NBA icons gracing the hardwood.

Perhaps just one stand-up routine? Could you dwindle it to a single concert? How about one large break instead of a format that resembled hockey intermissions more so than timeouts?

The league got its players to execute a clearly laid-out game plan. This was the most entertaining the All-Star basketball has been in years, but this time it was the NBA's fluff that frustrated fans.

The easy fix? More traditional basketball.

While this scribe is just a schmuck from Lawton, Ok. Would it be too passe to play a game that resembles the sport?

Sure, players might have tried harder due to the teammates they were paired with, but you could certainly find a 50-50 split that is close enough to this outcome and just play a 48-minute game, right?

After all, Trae Young, from Norman, Ok. ended up on the Global Stars. It doesn't have to be perfect. If the players brought this level of effort for a 48-minute game between "The OGs" and "The Young Stars" There would have been a perfect avenue for all the gimmicks the league office could desire.

A slightly extended halftime show, an extra minute or two between quarters, with a pre-game and post-game extracurricular or two. This would allow basketball to still soak up a majority of the allocated broadcast.

Perhaps that is too simple-minded, and this bracket - when you take out the distractions - was a fun method, but at the very least, the target score needs to leap a bundle of points from its current 40 mark.

Ultimately, a week from now this will be a distant memory, just as the complaints from Utah's event and Indiana's were irrelevant in an instant. It is just a shame that the impossible happened: The players cared (at least a little bit!) again. Though, the league couldn't get out of its own way.

Stiles Points

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander started his journey to becoming the face of the league on Sunday.
Mark Daigneault commented on Gilgeous-Alexander's rise to Stardom and possible continuing climb.
Jalen Williams reflects on being tabbed first-time All-Star.
OKC Thunder features strange scheduling out of the NBA All-Star Break.

Song of the Day: Fix You by Coldplay.

Want to join the discussion? Like Thunder on SI on Facebook and follow us on Twitter to stay up to date on all the latest Thunder news. You can also meet the team behind the coverage.