Dwyane Wade blames himself for breaking Kobe Bryant’s nose and causing All-Star game decline

Former Miami Heat legend, Dwyane Wade, jested that he is to blame for the declining All-Star Weekend viewership

Dwyane Wade blames himself for breaking Kobe Bryant’s nose and causing All-Star game decline

Dwyane Wade blames his 2012 ASG incident with Kobe Bryant for the declining viewership

The 2025 NBA All-Star weekend only managed to garner 4.7 million viewers across TNT, TBS, and TruTV. This made the new tournament format style the second least-watched All-Star game since 2000. This plummeting viewership and interest in the All-Star games has been a topic of discussion and debate for the past few years now, and we may have a culprit.

According to former Miami Heat champion Dwyane Wade, he might be the one who single-handedly ruined the All-Star games. While on the Underground Lounge podcast, The Flash recalled how he unintentionally injured Kobe Bryant‘s nose during the 2012 All-Star game, which, in his view, made other players more cautious about sustaining injuries in exhibition games.

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I think that was the end of the competitiveness right there. I think I f*cked the All Star game up everybody. When I hit Kobe. Everybody like ‘No, we not playing no more defense.’ My bad, my bad y’all.

Dwyane Wade on ASW

However, the Miami Heat legend was only joking. In reality, he blamed the numerous activities prior to the games, such as NBA Cares events and other advertiser obligations, which he believes prevent players from getting into the competitive spirit.

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Dwyane Wade retired from the NBA in 2019 after a remarkable 16-year career in the league. The Heat honored him with a three-day “L3GACY Celebration” in February 2020, retiring his No. 3 jersey. His final season, 2018-19, was a victory lap of sorts. Playing for the Heat, Wade averaged 15.0 points per game off the bench.

Luka Doncic complements LeBron James better than Dwyane Wade, claims ESPN’s analyst

ESPN’s Alan Hahn recently made an argument that Luka Doncic might beat Dwyane Wade to become the best partner King James has ever shared the court with. During his appearance on Get Up, the radio host stated that he hasn’t seen a better synergy of talents than the LeBron James–Luka Magic duo, which means Wade’s title might be in jeopardy.

You can argue that Luka might be the better fit with LeBron than anybody he has ever played with, including Dwyane Wade. Wade didn’t have the perimeter game that Luka has. They were both clutch… but the passing ability that Luka brings could unlock a little more of LeBron even at this age.

Alan Hahn commented

While this can be interpreted as the 53-year-old analyst taking slight digs at the retired champion, that’s far from the truth. He only reiterated LBJ’s earlier comments when the 40-year-old compared himself to a wide receiver and the Slovenian star to a quarterback.

Currently, the Los Angeles Lakers are sitting at the fifth seed in the Western Conference with a 35-21 record. Next, they will host the Minnesota Timberwolves at Crypto.com Arena on Thursday and are favored to stretch their three-game winning streak.