“That’s not basketball,” Celtics star Jaylen Brown calls for NBA All-Star game to be retooled to enhance its competitiveness

Jaylen Brown hits out at the NBA to change the format of the All-star game in a bid to increase competitiveness amongst players.

“That’s not basketball,” Celtics star Jaylen Brown calls for NBA All-Star game to be retooled to enhance its competitiveness

Jaylen Brown

Salt Lake City in Utah hosted the 2023 All-Star weekend and it was a mixed bag overall. The dunk contest was one for the ages and Damian Lillard finally won a 3pt contest. However, the All-Star game was a letdown of sorts. Boston Celtics star Jaylen Brown spoke after the event and said. “That wasn’t basketball… It was a glorified layup line”. The All-Star game back in the 2000s used to see the very best of the league go toe to toe in a thrilling matchup. Nowadays, it looks like nobody seems to want to play defense at all. Every shot is uncontested and most plays are just isolation plays leading to a three or a layup.

Jaylen Brown is not alone in his view whatsoever. Fans have been wanting a change in the format and stakes of All-Star games so that the stars want to play the game. The past few years have just been two captains selecting their friends in the league and having a 2-hour shootaround in front of billions of people. This is indicative of the increase in scoring in these games over the last few years. Jayson Tatum broke the all-star record by scoring 55 points in this year’s game. Last year Stephen Curry himself scored 50 points as well.

Denver Nuggets coach Michael Malone backed up Jaylen Brown and said, “That is the worst basketball game ever played,” in regards to this year’s game. The sheer lack of motivation and interest to defend stems from two reasons. Firstly, no one wants to injure themselves, with just 20 odd games left, each All-Star is crucial to their team’s success and cannot risk an injury. The other perspective is that the All-Star game is like a ‘break’ for these players. A break from having to go all out on a basketball court every night. These stars just want to relax and hoop before they get a break and spend time with their families. Whatever the real reason is, the NBA needs to fix the All-Star game because it is getting more and more redundant by the year.

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Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown showed why the Celtics are the #1 seed

Jayson Tatum (R) (Credits: via NBA.com)

Despite the lack of defense, there is no denying the sheer quality of offense on display. The Celtics duo played on opposite teams last night and both topped the scoring for their respective teams. Tatum dropped an All-star game-high 55 points while Jaylen Brown scored 35 for team LeBron. Jaylen Brown spoke on their performances post-game and said, “Going up against my brother Jayson, going back and forth, it was like nobody was in (the arena) at all, just me and him.”

Tatum and Brown had multiple 1v1 duels throughout the game which were a delight to watch for Celtics fans. Brown hit a three in Tatum’s face and did the ‘too small’ celebration. The very next play Tatum came up the court and splashed a three in Brown’s face sending the crowd into a frenzy. The duo have been teammates since 2017 and have great chemistry with each other.

The Celtics fans surely had fun watching the All-star game this year but as a neutral, there was not much to see. Even in the clip where Brown and Tatum are going at each other, you can see the other players on the court not even making an effort. They can be seen just watching them go at each other like the rest of the crowd. The All-Star game needs a major revamp before fans stop showing interest in attending or watching these games completely.

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