All-Star Weekend Was Ruined by Players, According to Stephen A. Smith

As the 2025 NBA All-Star Weekend draws near, journalists and fans are still debating the problems with the league’s midseason celebrations. Stephen A. Smith attributes the issue to the players, who have effectively eliminated any sense of competition over the All-Star Weekend, despite the fact that blame has been placed in more than one place.

According to Stephen A. on First Take, the current situation of the All-Star Game disgusts him. He went so far as to say, “It’s an absolute travesty,” and even disclosed that he had complained to the league office.

According to Smith: “I called Adam Silver, I called some of his lieutenants,”  “I’m like ‘Why, why are we wasting our time?’” 

Stephen A. Smith talks about the sub-standard All-Star Game

The veteran athlete made it clear to ESPN that despite being compensated to cover the sport, he had no desire to go to the All-Star Game. Stephen A. Smith underlined that Silver was an excellent commissioner and that the players, not the league, were to blame for the weekend’s problems.

Smith noted that players wouldn’t want to sit out as frequently as they do if NBA Commissioner David Stern were still in office. However, Silver’s care for the players has allowed them to exploit his empathy, which has resulted in lackluster All-Star Weekends in recent years.

The 57-year-old went on to say: “Adam Silver is guilty for being nice and caring about the players and appeasing them because he wants them happy and he wants to be a great partner,”

The weekend’s dunk contest, which has likewise significantly waned since Zach LaVine and Aaron Gordon faced off in 2016, was the next topic Stephen A. addressed.

He criticized the other teams in the league for not trying hard enough or even trying to compete, highlighting the fact that Mac McClung, a guard in the G League, is the current back-to-back champion.

When Smith noted that Boston’s Jaylen Brown was the first All-Star to participate in the competition since DeAndre Jordan in 2017, he expressed his disappointment.

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