NBA: Talks of All-Star Weekend Override Common Sense
Not since the lockout-shortened season of 1998-99 has an NBA campaign been staged without an All-Star Game. Money was the culprit then. To a certain extent, it’s still a factor now.
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As of this very moment, Zach LaVine doesn’t have a first time to remember.
His wait may soon be over as he’s made as good a case as any player to be counted among the NBAs very best later this month.
But even if LaVine finds a path to his first-ever All-Star nod, the opportunity to showcase his sweetened shooting touch and particular set of scoring skills in the mid-season exhibition shouldn’t follow.
Not this year.
Not this season.
Not in the face of a global pandemic that’s already forced the postponement of 22 games since January 10; that indiscriminately affects stars — Brooklyn’s Kevin Durant and Miami’s Bam Adebayo — and seat fillers — Minnesota’s Juancho Hernangomez — alike; that stole seven members of Timberwolf Karl-Anthony Towns’ family, including his mother, Jacqueline, from him before also robbing him of the opportunity to play in 10 games and counting; that contributed to the death of 48-year-old award-winning journalist Sekou Smith, who covered the league for more than two decades.
LaVine himself has felt the ripples of playing against the backdrop of the deadliest pandemic this century. His own teammates Chandler Hutchison, Tomas Satoransky, Lauri Markkanen, and Ryan Arcidiacono were held out of games due to health and safety protocols. His Bulls had two of their own games deferred last month because of outbreaks within the Boston Celtics and Memphis Grizzlies organizations.
When framed in that context, the idea of bringing the game’s biggest and brightest stars to Georgia, where the rolling average of deaths reported Wednesday remained near its record high and a variant strain is “probably widespread” throughout the state, seems counter-intuitive.
Doesn’t it?
Why risk the health of, not only those players selected to represent the Eastern and Western conferences but also, those chosen to participate in the skills competition, slam dunk and three-point contests?
Players, coaches and personnel are already shouldering an inherent risk just to get this NBA campaign in the books. To raise their stakes with a meaningless game and equally trivial events would be like asking them to pilot a car through the intersection of Stony Island and South Chicago avenues blindfolded.
Or inviting any of the fraction of fans who might be allowed to sit courtside at State Farm Arena to drop their masks and engage in a back-and-forth with LeBron James, as Juliana Carlos (“Courtside Karen”) did Monday.
It’s just not worth it.
If it’s COVID-19 relief and funding for historically Black colleges and universities the league seeks to provide, there’s other channels through which to make those charitable donations without jeopardizing the well-being of its greatest assets.
The integrity of games that, instead of being postponed, were played with teams being severely shorthanded due to the combination of injury and health and safety protocols have already been called into question. Like earlier last month, when Philadelphia 76ers head coach Doc Rivers had to list an ailing Mike Scott as active just to dress eight players for a game against Denver.
You think the product is stepped on now? How much worse would it look if teams were forced to shelve their central figures for two weeks worth of games? During the second half of a season where playoff seeding will really begin to take shape? When there’ll be little wiggle room to postpone anymore games because the ones that were already rescheduled need to be played?
Not since the lockout-shortened season of 1998-99 has an NBA campaign been staged without an All-Star Game. Money was the culprit then. To a certain extent, it’s still a factor now. But so, too, is the very safety of all parties involved.
If LaVine is selected to represent the Chicago Bulls, it’ll be an honor he’ll never forget. Whether the game’s played or not.