The NBA All-Star Game has been under fire for years because of its claimed lack of entertainment value. Despite the NBA showcasing its best players, the game hasn’t grabbed fans who complain that the players don’t put much, if any, effort forward.
The complaints did not cease in 2025, but they didn’t have much to do with the players this time. The All-Star Game was criticized for the lack of basketball played.
NBA Called Out for Lack of Basketball During All-Star Game
Frustrations have been expressed about the All-Star Game’s lack of competitive spirit, but what made it egregious this season was the lack of actual basketball being played during the event.
The X account Automatic revealed that not much on-court action was had between the three games combined in the three hours the All-Star event took place.
how much actual basketball was played in 3 hours https://t.co/7BNj8OUJki pic.twitter.com/dJlFGwgPzP
— Automatic (@automaticnba) February 17, 2025
It only gets worse on further inspection. Another X account revealed data from a Reddit post that showed that only 42 minutes of basketball were played in the three hours. If that wasn’t enough, there was enough evidence to conclude that there were 80 minutes of advertisements in that same timeframe.
Dude pic.twitter.com/f73Hi2IdUw
— Zeke Nnaji FC🇱🇻🫎 (@ZaxbysWRLD) February 17, 2025
Just when the All-Star Game couldn’t get a worse reputation, another fan called the game “Unwatchable…in its entirety.”
Unwatchable…in its entirety.
— Richard RB Botto (@RBwalksintoabar) February 17, 2025
In years past, fans have typically blamed the players. It makes sense that the players don’t take the game seriously because they don’t want to risk getting hurt. However, this time, no one is blaming the players.
Cleveland Magazine’s Danny Cunningham wrote that the 2025 All-Star Game went poorer than any of the other games, and it had nothing to do with the players.
“I cannot think of an All-Star Game — regardless of sport — that has gone as poorly as this one has,” Cunningham wrote. “And this 100% is not on the players. I think the effort in the five minutes of actual basketball we’ve seen has been good.”
While explaining “the worst part of the All-Star Game changes,” The Athletic’s Fred Katz wrote that there’s “less basketball than ever” during the All-Star Game while asking, “Where is the actual game?!”
The worst part of the All-Star Game changes isn't the inclusion of the Rising Stars or the first-to-40 rule or the tournament (and Draymond makes valid points). It's that there's somehow less basketball than ever. Commercials and shootouts for charity? Where is the actual game?!
— Fred Katz (@FredKatz) February 17, 2025
Two others also explained that the new format in 2025 only worsened the overall All-Star Game experience.
We want the players to take the all star game seriously!!!! 😠 😠 😠 so we’re going to start the final game but stop it suddenly for 20 minutes when the score is 11-1 to let Kevin Hart give stuff away to some network show hosts 🤪🤪🤪
— sreekar (@sreekyshooter) February 17, 2025
Is this the worst All-Star Game ever? The NBA can’t make this format work if there are 15 minute breaks for every 5 minutes of basketball…
— Noah Magaro-George (@N_Magaro) February 17, 2025
The bottom line is that even if the players play far from their best, fans tune into the All-Star Game to watch basketball, not advertisements or celebrity commentary. The NBA deserves some credit for trying to improve what was already a boring product, but the reaction shows that their approach in 2025 was definitely not the right one.
