Jermone Miron – Imagn Images

I think we can all agree that in the last decade or so, any and all defensive effort has been sapped out of the NBA All-Star Game. It’s not like it was ever an exhibition of the best defense that could be played, but the effort has gotten significantly worse over the past decade.

The NBA tried a new format this year, featuring four teams, to mixed reviews. But, one figure who absolutely hated it was Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green.

This year’s format was a bit different than the traditional East-West game or, in recent years, two teams drafting players. Four teams were formed, three of those being teams drafted of those selected to the All-Star Game, and one team of being of Rising Stars in the league. The four teams played a four-team single-elimination tournament, with games to 40.

Team Shaq, comprised of Kevin Durant, Jayson Tatum, Stephen Curry, Damian Lillard, James Harden, Kyrie Irving, Jaylen Brown, Anthony Davis, LeBron James (did not play due to foot injury) won the event, as expected.

But, Draymond Green absolutely hated the format. Take a look.

Draymond Green: “You work all year to be an All-Star and you get to play up to 40 and then you’re done… Come on, what are we doing? This is ridiculous.”

Adam Lefkoe: “Scale of 1-10, your thoughts of the format.”

Draymond: “A zero. Sucks. This ain’t basketball.” #NBA pic.twitter.com/L7dlhwLprm

— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) February 17, 2025

Draymond’s criticism is pretty stupid when you work through it. First, if the players cared about playing in the All-Star Game, this format wouldn’t have happened. Players clearly were disinterested in playing four quarters with any semblance of effort. And, this year, while it certainly wasn’t the intensity of a normal game, I did think that players played a bit harder in the new format.

Charles Barkley pushed back against Draymond’s criticism.

Charles Barkley: “I’m going to disagree with Draymond A LOT… They messed the game up!.. His generation messed the game up!… We’re doing every type of trick to make this weekend exciting.” #NBA https://t.co/v7CYFf3kFG pic.twitter.com/QiltQVt0RZ

— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) February 17, 2025

Draymond is a dirty player, is almost always wrong, and is wrong here, once again.