Kobe Bryant had an unforgettable impact on the NBA All-Star game, per former NBA star Jamal Crawford.
The 2025 NBA All-Star game is right around the corner. However, it’s safe to say that the level of excitement around the event is far lower than it used to be perhaps a decade or so ago.
Many have connected it to the wider viewership problem for the biggest basketball league in the world. NBA commissioner Adam Silver has taken notice of the issue and this time around, the league has made some major changes for the All-Star game.
However, is it really the solution? After all, it all starts with the players taking the event seriously rather than thinking of it as a long vacation in the middle of the season.
A key reason behind the decline in the All-Star game’s popularity is a clear lack of effort from the game’s biggest stars.
Former NBA player Jamal Crawford recently shared his two cents on the topic as he also gave Kobe Bryant’s example to bolster his point.
“The All-Star game has been down since Kobe [Bryant] left the league. He set the tone with how he’s going to compete. What it means to be an All-Star, what [were] the responsibilities that came with it,” Crawford told the Knuckleheads podcast last year.
He added: “It’s supposed to be the best players in the world, at the highest level, going at it. That’s what we want to see. We don’t need any gimmicks, we don’t need anything else. If they do that, that’s the bottom line.”
As Crawford stated, the easiest way to save the competition is to increase the level of basketball played during the games.
Hopefully, the players understand this and make it their mission to produce a competitive game rather than a lousy scoring contest.
Over 20 years, Kobe made 18 NBA All-Star appearances. He took pride in representing his conference during the event and had a plethora of unforgettable performances.
It’s no surprise that Bryant is tied for winning the most All-Star Game MVP awards. The LA Lakers legend went home with the honor four times during his career.
Looking at his stats, the Mamba averaged 19.3 points, 5.0 rebounds, and 4.7 assists per game in the format. The league also honored the late NBA great by renaming the MVP award to honor the Mamba in 2020n.
