LeBron James blasts NBA for having All-Star Game during COVID-19 pandemic

This is what a leader is supposed to do. Tell the truth.

Source: MediaNews Group/Pasadena Star-News via Getty Images / Getty

Yesterday it was announced that the NBA has decided to hold the All-Star Game this year after previously announcing that there would be no All-Star game. We made no bones about the fact that having an All-Star weekend, a celebration of the league and it’s fans, is completely inappropriate considering that we are still smack dab in the middle of a parmesan called COVID-19. What’s to celebrate? How do the fans benefit when they still aren’t even allowed to attend the games? Moreover, the NBA decides to hold the game in one of the most irresponsible major metropolitan cities in America, Atlanta, Georgia.

Make it make sense!

Fortunately, there are still people with good sense in the NBA and one of them just happens to be the face of the league. LeBron James sounded off about his lack of enthusiasm for this charade of an All-Star weekend in no uncertain terms according to ESPN.

“I have zero energy and zero excitement about an All-Star Game this year,” James said after the Los Angeles Lakers’ 114-93 win over the Denver Nuggets on Thursday. “I don’t even understand why we’re having an All-Star Game.”

Preach.

“Short offseason for myself and my teammates, 71 days,” James said, referring to the time the Lakers had from Game 6 of the NBA Finals in October to opening night against the LA Clippers in December. “And then coming into this season, we were told that we were not having an All-Star Game, so we’d have a nice little break. Five days [in March] from the 5th through the 10th, an opportunity for me to kind of recalibrate for the second half of the season. My teammates as well. Some of the guys in the league.

“And then they throw an All-Star Game on us like this and just breaks that all the way up. So, um, pretty much kind of a slap in the face.”

Wow, “a slap in the face”. Those are no small words from King James and hopefully they will reverberate through the halls of the c-suites where league administrators, including Commissioner Adam Silver, can really understand what they’ve chosen to do.

“We’re also still dealing with a pandemic,” James said. “We’re still dealing with everything that’s been going on, and we’re going to bring the whole league into one city that’s open? Obviously, the pandemic has absolutely nothing to do with it at this point when it comes to that weekend.

“Obviously, you guys can see that I’m not very happy about it.”

Yes, we see, hear, and feel your disgust, LeBron. We’re actually right there with you. We love this game as much as any fan but this is just plain stupid. We understand that the league wants to use the weekend to raise money for a good cause (HBCUs and COVID-relief) but All-Star weekend is a huge undertaking that involves lots of people and it just doesn’t seem worth it.

Then again, the issue is money, it seems that major corporations will always find a way to make it worth it.