The 2023 NBA All-Star Game took place on Sunday in a game that was ridiculously high-scoring, finishing with a 184-175 final score with Team Giannis beating Team LeBron. One NBA All-Star got brutally honest about the game following its conclusion, calling out the horrific defense on both sides.
According to Dan Woike of the Los Angeles Times, Boston Celtics star Jaylen Brown said that the All-Star Game was “not basketball” and even went as far as to call the game a “glorified layup line”, saying that no defense was played in the game.
Brown notably score a whopping 35 points in the game, while his Celtics teammate Jayson Tatum finished with an All-Star Game record 55 points.
And he wasn’t the only one on the sideline who felt that way about the matchup. Denver Nuggets head coach Mike Malone, who was coaching Brown on Team LeBron, also did not mince words about his feelings on the game.
“It’s an honor to be here. It’s an honor to be a part of a great weekend with great players. But that was the worst basketball game ever played,” Malone told Vic Lombardi of 92.5 FM Altitude in Denver. “They put on a show for the fans, but that was a tough game to sit through. I’m not going to lie.”
This is a sentiment that some fans shared as well on social media during the game, blasting the defensive competitiveness on both sides.
I forgot All-Star game means all show and no defense whatsoever
what a waste of time @NBA @NBAAllStar — Zayn Jinah (@zaynjca) February 20, 2023
While defense has never really been the main point of emphasis in the All-Star Game, it would certainly be fun to see the best players in the world competing on both sides of the ball, which was obviously not the case on Sunday night.
[Dan Woike on Twitter, Vic Lombardi on Twitter]
About Reice Shipley
Reice Shipley is a staff writer for Comeback Media that graduated from Ithaca College with a degree in Sports Media. He previously worked at Barrett Sports Media and is a fan of all things Syracuse sports.