The NBA All-Star weekend in Indianapolis has come and gone, and aside from the much-hyped cross-gender showdown between Stephen Curry and Sabrina Ionescu, BD Cricket Match notes that few moments truly left a lasting impression. Over time, fans’ expectations for All-Star Weekend have shifted. The main game has taken a backseat to events like the Slam Dunk and Three-Point Contests, thanks to legendary duels like LaVine vs. Gordon or Curry and Thompson making history from deep.
These days, fans crave real competition—not just flashy exhibitions. A high-scoring game filled with superstars no longer guarantees excitement. If you had to summarize this year’s All-Star Game, key highlights might include LeBron, Durant, and Curry sharing the court for a mere 136 seconds, Luka Dončić’s self alley-oop gone wrong, Jokic’s fake dunk turned layup, Curry’s powerful alley-oop finish, and a flurry of deep three-point attempts from all over the court. And then came the unexpected boos when Damian Lillard held up the Kobe Bryant All-Star MVP trophy—right in the hometown of his teammate and co-star, Tyrese Haliburton.
All-Star Weekend’s struggle for relevance isn’t new. The NBA has made multiple attempts to spice things up, such as switching from East vs. West to captains picking teams, initially a fresh concept. Fans were curious who LeBron would pick first, or who Curry might leave for last. These drafts gave us meme-worthy moments—like top-tier players such as Mitchell or Gobert being chosen last, and Harden left waiting. The first-ever live-streamed draft pulled massive numbers. But as the novelty faded, interest followed suit. At this point, the biggest excitement comes from who teams up with whom—not the game itself.
According to BD Cricket Match, the core issue is clear: expecting 24 elite players to go all-out in a midseason showcase just isn’t realistic. No one wants to risk injury, and anyone who plays too seriously stands out awkwardly. In past years, a defensive-minded Pistons lineup would grind out stops, but that level of effort now seems out of place. At one point in this year’s game, the East featured a lineup of Scottie Barnes, Tyrese Maxey, Jalen Brunson, Paolo Banchero, and Donovan Mitchell—four of whom were first-time All-Stars. They’ve had brilliant seasons, but lack the larger-than-life presence fans associate with the event.
As a result, ball-handling often concentrated in the hands of the usual suspects: Lillard, Haliburton, Giannis, and the Celtics duo of Tatum and Brown. Lillard, the reigning three-point contest champion, added an MVP trophy to his resume—a near-perfect weekend on paper. But Curry’s duel with Ionescu had already stolen the spotlight, and Lillard’s win felt like an afterthought.
Winning the Three-Point Contest doesn’t make you the league’s best shooter, just as winning MVP doesn’t guarantee universal approval. Some fans felt Lillard should’ve deferred the spotlight to hometown hero Haliburton. But there’s no rule that says MVP must go to the host city’s player, and human nature often leans toward self-interest. Besides, Lillard nailed his final two threes to seal the deal—he earned it.
Still, as BD Cricket Match observed, his crowning moment came with a wave of boos, a rare sound in an event built for celebration. For all the highlights, those confident, borderline stubborn shots seemed to rub some people the wrong way. In the end, Lillard didn’t just win a trophy—he stirred a conversation.