NBA All-Star game less about the fans and more about the money

After years of being the butt of jokes, NBA commissioner Adam Silver finally produced a winning product for the NBA All-Star game.

The league scrapped the boring East vs. West and captains’ pick models and introduced a USA vs. World format — a three-team (two USA, one world) four-game round-robin tournament.

No 200-195 scores. No coasting. No cherry-picking. No boredom.

Instead, fans were treated to four 12-minute games. Pride. Patriotism. Competition.

The top two teams advanced to a championship game, and suddenly, pride wasn’t just a marketing slogan. It was bragging rights.

Kudos to you, Mr. Commissioner.

Too bad no one was in attendance to watch. This is the next problem Silver needs to fix for the NBA All-Star weekend.

Accessibility.

A chance to watch Steph Curry, LeBron James and Kevin Durant share the court one more time? To watch Damian Lillard win the 3-point contest? To watch the next generation of stars — led by Anthony Edwards and Victor Wembanyama — take the reins?

The demand is there… but the price is not.

The All-Star game had tickets priced between $1,000-$1,700 for Sunday and $500-$900 for All-Star Saturday night. That’s ridiculous, tragic and pathetic.

Which family, with say one or two kids, could spend upwards of $4,000 to for a few hours of fun? The lack of attendance by fans is proof that making memories comes at a cost, and many aren’t willing to pay it.

The league said the NBA All-Star Weekend’s two marquee days, All-Star Saturday and the All-Star game on Sunday, were sold out. But to those with eyes who were forced to watch at home, “sold out” might have a different definition.

It was apparent that the stadium wasn’t even close to capacity. In fact, the arena itself barely looked half full. Reporters in attendance noticed the many available seats. Fans were shocked at the emptiness. Intuit Dome holds a capacity of 18,000, but due to everything going on Saturday night, that number was reduced to just over 15,000 — and it would be a shock if 10,000 people were watching from the seats.

Fans stood outside the Intuit Dome on Sunday, doing what they could to scrounge up tickets from the resale market. Still, those prices were outrageous.

According to a story by The Athletic, “most owners only receive about four official tickets to purchase through the league, according to sources from multiple teams familiar with the process. In order to bring along friends, family and corporate partners, they have to buy tickets with everyone else, which helps drive the demand for obscenely priced resale tickets in the thousands.”

If the NBA All-Star game isn’t about competition — and one year of doing so isn’t enough to wash away the decade of incompetence — then the least Silver and the league could do is find a way to make it more accessible for fans.

Until then, arenas will continue to be empty for what’s supposed to be one of the NBA’s marquee events of the season. And regardless of the competition factor, that’s a loss for everyone.

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