All-Star Game will be 'slap in the face' of players

LOS ANGELES • With Covid-19 safety measures needed for regular games and many already postponed, staging the National Basketball Association All-Star Game is a "stupid" idea, Sacramento Kings' De'Aaron Fox has said.

This year's edition had originally be scheduled for Indianapolis but that game has been pushed back to 2024. A decision has yet be made on whether an All-Star game will be held this year as well as the location and date.

But media reports have suggested that the NBA is poised to name Atlanta as the host city with the game on March 7.

When asked about it earlier this week, Fox felt it was a money grab and a bad idea by the game's powers. "If I'm going to be brutally honest, I think it's stupid," the guard said. "If we have to wear a mask and do all of this for a regular game, then what's the point of bringing the All-Star Game back?

"Obviously, money makes the world go round, so it is what it is."

Critics have said the league is using the All-Star Game as a way to recoup some of the revenue lost during the pandemic.

Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James echoed Fox's thoughts.

"I have zero energy and zero excitement about an All-Star Game this year," James said on Thursday after the reigning champion's 114-93 victory over the Denver Nuggets. "I am not happy about it. If I am selected I will be there physically but not mentally."

He and his teammates were looking forward to a much needed break after one of the shortest off-seasons, 71 days, in league history.

"We were told we were not going to have an All-Star Game... then they throw an All-Star Game on us like this," James said. "It is pretty much a slap in the face. We're still dealing with the pandemic and we're going to bring the whole league into a city that is open."

According to ESPN, National Basketball Players Association president Chris Paul, who plays for the Phoenix Suns and is a 10-time All-Star, has been the driving force behind the Atlanta proposal. He intends to use the game to "benefit historically black colleges and universities (in Georgia) and for Covid-19 relief".

The travel and safety protocols will be identical to a regular-season NBA game, with players and staff flying in the night before on a private plane and flying out after the game. Officials have yet to decide if it will be held behind closed doors or in front of a restricted, socially distanced crowd.

Elsewhere, Carmelo Anthony delivered a throwback performance on Thursday by scoring 22 points as the short-handed Portland Trail Blazers stunned Eastern Conference leaders Philadelphia 76ers 121-105.

The depleted Blazers were without All-Star Damian Lillard, Jusuf Nurkic, C.J. McCollum and Derrick Jones, among others.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE