If you, like so many others, want to see a better NBA All-Star Game, then it appears the players would have to be rewarded handsomely for it. On the back of a hugely disappointing 2024 All-Star Game, the Athletic's Sam Amick is reporting that the players have expressed a desire to be paid for participating.
"As one source shared, the players privately expressed a desire to get paid for All-Star game competition, a la the In-Season Tournament."
As per the current system, every player on the winning team gets $100,000, while every member of the losing team gets $25,000. If this report is accurate, then it clearly isn't enough for these players.
Considering so many of them have massive contracts, you'd assume they would want a comparable amount to what they get paid for a regular-season game. Amick also mentioned the In-Season Tournament there, and every player on the team that won the cup got $500,000. Maybe that's the magic number for the players here too.
Based on this report, some might even surmise that perhaps the players were sending the message that they want to be paid, with just how little effort they gave in Sunday's game. The East beat the West 211-186, and NBA fans were disappointed to see another low-effort All-Star Game.
It was the first time that the 200-point mark had been reached, and it was thanks to players playing no defense whatsoever. The 2024 edition has been termed as the worst All-Star Game ever by some, but it appears we say that every year at this point. Unless something changes, the 2025 edition will be called the worst next year.
Would just paying the players fix this situation? Well, no one can say that for certain, but that might just be the only thing the NBA can do here.
Ron Harper Called Out NBA Stars
Someone who wouldn't be a fan of paying the players for this is former NBA player Ron Harper. The five-time NBA champion took to X to call out the stars.
"All of these TV shows say give them money to play harder and an incentive for the NBA All-Star Game… why what happened to playing for the love of the game and it’s your job???? Crazy."
It's a different mindset now than what existed when Harper played in the 1980s and 1990s. I also think the players might argue that the game isn't part of their job, and they're simply not interested in giving a lot of effort unless they are properly rewarded for it.
Shams Charania Suggested A Big Reward For Winning The All-Star Game
Well, if not money, then what can be the incentive? NBA insider Shams Charania had an idea of what would make the players give more effort.
"I think there needs to be some level of incentive on the game," Charania said on Run It Back. "And I don't know if you go with the baseball model is, you know East vs. West, you give whichever side wins home-court advantage. I think guys would play hard for home-court advantage in the NBA Finals.”
(starts at 0:23 mark):
The MLB put this system in place in 2002 but scrapped it after 2016. I don't believe this would be a good idea at all for the NBA to implement, and they would be opening a Pandora's box if they did it.
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