The NBA will probably be playing a 2021 NBA All-Star game. Lakers superstar LeBron James did not welcome the reported news. Via the LA Times:
On the same day teams learned of an expected agreement between the NBA and its players’ association to hold the 2021 NBA All-Star game in Atlanta on March 7, Lakers star LeBron James trashed the idea, calling it a “slap in the face.”
“I have zero energy and zero excitement about an All-Star game this year,” James said. “I don’t even understand why we’re having an All-Star game.”
If selected, he said, he’d reluctantly participate.
Considering all the travel players do over the course of the season, it doesn’t seem like a lot to fly to Atlanta for one quick extra game. But in the case of the Lakers and Heat, the two teams that played in the 2020 Finals, the offseason was a very short one, so perhaps stars on those teams could use some extra days off more than most of the league’s squads.
I hope an All-Star game does get played. Because the games are fun. It’s as simple as that. But I will understand if players who participated in the 2020 Conference Finals or league Finals might want to duck out of the action.
