The NFL has finally, mercifully come to its senses on one of a litany of issues. Per The Athletic‘s Jonathan Jones, the league is at least suspending all future Pro Bowl games. Instead, 88 players will be honored with Pro Bowl appearances. It’s a great move, and one that feels long overdue.
For decades, Pro Bowl games have been consistently bereft of some major talent. Because they usually transpire a week (or thereabouts) before the Super Bowl, any Pro Bowl honorees partaking in the sport’s most important game have picked alternates. With even the available players looking to avoid serious injury, the contests themselves have gotten steadily less competitive, too.
Sound familiar, NBA fans?
NBA commissioner Adam Silver greets Caleb Wilson @ Brad Penner-Imagn ImagesAdam Silver Needs to Put the NBA All-Star Game to Bed, Too
It’s no secret that the NBA has a very similar issue. Although All-Star Games remained ultra-competitive through the Michael Jordan era, the current biggest star on the scene has essentially afflicted the whole affair with the Pro Bowl problem. LeBron James almost never plays defense in All-Star contests. Instead, he treats the games themselves as unwelcome scrimmages. Like Jordan before him, James sets the tone for the rest of the league.
During the 2025 All-Star Weekend, James cared so little about the event that he declared during the weekend that he was going to skip out of Sunday’s game with an ailment, thus denying the NBA a chance to replace him with an alternate — effectively, it was the worst of both worlds: he made the moment about himself and froze out another player from a big opportunity as an injury replacement.
The four-time MVP’s cautious approach has had a ripple effect, to the point where commissioner Adam Silver has been desperately overhauling the format for a decade in a bid to make the NBA’s best players care even a little more.
In 2026, several All-NBA players sat out the event altogether, while others played on a minutes limit. If the All-Stars don’t even care about All-Star Weekend, why should we?
Ratings are cratering, players don’t take the event seriously (although Victor Wembanyama and Anthony Edwards certainly did last year). The NBA All-Star Game itself is no longer appointment TV for hoop-heads. All-Star Weekend really could be reduced to just some of the Saturday events. The Dunk Contest and the 3-Point Contest remain a treat. Watching former NBA greats compete in the Shooting Stars or Celebrity Game can be fun (or sad, as when certain three-time Bulls champion dads can’t make a layup).
Still, this is a moment whose time has passed. Right?
Team USA Stripes forward Kevin Durant of the Houston Rockets shoots over Team USA Stars center Jalen Duren of the Detroit Pistons. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn ImagesThe Counter? Novelty
It’s still a blast to see the world’s best players suit up as actual teammates for what’s supposed to be a competitive contest.
But let’s be honest: that’s no longer the All-Star Game. Instead, the Olympics — and, to a lesser extent, the World Cup — have emerged as the most-enjoyed arena to observe NBA elites working together.
Zooming out, this makes sense.
Even if Team USA always fields the best rosters, the rest of the world is swiftly catching up. The 2021 vintage of the team dropped games, while the 2024 roster nearly lost to Nikola Jokic’s Team Serbia and Wembanyama’s Team France during elimination contests. Both the 2008 and ’12 U.S. clubs almost fell in the Finals to Team Spain.
Personnel advantage or not, the All-Stars on Team USA actually have to try. Silver’s efforts to goose at least the ends of All-Star Games (or, last, to create a convoluted round-robin tournament structure) have perhaps made some inroads, but the stakes just aren’t there — nor are many of the players, frequently.
With the Olympics now a real focal point for American players, the All-Star Game can at last be relegated to a thing of the past. Like the Pro Bowl, it’s time for the league to retire the Sunday contest itself. All-Star Saturday remains generally a fun experience. Shrink the weekend into the one day, or perhaps halve the Saturday schedule into two separate days. But please, put the All-Star Game itself to pasture.
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