On Monday, two San Antonio Spurs players were called out for their behavior during the NBA All-Star Weekend. The weekend had plenty of excitement, but there were many complaints about the new format for the festivities.
A weekend of NBA All-Star drama
Golden State Warriors star center Draymond Green said many things about the event and before the game. He claimed to have been offered the Warriors head coaching job once he retired from playing. Green also criticized the weekend, especially the new All-Star format, for how it cheated players out of the history of the game and fans out of entertainment.
Spurs point guard Chris Paul and center Victor Wembanyama tried to cheat the NBA Skills Contest on Saturday night by not attempting to actually score baskets during the timed event. The pair tossed basketballs in any and every direction (but the hoop) as they were running around the court so they could shave time, much to the chagrin of the crowd at Chase Center in San Francisco.
Is San Antonio Spurs PG Chris Paul to blame?
The league disqualified them as a result.
Adrian Spinelli of Bleacher Report named Paul and Wembanyama one of his losers from the weekend. Spinelli thinks Paul was to blame for the idea to beat the system.
“This has Chris Paul’s fingerprints all over it,” commentator Kevin Harlan joked on the air. And it did indeed reek of the 12-time All-Star’s win-at-all-costs competitive nature,” Spinelli wrote. “The pair garnered a ton of boos from the crowd. If anything, though, it might prompt the league to change the format a bit to perhaps require made baskets.
“Until then, Wemby might have just learned a lesson about getting caught in the tailspin of the Chris Paul experience. ”
The league must change more than the All-Star game (which fans complained about because it only lasted until one team scored 40 points). The other court side-matches need a facelift, including the Slam Dunk Contest, which is suffering from a lack of non-G League star power.
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