A swing and a miss. That’s what many are calling this year’s All-Star Game. Despite Adam Silver pulling all the tricks to revive the event by introducing a new format, it failed to lack the punch. Even bringing Kevin Hart as the first-ever emcee didn’t work. Some fans said it annoyed them. What did it lead to? The All-Star game garnered a ton of criticism from the hoop community. Yes, we saw some swatting and trick shots. But the excitement factor? Why compromise on that? And the numbers prove it!

As per the latest reports, Sunday night’s event averaged only 4.7 million viewers across TNT platforms, a 13% drop from last year. That makes it the second least-watched All-Star Game in history, only behind 2023 with 4.6 million. Of course, that’s not how TNT wanted to go out, as this was their last time hosting the All-Star Weekend because of the new media rights deal.

Apart from Silver, these numbers are also a major failure for Stephen Curry, one among those who advised the Commissioner to change the game’s format.

During a recent interview with Tim Kawakami, Steph revealed he had a compelling discussion with Silver about the event last summer, “He didn’t have any ideas at that time, and my advice was it’s not a bad thing to change it up entirely and try something new, knowing you can always come back to the traditional format if whatever you decide doesn’t work.” Proving the constantly dying popularity of the event, the last three All-Star Games have averaged less than six million viewers, the only times it has happened in history.

At this point, they need to create a Legends basketball event to save the contest! I mean, those unlucky to not watch Shaquille O’Neal or Charles Barkley play could get a slight taste of what they were all about. As the saying goes, form is temporary, class is permanent!

On the other hand, its competition SNL 50 attracted 14.8 million viewers on NBC. That means the 50th-anniversary episode of the iconic show saw a 202% rise from its usual viewership, proving the NBA’s major failure.

Meanwhile, the league’s Saturday Night showcase was no different. Despite Mac McClung’s historic three-peat, Saturday’s events averaged only 3.4 million viewers, the lowest ever. Imagine the state of Mac Mc didn’t appear for the dunk contest. A thesis probably proves half of the viewers tuned in to catch a glimpse of the high-flying dunker. Last year, the number was significantly higher at 4.57 million, thanks to the once-in-a-lifetime shootout between Stephen Curry and Sabrina Ionescu. Get creative people!

Of course, on the same night, the NHL’s 4 Nations Face-Off match between Canada and the USA was also on air, taking the attention away from the NBA’s festivities. It drew in 4.4 million viewers on ABC. But why did Silver and Steph’s new format fail?

Shocking All-Star Game Stat and lack of star power and charisma? Take notes Adam Silver

Well, whenever the tournament was being played, the level of competition was much better than in recent years. So, the new format did solve one issue. But the problem is, the ongoing festivities overshadowed basketball. It turns out that during the three-hour event, fans only witnessed 33 minutes and 41 seconds of basketball played in the new format. Meanwhile, the rest of the time they showed advertisements, music performances, Inside the NBA tribute, Mr. Beast Challenge, Kevin Hart’s antics, and more.

We want some basketball. Personally, mixing music shows in a sports event can sometimes take the charm away from the event. People pay to watch players dunk, block, or even check out the fundamentals. P.S. – Post moves have vanished from the game.

Moreover, superstars like LeBron James, Anthony Edwards, and Giannis Antetokounmpo could not participate in the event because of injuries. That played a part in fans’ losing interest. Simply because they bring charisma to the court. Name a better antagonist than the Ant-Man in recent years from The Hustle. It’s charisma that counts people, charisma!

Despite the declining numbers, Steph kept an optimistic approach after the game, “We needed something different—new life, a renewed energy in the game, something unexpected… I think it was a good step in the right direction to revitalize it in some way. Now, we can keep tweaking it next year and see what improvements can be made.”

While the new format was not half bad, it still needs a lot of tweaks to win the fans’ approval – especially in the way it’s broadcasted so that the flow of the game is not impacted. Well, the world will have to wait until next year to see what Adam Silver cooks up to save the historic annual event as it shifts to NBC.

What are your thoughts about this year’s All-Star Game?