The league threw an emotional tribute to the Inside Guys, but it didn’t well with the fans. Yes, that’s right. How can fans even hate the NBA world’s beloved quartets (Shaq, Chuck, Kenny & Ernie)? Well, that was the irony. In the last few decades, TNT managed to put together one of the best crews that a fan could ask for. After running the All-Star weekend for all these years, tonight, the crew hosted their supposedly last ASG. It was truly an emotional sight.

The league, using all its power, made the entire event centered around them. It introduced a new format where four teams participated in the All-Star main event for the first time. Guess what? Three of those teams were coached by Shaquille O’Neal, Charles Barkley, and Kenny Smith. Fittingly, Chuck and Shaq’s team faced off at the championship round.

It was an interesting matchup between the OGs and the MVP-caliber players. Stephen Curry & Co. dominated Chuck’s team right from the get-go with a 9-0 run. While the teams continued throwing jabs at each other, suddenly there was a long pause. It was the tribute event for the Inside Guys. As much as everyone wanted the league to honor the four gentlemen, fans didn’t want the game to get stalled either.

Kevin Hart picked up the mic and stretched the tribute for almost 6 minutes long with his usual humor. While some fans emotionally witnessed the event, others definitely longed for the basketball action to begin. Hilariously, Jaylen Brown, witnessing this from the sidelines, got caught on camera, blurting out, “Get them outta here.” 

Moreover, after the game Brown reportedly said, “That was definitely not ideal,” as per Dan Woike. 

More importantly, Stephen Curry, who was directly involved in the tribute, expressed that he didn’t like the game getting paused during the presser. “It felt like the game kind of got in the way a little bit, which was. Different, but we could, you know, keep the fun going. Keep the intensity going,” as he was skeptical about the success of the new format. Anyway, we have heard enough.

Let’s see what fans have to say. And suffice it to say, they weren’t keeping calm as they took over the internet with trolls. Here are some reactions.

Following Stephen Curry’s blunt attack, fans criticize mid-game interruption

Although the Inside Guys entertained the NBA world for all these years, one small lapse cost them their reputation. Until the tribute, the beloved show’s departure from TNT left the majority of fans in a somber mood. However, it vanished in no time as a fan criticizing the mid-game interruption wrote, “Good riddance, this was painful to watch.” It definitely would’ve pissed off the basketball fans who were looking to enjoy their weekend with high-octane balling actions between All-Star.

Another fan, criticizing the placement of the event, wrote, “This should have been done at the intermission. This was a clown show.” Yes, sounds reasonable. Following the two semi-final games, there was a brief pause for the players to get a breather. The league could have effortlessly placed the 6-minute tribute around that time. They didn’t and now a fan went on to describe the emotional tribute as a “Clown show”.   

At the end of the tribute, a picture flashed on the Jumbotron, where the league took a subtle dig at the Inside Guys, asking them to take a trip to Cancun. Guess what? This fan instantly put his editing skills to use and made a picture of the quartets and a few NBA stars fishing at the beach. Symbolically, asking all of them to quit. Nice!

Another fan didn’t seem impressed with the new format either, writing, “Timeout is longer than the game thanks.” As I mentioned earlier, this season’s All-Star game was more like a mini-tournament with 3 games, and each game isn’t played the usual way with four quarters. Instead, the first team to reach 40 points will adjudged as the winner. And we can barely see the stars scoring in double digits. On top of it, a delay in the middle of the game didn’t sit well.

While other fans just criticized the tribute, another fan demanded immediate action, writing, “Just abolish all-star weekend, it sucks.” To be honest, the first two days of the ASG didn’t quite impress the fans. Especially, the Celebrity All-Star game was a major downer for the fans. However, Mac McClung managed to save the weekend with his creativity. 

Unfortunately, the tribute for the Inside Guys seemed to have damaged it, too. What do you think? Let us know in the comments.