Sports fans looking for events to watch over the weekend had a variety of compelling games from which to select emanating out of major leagues, including hockey and basketball. Yet the stark comparison between the NHL 4 Nations Face-Off tournament and NBA All-Star Weekend elicited various reactions related to the level of competition and investment by the players. Chicago’s 670 The Score morning host David Haugh acknowledged that while the comparison between the two may not be fair, he conveyed that the hockey was riveting. Conversely, he realized that some may ask why they wasted their time on the NBA All-Star Game, which adopted a new four-team format as viewership continued to decline.
“It’s more in the hockey sense, it is a coming together and unification,” said Haugh. “I do think it’s obvious and unavoidable to compare the effort levels. What you saw Saturday night when guys are playing through injury, like Sidney Crosby, and playing for each other like it’s the biggest game of their careers. Then you find out Sunday at about 5:00, LeBron just checked out.”
The prime time hockey matchup between the United States and Canada started with three fights in nine seconds and displayed a high standard of competition. Many players described the matchup as being among the most important in their careers. Ruthie Polinsky, a host on the Chicago Sports Network who was filling in for Mike Mulligan on Monday, was hoping that the game would have set a tone for those in the NBA to put on a show on Sunday night.
In the end though, she found the game pathetic and embarrassing.
Polinsky proceeded to delineate how the basketball product may demonstrate that those involved are potentially “delusional or oblivious,” and she surmised that they did not pay attention to the action in hockey. In fact, she posted that hockey made sure no one would watch the skill-based competitions during All-Star Weekend on Saturday night, initial viewership figures for which are not yet available.
The audience for the United States-Canada game averaged 4.4 million viewers, marking the most-watched non-Stanley Cup Final telecast since 2019.
“I do think also the hockey could have been last week or next week, and we still would have come out of Sunday night with the same conclusion,” Haugh said. “‘Why don’t these guys care? Why are we watching this?,’ and you remember when it used to matter to the point where Michael Jordan or Kobe Bryant would bring their competitive fire to the All-Star event and it would be contagious, and it was a little bit more competitive. It wasn’t playoff level, but it certainly was more watchable than it is now because now, the product is just really embarrassing for the league.”
The contest also marked the final time that TNT Sports is presenting the NBA All-Star Game amid the final year of its media rights deal with the league. NBC Sports will have the rights to the Saturday and Sunday night events under its new 11-year contract with the NBA, reportedly worth $2.45 billion per year. As a result, the heralded Inside the NBA studio show featuring Ernie Johnson, Charles Barkley, Kenny “The Jet” Smith and Shaquille O’Neal will no longer be on the air for these presentations, although the show will air on ESPN and ABC surrounding other marquee events under a sublicensing agreement.
“Honestly, kudos to TNT because maybe they knew,” Polinsky said. “‘Let’s have something ready to rack here in case this product stinks,’ because I think they knew there was going to be some debate.”
Draymond Green, current forward for the Golden State Warriors and a four-time All-Star, offered sharp criticism towards the new format. Yet his commentary resulted in pushback from Barkley, who explained that Green’s generation was responsible for the league having to experiment with the All-Star Game due to a purported lack of effort. Haugh referred to the presentation as “a game between TNT tributes,” which included nostalgic views of the past that he felt caused people to want to look away because of how the product has changed.
“People will watch because of what he’s going to say next,” Haugh said of Green. “Even if it’s critical of the people sending him checks or making direct deposits, he’s going to be compelling because as good as he is as an NBA player, and he’s probably going to the Hall of Fame, he gives the impression, or at least I think he could be a very good guy in the studio. He’s going to be great.”
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