The Soapbox: 2025 NBA All-Star Weekend
The NBA, in all its infinite pageantry, did what leagues do best—it rebranded. Slapped Kobe Bryant’s name on the All-Star MVP trophy, a nod to a man who played with the kind of urgency that made every possession feel like life or death. A beautiful tribute, right? A symbol of excellence, of tenacity, of refusing to take a night off? Yeah, sure—until you actually watch the game.
Because now? Now the award is handed out like a parting gift at a retirement luncheon. The game itself has become a theatrical farce, a 200-point pickup run where defense is treated like an outdated relic, something to be admired in museums but never actually used. Effort is a suggestion, not a requirement. And yet, they still have the audacity to attach Kobe’s name to this? This man once spent an entire All-Star Game hounding LeBron in crunch time just to prove a point. This man played in the midseason exhibition like it was an elimination game, because to him, every game was. And now? Now we get guys jogging back on defense like they’re late for a brunch reservation. We get a contest that feels more like a business retreat than a proving ground.
Kobe would never.
And let’s be clear—this isn’t about nostalgia. This isn’t some rose-tinted, “back in my day” rant from an old head clutching VHS tapes of the ‘96 Bulls. No, this is about something deeper. Standards. It’s about the difference between greatness and simply showing up. Because if you’re going to keep Kobe Bryant’s name on that trophy, then the players damn well better earn it.
Look at history. Jordan didn’t take All-Star games off. He wanted to crush whoever was across from him. Iverson came in with something to prove. Shaq, Duncan—hell, even guys who weren’t the biggest stars—competed, because it meant something. There was a hierarchy. You had to earn your place, and once you were there, you had to defend it.
But now? We get LeBron ghosting mid-game like he left the oven on. The league’s biggest names skipping the dunk contest like they’re allergic to excitement. And what’s worse? The NBA lets it happen. The same league that fine-tunes every rule for maximum entertainment value can’t seem to find a way to make its biggest spectacle worth watching. They sell us a premium product, but when the lights come on, all we get is a glorified cardio session.
And here’s the thing—Kobe wouldn’t have tolerated this. He wouldn’t have smiled and played along. He would’ve walked into that locker room, called out every single guy phoning it in, and then torched them on the court just to make a point. Because for him, the game—the integrity of the game—was always bigger than the spectacle.
So if the NBA really wants to honor Kobe Bryant, it has two options: fix the game, or take his name off that trophy. Because right now, every time they hand it out, it’s not a tribute.
It’s an insult.
– Joseph Angel | Chief NBA Analyst for TheNSR Network
