Coming to Atlanta? Top NBA players question the playing of All-Star game

If he’s asked to play in the NBA All-Star game, with the Hawks’ State Farm Arena appearing as the likely location for the possible March 7 event, Lakers star LeBron James said he’ll be there physically, but not mentally.

James told reporters Thursday that he has “zero energy and zero excitement about an All-Star game this year,” and took issue with the league hosting the game while the country continues to battle the coronavirus pandemic.

“I don’t even understand why we’re having an All-Star game, but it’s the agreement that the Players Association and the league came about,” James said. “Short offseason for myself and my teammates, with 71 days, and then coming into the season we were told that we were not having an All-Star game. … Pretty much kind of a slap in the face.

“We’re also still dealing with a pandemic, we’re still dealing with everything that’s been going on, and we’re going to bring a whole league into one city that’s open. Obviously, the pandemic has absolutely nothing to do with it at this point, when it comes to that weekend.”

On one hand, being named an All-Star and participating in the game traditionally is a reward for players’ accomplishments. The All-Star game is popular among fans, and the location of Turner Sports gives Atlanta an edge as the host city, since broadcasting teams wouldn’t have to travel from out-of-state, per ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. People familiar with the situation confirmed to the AJC that Atlanta is in “serious talks” to host the game, and Wojnarowski wrote that teams received a memo that said that plans for All-Star activities March 7, at State Farm Arena, including skills competitions, are being finalized — safety protocols are still being worked through but are “expected to include players arriving on Saturday and leaving on Sunday night under tight quarantines.”

However, if the goal is to lower the risk of spreading the coronavirus and have a better chance of finishing the season, putting on an All-Star game is risky.

It’s not clear what the exact financial implications are of having an All-Star game or not, but Kings guard De’Aaron Fox had a similar take to James: “If I’m going to be brutally honest, I think it’s stupid. If we have to wear masks and do all this for a regular game, then what’s the point of bringing the All-Star game back, but obviously, money makes the world go round. So it is what it is.”

To get through a season amid the pandemic, the NBA made several changes and instituted new rules and regulations. The league trimmed the season to 72 games, compressing the schedule and streamlining travel, requires daily COVID-19 testing for players and team staff and placed limitations on what activities they can do outside the team environment.

Still, though, less than a month-and-a-half into the season, more than 20 games have been postponed because of positive or inconclusive COVID-19 tests and contact tracing, including the Hawks-Suns on Jan. 13, and that’s without bringing players from all around the league to one concentrated location at one time. That has created some controversy surrounding the NBA potentially hosting an All-Star game, which would involve players and staff from various teams doing just that.

Georgia also has less stringent coronavirus restrictions, and the Hawks are one of a few NBA teams whose local ordinances allow them to host fans, and have allowed 8% fan capacity for home games at State Farm Arena since Jan. 26, with safety restrictions. It’s unclear if a limited amount of fans would be permitted to attend the All-Star game.

New COVID-19 case numbers spiked in January, and this would involve players and staff traveling to Atlanta about a month from now. It’s hard to predict exactly where case numbers will be at that time, but as of Thursday, Georgia had 763,077 confirmed COVID-19 cases, with 13,048 confirmed deaths, and had 4,011 confirmed cases reported Thursday, with 141 confirmed deaths and 294 confirmed hospitalizations reported Thursday, according to the Georgia Department of Public Health.

According to the New York Times’ latest map and case count, which was updated Friday morning, nationally “over the past week, there has been an average of 130,953 cases per day, a decrease of 30 percent from the average two weeks earlier.” Vaccines have slowly been rolling out around the country.

The All-Star game would take place during the break between the first and second halves of the season. Because the league is playing games outside a bubble environment such as the one it created for the conclusion of the 2019-20 season and playoffs, it has released only the first half of the season’s schedule, leaving time before the second half begins to make up games that have been postponed during the first half.

When asked if he had any thoughts on an All-Star game taking place, Hawks coach Lloyd Pierce mentioned he wouldn’t be involved in the game, as his wife will be giving birth soon, and declined to share any specific thoughts, outside his hope that the Hawks will have a few players in the All-Star conversation.

After the first round of All-Star fan voting came in Thursday, Trae Young is the only Hawks player who was in the top 10 of an Eastern Conference or Western Conference frontcourt or guard category, coming in at No. 6 for Eastern Conference guards. A combination of fan, media and NBA player votes determine All-Star starters, and NBA coaches determine reserves.

“Pretty sure I’ll have a 2-week-old, healthy, brand new baby,” Pierce said Tuesday. “The last thing on my mind is the All-Star being here in Atlanta. I don’t have any thoughts. I know it’s an accolade and a reward for guys.

“I know Atlanta’s been mentioned. It won’t cross my mind one bit. I hope our guys are in the conversation for all of those things. … I’m not thinking about the All-Star (game) or what the potential of it is. I have feelings about it. I won’t even share what I really think. But I won’t be there, and I won’t be participating in any of it.”