As one of the greatest to ever play the game, and a player who mesmerized audiences anytime he took part in the All-Star Game, the Boston Celtics legend is perhaps one of the best placed to give a critique on what the contest has become, versus what it used to be.

Larry Bird calls on players to go hard in All-Star Game

It’s now clear that the NBA’s All-Star Weekend is a shadow of its former self and one doesn’t need to look at the TV ratings to confirm that. Not only did the league change the format of it all, but it went on to remove both the Draft and the Elam Ending, also known as the “Final Target Score.” What we can take from all of that is that the league understands that fans aren’t happy and is going with what it thinks is the best way to address that fact. Now, while those may not necessarily be the squeaky wheels that need fixing, fans can at least look forward to the classic format of East vs West in a fully timed game for the first time since 2017.

Yet, despite the tweaks, there is one former player who believes the problem is much simpler. A Hall of Famer, 12-time NBA All-Star and three-time NBA Champion, Boston Celtics icon Larry Bird has seemingly cut to the root of the matter by calling on players to just do better. ”The one thing I would really like to see is they play hard tonight in this All-Star Game,” Bird said. “I think it’s very important when you have the best players in the world together, you’ve gotta compete, and you’ve gotta play hard, and you’ve gotta show the fans how good they really are.” It’s worth noting that Commissioner Adam Silver suggested something similar during Saturday’s press conference when he acknowledged the poor showing last year, before stating that he expected Sunday’s game to be much better.

What can we expect from the NBA All-Star Game?

That’s a good question. For starters, we’ve got the changes that the league has decided to make. On one hand, the above-mentioned Elam Ending did bring a degree of excitement to games, as it assured an intense end to the contest. On the other, that was only true for the first game in which it was implemented: The 2020 edition.

Since that time, the All-Star Game has progressively declined in its allure, an idea that is now evidenced by the fact that the NBA has chosen to abandon something that it instituted just four years ago. Could that be fixed by creating a Team USA vs Internationals All-Star format, something many fans have been asking for? Perhaps a bigger purse for the winners? Who’s to say, but until the players start to do the one thing they’re supposed to, any alteration will likely have a short shelf life before interest is lost again. What’s that one thing you ask? As Larry Bird made clear, it’s about playing for the fans.