Overpaid and uncompetitive? Pippen takes aim at players after NBA All-Stars score-fest

Chicago Bulls legend Scottie Pippen says the uncompetitive nature of the NBA All-Star game is damaging basketball, and has questioned whether the sport’s multi-millionaire players are pocketing too much money.

Point-scoring records for the league’s showcase game – now in its 73rd year – were shattered on Sunday (Monday AEDT) in Indiana as the All-Star game returned to the traditional format of east versus west, with the east winning 211-186. It was the first time a team had passed 200 in the annual game.

Scottie Pippen speaks at the launch of the NBL play-offs in Melbourne on Tuesday.Credit: Chris Hopkins

Pippen, who was the All-Star most valuable player of 1994, said the lack of intensity and unwillingness of players to “compete” – that being a willingness to play defence – was hurting the sport.

In Melbourne on Tuesday to launch the National Basketball League play-off series, said he did not even bother to watch the match.

“I didn’t catch any of it, and I think I did a good job,” he said.

“I think we have been seeing this for the last few years, with the All-Star game, and the importance of the game. I think it all falls back on the players, whether or not they want to compete. I heard one player say they don’t think anyone wants to be there.”

The lack of intensity in this year’s NBA All-Star game has drawn criticism from some of basketball’s biggest names, including former Chicago great Scottie Pippen.Credit: Getty/AP

Milwaukee guard Damian Lillard was named MVP after pouring in 39 points, six assists and three rebounds.

While players did show their offensive skills, through shooting from deep, or exciting dunks, with LeBron James putting on a show, fans have criticised the game for the overall lack of effort.

“Maybe there is a time and place for it. Maybe the players are making too much money, they don’t feel that they can generate the energy, the excitement in mid-season to go out and excite the fans any more,” Pippen, the six-time NBA champion and seven-time All-Star, said.

“Maybe it’s something the league has to take a look at because it’s doing more harm than good to the game right now.”

Australian great Andrew Gaze also took aim, declaring he had “never been more frustrated in my sport watching the NBA All-Star game”.

“It’s the greatest pox I think we’ve had all month and in a long time. People will look at this, and they’ll see the east winning the contest 211 to 186. Two hundred and eleven points to 186 [is incredibly high scoring], it was putrid,” Gaze said on SEN.

“Sure, you saw some flashy guys running the basket and dunking it. But watch the dunk contest then [for that]. It is an indictment on the game, and it’s an indictment on the concept. It may have been something that was worthwhile in another time. But right now, it is hard to watch. Anyone with even a smidgen of competitive instinct would be disgusted by what they saw.”

The All-Star game has traditionally been about showcasing scoring and offensive prowess, but through the 1980s and early ’90s when Larry Bird, Earvin “Magic” Johnson and then Michael Jordan were faces the of the league, defence typically was played in the fourth quarter, ensuring a competitive and tight finish.

Bird, honoured at the NBA Legend’s Lunch before the game, said he hoped the All-Star game would be taken a little more seriously, urging players to “compete, and you’ve got to play hard, and you’ve got to show the fans how good they [the players] really are.”

Australian star Josh Giddey was not voted onto the west’s All-Star team, but the Oklahoma City Thunder playmaker has a chance to enjoy something more important – a deep play-off run.

The pass-first point guard has had an indifferent season, where he has fallen out of the Thunder’s top-three pecking order. But he still averaged 11.5 points, 4.5 assists and 6.1 rebounds from 24.9 minutes per game, so remains an important player in a side boasting the second-best record in the western conference.

“They are young and they are dangerous. It’s really hard to predict when you are playing against teams like that because those players are still coming into their own,” Pippen said.

“They are a very scary team, and I think they are definitely going to be a team that will advance in the play-offs, judging on what they have been able to do in the regular season.”

In a season when Giddey maintained his on-court focus despite a police investigation over an alleged inappropriate relationship he had with an underage girl, Pippen said the Australian Boomer was still maturing.

“I am confident. Oklahoma City has a great staff. His growth and his development will continue to happen over the next three to five years. We have all seen a huge jump … being in the NBA. It’s a matter of him maturing physically as well as mentally. When all that comes together, you will see a different player,” Pippen said.

Newport Beach Police Department announced in January it had ended its investigation into Giddey, but the league investigation remains live.

He notched his 1000th career assist last month, becoming the fastest player in Thunder history to reach 2000 points, 1000 rebounds and 1000 assists, but his three-point shooting remains a work in progress, with a success rate of just 32.5 per cent.

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