Knicks Cheated By NBA All-Star Game's Dying Breath

New York Knicks fans were disproportionally affected by the malaise of the modern NBA All-Star Game.

Feb 16, 2025; San Francisco, CA, USA; Kennyís Young Stars guard Jalen Brunson (11) of the New York Knicks shoots the ball against Chuckís Global Stars during the 2025 NBA All Star Game at Chase Center. Mandatory Credit: Cary Edmondson-Imagn Images / Cary Edmondson-Imagn Images

All that glitters is gold, but even the New York Knicks' headliners couldn't break the NBA All-Star Weekend mold.

Boasting their most legitimate championship case in quite some time, the Knicks had a chance to showcase their progress as the NBA convened for its All-Star proceedings in the Bay Area. New York had two men in the main event's starting lineup, as Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns became the first metropolitan pair to earn the honor since Walt "Clyde" Frazier and Earl "The Pearl" Monroe in 1975.

But the Murphy's Law that seems to follow Knicks fans kept stalking on All-Star Sunday, as supporters fell victim to one of the pratfalls of the new format.

Unlike those who could go all for the Eastern Conference in 1975, modern New Yorkers had to more or less pick between Brunson and Towns when their respective squads assembled by Kenny Smith and Charles Barkley did battle in the opening act. Towns offered a viral moment for fans in the form of a deep three-pointer commemorated by an imitation of Brunson's hand-to-mouth celebration but there were hardly any more highlights to speak of in a victory for Barkley's battalion.

Feb 16, 2025; San Francisco, CA, USA; Chuckís Global Stars forward Karl-Anthony Towns (32) of the New York Knicks controls the ball against Kennyís Young Stars during the 2025 NBA All Star Game at Chase Center. Mandatory Credit: Cary Edmondson-Imagn Images / Cary Edmondson-Imagn Images

If any Knicks fan went to the bathroom or stopped for a snack on their way to their viewing seat, they may have missed Brunson's participation entirely: with the teams playing to a target score of 40 and the defensive effort — or lack thereof — living up its All-Star reputation, the game was over in just about 10 minutes. It was quite possible that Kevin Hart, serving as an unofficial master of ceremonies, spent more time on Chase Center's playing surface than Brunson.

Towns and the rest of "Chuck's Global Stars'" reward for besting Brunson was a lengthy wait that saw Shaquille O'Neal's team of seasoned veterans ("Shaq's OGs") predictably handle the winner of Friday's Rising Stars competition and Hart workshop jokes for the next "Ride Along" script.

When it was finally time for the championship finale, the Global Stars' fate, more or less assured after the OGs jumped out to an 11-1 lead, was further delayed when the game inexplicably stopped to honor TNT's contributions to NBA broadcasting, a deserved ceremony would've been far more appropriate in a halftime or postgame setting. The Global Stars never threatened after that and the OGs rolled to a 41-25 triumph.

The third act of All-Star Weekend is often overshadowed by what comes before it but it can still create landmark history on the NBA front.

Some, for example, view the 1998 exhibition at Madison Square Garden as Kobe Bryant's first major display of power, as the then-teenager held his own against Michael Jordan and Co. Jordan himself reached a checkpoint his first return to basketball with MVP honors in San Antonio two years prior and his 1988 weekend on front of home fans at Chicago Stadium is often accepted as his official coming-out party.

The All-Star Game has long outlived such usefulness but any statement Brunson and Towns were trying to make was eaten up by the nonsensical extracurriculars. This was even a rare All-Star Game injury report, as the respective absences of Anthony Edwards and LeBron James were announced on game day. Considering the league's indirect adherence to his suggestions for change, James' absence was particularly glaring.

Brunson and Towns, to their credit, curbed their complaining. Towns refused to use the delay(s) as an excuse for the Global Stars' championship no-show while Brunson suggested lengthening games to a higher target score. That's the way Knicks fans likely like it: their relative inactivity in San Francisco will be long forgotten in a week, maybe less, as they continue to bolster the most legitimate championship case Manhattan has had in quite some time.

But the league has a bigger problem and what they take from this weekend could determine the mid-winter classic's fate.

Even the universally beloved All-Star Saturday has taken a hit. It enjoyed a decent enough boost from last year's coed showdown between Sabrina Ionescu and Stephen Curry but this year's proceedings sank to new lows.

The San Antonio Spurs contingent's loophole of laziness at the Skills Competition and Mac McClung swiping yet another Slam Dunk Contest triumph before fleeing back to the G League were bad enough. Considering that teams are doing their utmost to try 50 a night, it's hard to fully justify the 3-Point Contest, briefly starring Brunson, without Curry and Ionescu or similarly-skilled companions doing battle.

To be fully fair to the NBA, all-star games as whole are mostly obsolete: supposed superteams play every single night, watching (or at least paying to watch) games is easier than ever, and salaries are so massive that there's no use rallying for the mere cause of a conference with such a meager prize on the line.

The countdown to extinction is best presented in the National Football League: gridiron preseason proceedings land ratings the other major leagues salivate over, but fans set a limit when it came to lack of effort in the annual Pro Bowl, which is now reduced to elementary school field day antics like dodgeball and a tug-of-war.

Feb 16, 2025; San Francisco, CA, USA; Kenny’s Young Stars guard Jalen Brunson (11) of the New York Knicks shoots against Chuck’s Global Stars during the 2025 NBA All Star Game at Chase Center. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-Imagn Images / Kyle Terada-Imagn Images

The National Hockey League's edition was on thin ice (pun intended) as is and the league would probably be downright silly to stage another considering the wild success of the ongoing 4 Nations Faceoff. Major League Baseball has a little something going for it considering it's the closest thing to a legitimate, businesses-as-usual game but even that one is losing its uniqueness thanks to the universal designated hitter and diverse schedules.

The league's quandary now becomes the best course of action to gain the weekend's viewers back. After all, All-Star Weekend is an event for the fans by the fans and not even that requirement is satisfied anymore.

The immediate reaction will be to follow the NHL's 4 Nations example or at the very least introduce a Team USA-vs.-elsewhere situation. The WNBA's event often shakes things by situating Olympic stars-to-be against the Association's finest while Breanna Stewart's Unrivaled introduced a 1-on-1 tournament down in Miami. Whether it's enough to combat the "how many rings does he have" environment that defines daily NBA life in this day and age remains to be seen, but it would at least shake things up.

In any event, it's not the Knicks' problem, which centers on some greater — and golden — goal that Brunson and Towns only amplify.

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