Kids today.
Reggie Miller called Sunday night’s near-200 point a team All-Star Game “a joke” in an interview with Dan Patrick on Monday, blaming the “video game generation.”
“I understand it’s a glorified exhibition game. The game means nothing, the fans want to be entertained. But there has to be at some point some competition between the best players in the world. Last night, it was almost a joke. It was comical … Usually come fourth quarter in a close game, which this was, the guys usually say ‘ok let’s go for it now, let’s get after it. And that didn’t happen and that’s disappointing. And it’s been like that for the last 3 years.”
At some point, he said, the players had to take a stand.
“I love seeing the dunks, I love seeing the passes, I love being entertained as well but I want the players just to compete for 8 minutes in the fourth,” he said.
Miller was asked if they were the ones out of touch. He said maybe, yeah.
“So yeah, the younger generation and the millennials, that’s all this was about — this was a fantastic All-Star Game. Guys of our generation (thought) ‘this is a joke and mockery of the game.'”
But not all of the 2017 All-Stars were happy with the way the game went. In an interview after the game, Kyrie Irving said he would like to see it get more competitive too.
“For me, I would love to play in a competitive game,” Irving said. “I know we play in competitive games in the summer, pickup games, but I think going forward, the All-Star experience will probably get a little harder in terms of defense going forward.”
Will it? Guys are trying not to get hurt and — like the entire weekend itself — are focused on the fun off the court far more than anything on it.
“It’s all in good fun, but I definitely think that, if we want a competitive game, guys will probably have to talk about it before the game,” Irving said.
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