Sports
Commentary: Players know the NBA All-Star Game might be too broken to fix
Following the highest-scoring All-Star Game in the league’s history, the NBA’s signature in-season event again feels at a crossroads as attempts to make Sunday’s closing event more competitive fell flat.
The East beat the West 211-186 in Indianapolis, a game that simultaneously stoked fears that there’s too much offense in the current product and that players don’t seem to care about playing hard in the NBA’s signature showcase event.
“It’s an All-Star Game,” Anthony Davis said when asked about the lack of defense.
Following an awful game in Salt Lake last season that delivered record-low ratings, the league and its players made changes to the format with the NBA agreeing to remove a lot of the fanfare (musical performances, prolonged introductions, convoluted scoring and rosters) in favor of a traditional East-West game.
“Andre Iguodala now, who is the executive director, former player, of the Players Association, shares that view with the league office; that we’re not necessarily looking for players to go out there as if it’s the Finals necessarily, but we need players to play defense, we need them to care about this game,” NBA commissioner Adam Silver said Saturday. “And the feeling was that maybe — and I’ll take responsibility for it; as you know, I used to run something called NBA Entertainment — that we’d gotten carried away a little bit with the entertainment aspect.”
Jennifer Hudson, Sunday’s halftime act, performed just one song — one example of how the NBA altered its All-Star scripts.
“Frankly, fans are able to vote by what they watch too,” Silver said Saturday. “They have so many options. So the thought was here, we sat down with the players, we said, let’s return to a focus on the game of basketball. Let’s come pretty close to your typical routine. We still want the opportunity to introduce to fans around the world the All-Star rosters. We still want to have a little bit of fun at halftime, so just add a slight amount of time and let’s see what we get.
“My sense is it’s a combination of discussions that the leadership of the players are having with the All-Stars. I think discussions Joe Dumars is having directly with players. Frankly, having (head of basketball operations) Joe Dumars and his credibility in the league office, I think we’re going to see a good game tomorrow night.”
Welp.
After the game, as Davis listed some of his favorite moments from the game — LeBron James’ signature dunk in his 20th All-Star Game, Damian Lillard’s three-pointer from midcourt and Karl-Anthony Towns — he settled on a trampoline dunk performance during a timeout as the best moment.
Lakers star Anthony Davis stands during the singing of the national anthem before the NBA All-Star Game on Sunday.
(Juan Ocampo / NBAE via Getty Images)
“I think the best, we were talking about it, was the Bulls and the Pacers dunkers,” he said sincerely. “The trampolines. Like, they were very, very impressive.”
It was not televised.
Following the game in Utah, Boston’s Jaylen Brown was critical of the product, saying the game “wasn’t basketball” and just a “layup line.” To his credit, he tried to inject life into the weekend, participating in the dunk contest on Saturday and even playing some defense Sunday.
“We were attempting to put a little more effort into it, but I’m not sure how successful that was. But hopefully, as the years go on, it gets back to being what the fans want to see,” Brown said. “There were some discussions. Definitely some. I’m not sure how successful that was. There were definitely some discussions. I guess guys are trying to figure out how to do that at the same time as having fun, being safe, being injury-free. More solutions need to be had to figure that out.”
And at the core, that’s the biggest issue, the game demanding players to play at speeds they just don’t normally operate at.
“Obviously the fans and the league and everyone wants it to be competitive, but then you also, as players, you’re trying not to get hurt,” Davis said. “Obviously, injuries are part of the game. No one wants to get hurt in an All-Star Game especially going back — I mean, all these guys here are very valuable to their teams. So, there are some mixed emotions about it.
“You try to go out there and compete a little bit and not just be a highlight show, but at the same time, do you guys really want to see somebody going for a dunk, somebody going to contest him and, God forbid, something happens in the All-Star Game? Like, when it could’ve been avoided?
“… We were talking about it during the game, like what can we actually do? But then you think of the aspect of the competitive nature and if players really compete like how they do in the season. … It’s not, ‘OK, compete a little bit.’ There’s only one way to compete, and I think a lot of players aren’t really up for it to compete at that level.”
James, eager to continue his All-Star break and recovery time, left the arena in his uniform Sunday night.
Before that, he posited maybe the biggest question — that the All-Star Game is maybe just a symptom and not the actual problem.
“I think it’s something we need to figure out,” James said. “Where is the median? This is what a lot of the games are starting to look like too. We wanted to get more pace into the games. We wanted to get more shots. We wanted the game to be more free flowing. We stopped letting the game — be freedom of movement, a lot of freedom of movement now. That’s what our games are like in the regular season now. They let us tighten up in the postseason.
“… It’s a deeper dive into a conversation of how we can shore up this game. Obviously from a player’s perspective, it’s fun to get up and down. But at the end of the day, our competitive nature don’t like to have free-flowing scoring like that. But I think the good thing that came out of tonight was none of the players were injured, and everybody came out unscathed or how they were before the game started. So it’s a deeper conversation.”
A conversation, the NBA, frustratingly, will have again and again.
The Zion Phelps story is going to be told over and over at Loyola High to show students what can happen when someone discovers potential and decides to take a chance to bring it out.
In his first year running track after bragging during the football season that he was the fastest student at Loyola, Phelps proved on Thursday he’s also the fastest 100-meter runner in the Mission League by winning in a school-record time of 10.49 seconds at the Mission League finals at Sherman Oaks Notre Dame.
“I’m beyond grateful,” he said after embracing Loyola coach Sharaud Moore.
A junior defensive back, Phelps let Moore bring out his track talent, and now he has options in track and football.
Loyola’s Ejam Johannes offers the “shoosh” sign after anchoring the winning 4×100 relay team. He also won the Mission League 400 and 200 titles.
(Craig Weston)
Another Loyola athlete stepping forward in preparation for next weekend’s Southern Section Division 1 prelims was Ejam Yohannes. He ran anchor leg for the 4×100-meter relay team that beat Notre Dame for the first time in three years with a time of 40.75. At the finish, he put a finger over his lips and gave a “shoosh” sign. He also won the 400 meters in 47.05 and the 200 meters in 20.85, the fourth-best wind legal time in the state this year.
Notre Dame’s JJ Harel qualified in three events — going 6 feet, 10 inches in the high jump, 22-5¼ in the long jump and also qualifying in the triple jump.
The strangest moment of the day came in the Mission League 100 girls’ final. Nalia Keyes of Chaminade and Maya Rios of Bishop Alemany tied for first place, each finishing with a time of 12.46.
“It’s weird,” Rios said of her first ever race tie.
In the Marmonte League final, Demare Dezeurn of Westlake ran the 100 meters in 10.39 seconds to outduel Jaden Griffin of Newbury Park (10.50) and Kingston Celifie of Calabasas (10.56). Dezeurn played football for Palisades in the fall after transferring from Bishop Alemany last season.
Baseball
Sylmar 10, Kennedy 0: Rickee Luevano hit a grand slam for Sylmar.
Westlake 10, Newbury Park 3: Dylan Lee homered and Holden Backus had two hits and three RBIs.
Bishop Amat 3, La Serna 2: Ray Castro threw six innings and also had an RBI single.
Temecula Valley 3, Vista Murrieta 1: Grayson Martin gave up one hit and struck out seven in six innings.
Oaks Christian 17, Calabasas 8: Ryan Sheffer hit two home runs and finished with four RBIs.
Softball
Garden Grove Pacifica 4, Cypress 1: Jenna Valladares had an RBI triple and Shay Kletke threw a complete game.
Sherman Oaks Notre Dame 16, Louisville 0: Jackie Morales had three hits and six RBIs.
Harvard-Westlake 14, Chaminade 11: It was a wild Mission League game that ended on a walk-off grand slam by Kale’a Tindal in the bottom of the ninth inning. Chaminade scored five runs in the seventh to tie the score 9-9. Both teams scored runs in the eighth to make it 10-10. Chaminade took an 11-10 lead in the top of the ninth on an RBI single by Siena Greenlinger. Tindal finished with four hits and four RBIs. Dylan Fischer had a home run, two doubles, a single and four RBIs.
Murrieta Mesa 8, Great Oak 0: Tatum Wolff threw six innings, striking out 10 and walking none. She also hit a home run.
Sports
Drake Maye voices support for Patriots coach Mike Vrabel as off-field controversy continues to swirl
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Mike Vrabel has the full support of his young star quarterback.
The New England Patriots head coach and Drake Maye, in just his second NFL season, won the AFC and brought the Pats back to familiar territory: the Super Bowl.
The big game itself did not go how they had liked, but at the very least, it showed that Patriots fans likely have their coach-quarterback tandem for years to come.
New England Patriots coach Mike Vrabel talks to quarterback Drake Maye during the second quarter at Nissan Stadium in Nashville, Tennessee, on Oct. 19, 2025. (Andrew Nelles/The Tennessean/USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images)
But the team has hit quite the detour amid Vrabel’s controversy with former Athletic reporter Dianna Russini, which led to Vrabel having “difficult conversations with people that I care about” and even seeking counseling.
Last week, the Patriots said in a statement that they “fully support” their head coach, and Maye echoed similar sentiments.
“We’re here for coach, we love coach and what he does for us, and has done for us this past year. You can’t speak it into words, and thankfully, he’s our head coach,” Maye told WHDH-TV in Boston.
“We know he’s dealing with some stuff off the field and out of the coaching world, but we’re here for him and I know he’s gonna come back.”
Head coach Mike Vrabel of the New England Patriots speaks with quarterback Drake Maye during the game against the Las Vegas Raiders at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass., on Sept. 7, 2025. (Adam Glanzman/Getty Images)
DESHAUN WATSON HAS ‘INSIDE TRACK’ TO BE BROWNS’ WEEK 1 STARTING QUARTERBACK OVER SHEDEUR SANDERS: REPORT
The scandal began early this month when he and Russini were photographed together at a Sedona, Arizona, private resort holding hands and lying beside each other at a pool.
Since then, photos have surfaced from 2020 showing Vrabel and Russini kissing at a bar in New York City. The pictures exclusively obtained by the New York Post were taken in the early hours of March 11, 2020.
Russini reportedly married Kevin Goldschmidt, her husband and a Shake Shack executive, six months after the photos were snapped. Goldschmidt and Russini also share two children.
Vrabel has been married to his wife, Jen, since 1999, and they share two sons together. In the pictures, Vrabel’s wedding band is visible on his left hand while conversing with Russini. At the time, Russini was with ESPN, while Vrabel was coaching the Tennessee Titans.
Dianna Russini, left, and Mike Vrabel, right, are shown in a split composite image featuring Russini with an ESPN microphone and Vrabel on the Titans sideline wearing a headset. (Imagn Images)
Both initially denied any wrongdoing, but Russini has since resigned and is the subject of an investigation by her former employer.
Fox News’ Scott Thompson and OutKick’s Armando Salguero contributed to this report.
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Marcus Smart knows what it feels like to be on the other side. The last time the Lakers guard was in the playoffs, he was helping the Boston Celtics storm back from a three-game deficit in the Eastern Conference finals to force a near-historic Game 7.
Now he’s watched the Lakers’ seemingly insurmountable three-games-to-none series lead dwindle to 3-2 after a 99-93 loss to the Houston Rockets on Wednesday at Crypto.com Arena. Smart isn’t flinching.
Whether defending a three-game lead or coming back from one, Smart knows the mindset is the same.
“We really got to literally go out there and be ready to die,” Smart said Wednesday after the Lakers failed to close out the Rockets for the second consecutive game. “… When I was on the other end, that was our motto: be willing to run through a wall and sacrifice your body for the betterment of the team. And that’s what we’re going to do now.”
Lakers guard Marcus Smart knocks the ball away from Rockets guard Amen Thompson during Game 5 at Crypto.Com Arena on Wednesday.
(Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)
NBA teams are 159-0 with a 3-0 lead in a best-of-seven playoff series. Only four have even pushed it to the decisive Game 7. Smart’s 2023 Boston Celtics, when they clawed back against the Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference Finals, lost Game 7 at home after star Jayson Tatum turned his ankle on the first play of the game.
Hoping to avoid joining the historic list, the Lakers get a third try at vanquishing the Rockets for good in Game 6 on Friday at 6:30 p.m. PDT at Houston’s Toyota Center.
“Once we get on that plane and head down to Houston, we got to forget about it and understand what we are going for,” said LeBron James, who had 25 points and seven assists Friday. “It’s going to be even harder. Every game is hard. It’s so hard to close out a team in the postseason, to win a series, and this is our first time doing it as a unit.”
The Lakers built a three-game lead in the series despite playing without leading scorers Luka Doncic (hamstring) and Austin Reaves in the first four games. Reaves returned from a Grade 2 left oblique muscle strain Wednesday, scoring 22 points on four-of-16 shooting with six assists, but his presence couldn’t stop the gradual decline of the Lakers offense.
The Lakers have failed to reach 100 points in each of the last two games. From shooting 53.9% from the field and 51.7% from three in the first 10 quarters of the series, they have shot just 44.6% from the field and 29.2% from three in the last 10, excluding overtime of Game 3.
Luke Kennard, a flamethrower who scored 50 points in the first two games, has scored just eight in the last two. He was scoreless from the field Wednesday, including two missed three-pointers. A 91.2% free-throw shooter, Kennard even missed a free throw.
On the other hand, Houston has found its rhythm. The Rockets made 38.7% of their shots in the first 10 quarters — Games 1 and 2 and the first half of Game 3 — and have shot 46.3% in the 10 quarters since, excluding the Game 3 overtime period. Their three-point shooting has jumped from 30.9% to 34.1%.
“We just got to make shots,” Smart said of the offense’s struggles. “… And we’re not giving ourselves a chance by turning the ball over, which we can’t get a shot up on the rim because of that.”
The Lakers had 15 turnovers that resulted in 18 Rockets points Wednesday. The game started slipping away in the second quarter when they had five turnovers with the Rockets scoring nine points off the miscues. The Lakers let their 11-point first-quarter lead turn into a four-point halftime deficit.
Smart, who was asked to handle more ball-handling responsibilities while Doncic and Reaves were injured, had six turnovers and just two assists Friday. He called them “unacceptable.”
Rockets center Alperen Sengun yells out for the ball while Lakers guard Marcus Smart pressures the ball hander during Game 5 at Crypto.com Arena on Wednesday.
(Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)
“The turnovers come in all shapes and sizes, and it’s about limiting them,” Lakers coach JJ Redick said. “And you certainly have to give your guys freedom to make basketball plays. I would say in general though, turnovers of aggression are OK; turnovers of passivity are not.”
The Rockets only averaged 8.5 steals per game during the regular season, but had two players in the NBA’s top 10 in total steals with guards Reed Sheppard (sixth, 122 total steals) and Amen Thompson (eighth, 119). They had three and four steals, respectively, in Game 5.
A defensive play from Sheppard stifled the Lakers’ late comeback. The Lakers trimmed a 13-point lead to three in less than three minutes. The cheer from the sold-out crowd at Crypto.com Arena was deafening when James kissed a left handed layup off the glass to pull the Lakers to within one possession with 2:59 left.
Sheppard immediately responded with a midrange jumper then picked James’ pocket on the next Lakers possession, going coast-to-coast for a two-handed dunk that pushed the lead back to seven with 2:20 remaining.
The crowd went silent.
The Lakers had that same stunning effect on a road crowd already this series when they stormed back from a six-point deficit in less than 30 seconds in Game 3. The prospect of doing it again with even larger stakes brought an excited smirk to Smart’s face.
“We knew this was going to be a tough series,” Smart said. “I think everybody knew that, and it’s turning out to be exactly what we expected. And now the fun begins.”
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