In a candid, conversational video, Draymond Green and Baron Davis dissect the perceived decay of the NBA All‑Star Weekend and critique the league’s recent proposal to replace the traditional East‑West matchup with a USA‑versus‑World format. They argue the All‑Star Game has become a corporate spectacle, with G‑League players diluting the event, voting being compromised, and the style of play turning into a highlight reel rather than a competitive showcase. Both stress the loss of the cultural, hometown‑pride atmosphere and suggest concrete fixes: return to East‑West jerseys, seat basketball legends on the sidelines, replace the token opening‑practice exhibition with a real practice session, and keep the event daytime to improve fan engagement. The discussion then pivots to a game‑by‑game breakdown of the Pacers‑Thunder series, where Green highlights excessive turnovers (19‑21 in the first half), low scoring outputs, and defensive dominance, expressing concern for Oklahoma City’s chances and ultimately predicting a Pacers win despite the Thunder’s coaching pedigree. The tone remains informal, opinionated, and occasionally humorous, reflecting both frustration with the league’s direction and a desire to see the All‑Star experience refocused on genuine competition and basketball culture.
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I was very vocal at the All-Star Game time about it being trash. I thought it was awful and it made no sense that G League guys got to play in the NBA All-Star Game. It's crazy.
It made no sense.
Adam Silver came out a couple days ago and said it will be USA versus the world. I like the idea. I think that was dope in hockey this year. It was a little different, but and saying that, do you like the idea and what do you see as possibly being the biggest concerns with the idea?
Look, man, the problem is the style. It's like you're not, you're not going, it's hard to get the competitive style in an All-Star Game when the style you play is very similar to what you're trying to reproduce in an All-Star Game.
Mm-hmm.
Right, so like the style that they play now is very similar to like the most magical All-Star Games that you could see, right?
Mm-hmm.
Threes, dunks, highlights, things like that. So now when those dudes go to like dumb down the floss, right? Or show you something else, they showing you like, "Man, we can hit half-court shots all day." Packers. And so I think personally, like we've gotten away from, I am an all-star, I represent my team. It make you feel good. It make you feel good for the players on your team, the organization you putting on for your city. I say, man, just go back to the jerseys, let everybody rock they jersey in the All-Star Game, East, West, but you know, we'll see what happens, USA versus the world. I just think that it fucks up the voting.
It does. I think it, and that's what I think it's supposed to be. It changes the voting, yeah. It changes the voting for sure. I think competing on a, on a world versus USA level is gonna create something. Although I don't know if they'll have the same pride that we'll have because it's not necessarily Canada or Serbia, but maybe they will. I don't know. But you know, I see that—
There's just a lot to ask in the middle of the—
They're asking, you know, they're moving the game to the daytime. And I think that that'll make a little bit of a difference. Guys wanna get outta there and get the vacation. You getting there earlier. Like I think that can help a bit. But ultimately, I think if they really take the game, that opening practice that they do, they need to nix it and go with a real practice so guys can like actually put in some sets and like actually like talking about making this serious and like how serious.
Yeah, exactly.
If they wanna do that, I think they should do that. But you know, you sell tickets to the opening practice and sponsorships, so. You know, you gotta give a little to get a little something.
But I think from the entertainment perspective, you got US versus the world in the middle of the season. I start thinking from a media perspective, just the coverage around the world is gonna actually make it, you know, a media spectacle. Now it's like, all right, man, we know All-Star Weekend coming up in LA. What kind of entertainment we gonna have? Is it gonna be Fugazi? You know, are we gonna have the culture involved? Like, All-Star Weekend used to be a celebration, like a homecoming.
Mm-hmm, yes, it was.
All the players felt like coming. All the players felt like, "Hey, man, I gotta show up at All-Star Weekend to see my former teammates, to see my nephew, my godson." You start, really start to see like, yo, we are like a big family. And we start getting away from that because now everybody kind of like, "Oh, you got the corporate party over here, the corporate party over here." But it's like, and everybody's busy. So players don't get a chance to hang out in the lobby and it'd be third, you know, like how we was in New York. Like that's what All-Star Weekend used to be like, Draymond. Yes, it was. Like we all going to dinner, you know what I mean? Like when you was an All-Star, Everybody's going to the same places. We all hanging out. We happy to be around each other. There's old, young, new, and next to come, you know? And I think that's where we gotta get back to. I wanna see legends on the sideline at the All-Star Game. I don't wanna see John Legend. I do not want to see John Legend sitting nowhere on the floor, bro. Right. They don't fuck with basketball. They don't even matter to the game, right? We don't care that they're watching. Put some legends in those seats and let's tell they story, right? Man, hey, do not put John Legend on the floor, okay?
That's funny. Listen, I think—
I'm gonna go kick it, I'm gonna go kick it, spill his drink on him.
That's hilarious. I think— I think it can get better, but I've always said this, it just has to be more about the game. So we'll see.
It gotta be about the players, bro.
Yeah, we'll see. Maybe they can get it right. Hopefully, hopefully.
Not with Draymond Green.
Hopefully they can. But you know, BD, All-Star Weekend, it's the last thing I'll say. All-Star Weekend used to be like, a cultural phenomenon. Culturally, it's lit. You gotta go to All-Star Weekend. All-Star Weekend today is just a corporate—
Corporate tea party.
Yeah, and those aren't always the most fun. So, you know, we'll see how it go.
All right, man. I got a question for you.
Talk to me.
After watching game 1, who do you have winning the series?
I'm worried for OKC, man. You caused 21st, 19 first half turnovers. And you couldn't score the ball enough to pull away, at least to get up 20 points. Like 20 turnovers, like 19 turnovers in a half. That's insane. And all the guys is not playing well. Nobody scored over 20 points or maybe even 17 points. Like that's, that to me is scary because you held the Pacers to 111 and their MO is defense. You held them to 111 and you lost.
Yeah.
That's a problem because they gonna get, they gonna get 111. They gonna get 120. Like, they gonna get 111 anyway, you know? And so to me, That signals a big, big, big, big, big problem.
Huge.
And I have to say, if that's gonna be the case, man, I gotta roll with the Pacers. And I think the Thunder's supposed to win. I mean, between that and Rick Carlisle.
He just, any close game, I'm siding with the Pacers. OKC has been manhandling them all in the regular season, all up until that, 8-minute, that 3-minute mark or 6-minute mark in the fourth. I don't know. I don't know. I mean, shit, OKC, they should be the superior team. They reflected that. Maybe this is just the game that slaps them up and wakes them up.
