LeBron James Calls Out Issue With Modern NBA

LeBron James is one of the most iconic basketball players of all time, having dominated in the NBA since he debuted in the league 21 years ago.

This puts James in a unique position to look at how the game has changed and why there has been a steep drop in viewership.

In a recent press conference, James was asked how he felt about upcoming changes to the NBA All-Star game format. And James' response was surprising.

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - NOVEMBER 21: LeBron James #23 of the Los Angeles Lakers at Crypto.com Arena on November 21, 2024 in Los Angeles, California. Ronald Martinez/Getty Images

For those who are unaware, this year's All-Star Game will instead be an All-Star Tournament with four teams and three games. The 24 NBA All-Stars will be divided evenly into three teams that are drafted by Shaquille O'Neal, Charles Barkley, and Kenny Smith.

A fourth team, managed by Candace Parker, will be made up of the winning team of the Castrol Rising Stars, which showcases up-and-coming players in their first or second year in the NBA and G League.

All three games will be decided when the winning team reaches 40 points.

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Needless to say, this is a massive change to the old format and has already been called out by Phoenix Suns forward Kevin Durant.

"I hate it. Absolutely hate it. Terrible," Durant said, per NBACentral. "We should just go back to East-West. I think we've been trying to bring that flair back somehow with the All-Star weekend. But I think we just keep the tradition."

Meanwhile, James doesn't think that the All-Star Game is the problem with the current NBA product. Instead, he pointed his finger elsewhere.

"We'll see when we get there. It's different, obviously, anytime you make some type of change. It's going to be some bug back," James said, per Dave McMenamin of ESPN. "We gotta do something. Obviously, the last couple years have not been a great All-Star Game that Sunday night."

"But listen, it's a bigger conversation. It's not just the All-Star Game. It's our game in general. Our game, there's a lot of f------ 3s being shot. So it's a bigger conversation than just the All-Star Game"

This has been a complaint from a lot of fans in recent years. When James started playing in the 2000s, there were about 15.7 3-pointers attempted per game (per StatMuse). In the 2020s that number has more than doubled to 34.8 attempted.

However, the 3-point percentage has only slightly increased from 35.6 in the 2000s to 36.1 in the 2020s. Basically, the league isn't getting better at shooting 3s. People are just shooting more of them.

Needless to say, there will be more changes coming for the NBA. Time will tell what those exact changes will be.

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