The NBA tried to make Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith and Shaquille O’Neal the stars of All-Star Weekend, and Jaylen Brown didn’t seem interested in witnessing the admiration.
It began with commissioner Adam Silver designating Barkley, Shaq and Smith as general managers for this season’s All-Star game, which featured a new tournament-style format. And it ended with Kevin Hart eulogizing Inside the NBA during one of the many breaks in the action of the 2025 All-Star Game.
With the All-Star Game moving to NBC next season, Hart called Barkley, Smith, Shaq and Ernie Johnson to center court where they were given gifts including fishing gear, because “it’s over.” It was an ode to the crew’s popular “gone fishing” segment which pokes fun at teams after they’re eliminated from the playoffs.
During the segment, a camera caught Jaylen Brown saying “get ‘em outta here” with a hand wave. While the Inside the NBA crew is popular amongst fans, their frequent criticisms of the modern league seemingly makes them less popular amongst current players. It’s not clear whether Brown was saying get them out of the league or get them off the court because of how long the ceremony was lasting. But after the game, Brown admitted he wasn’t a fan of the presentation.
Jaylen Brown for MVP pic.twitter.com/q0Gi19fNep
— Kevin O’Connor (@KevinOConnorNBA) February 17, 2025
“I didn’t. I don’t know if the rest of the other guys knew. I didn’t know,” Brown said after being asked if he was expecting the ode to Inside the NBA. “So that kind of took the gas out of everything for a little bit. We’re trying to be great professionals and we’re trying to do different things and explore, generate viewership.”
Jaylen Brown also didn’t know about the stoppage and said it “took the gas” out of the game. pic.twitter.com/eaTvjzLUZp
— Bobby Manning (@RealBobManning) February 17, 2025
And one of the ways the NBA tried to generate viewership Sunday night was by making the All-Star Game less about the All-Stars and the game, and more about taking attention away from the action with planned bits like this unnecessary eulogy. Brown wasn’t wrong. This season’s All-Star Game didn’t have much hype to start, but stopping the game for Inside the NBA definitely didn’t help fuel any excitement.
There was a period of a few months last year where basketball fans wondered if Inside the NBA would be coming to an end after Warner Bros. Discovery lost game rights for TNT Sports. But thanks to a licensing agreement with ESPN, the popular studio show will continue into next season and beyond, making Sunday night’s tribute even more awkward and unnecessary.
