The tournament format was interesting at best, and a disaster at worst. Games to 40 are too brief for professional basketball players, especially with the 3-point shot. Maybe it would have been compelling at the Brockton YMCA, but at Chase Center, many All-Stars barely played because the games were so brief.

Tossed into the sea of indifference for another year, the NBA All-Star game does leave one lingering thought: What’s wrong with a U.S. team facing the rest of the world? “Yes,” proclaimed Victor Wembanyama,