While no one has earned their flowers like the folks at NBA on TNT, there is a time and place for everything. Last night, that place was inappropriate.
Shaquille O’Neal, Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith, and Ernie Johnson have all done a tremendous job with their coverage over the years. This was the final broadcast for TNT until the media rights switch over to their new partners for next season.
But this was not their final game as broadcasters, as the season still has plenty of time left, and the Inside the NBA programming will continue with syndication on ESPN next season. They aren’t going fishing! They’re all still working!
NBA ALL-STAR GAME: The league made the night about everything but its All-Stars
Tonight, the congratulations distracted from the game itself. During the three-hour broadcast, per Reddit, there was only 42 minutes of actual basketball played. That is less than 25 percent.
Ad breaks are necessary and music performances are typical. But breaks during the middle of a game are unheard of (unless LeBron James happens to set a new all-time scoring record) and felt disruptive on Sunday night.
is that good pic.twitter.com/j4MT47vVj3
— Owen Phillips (@owenlhjphillips) February 17, 2025
The final game had six minutes of basketball, then nearly seven minutes of a break, followed by less than nine minutes of more hoops.
Jaylen Brown was overheard saying to “get them out of here” during the ceremony while Kyrie Irving was seen running sprints to stay warm.
Here are what some of the stars said about the interruption of flow:
Jayson Tatum
“The format was cool. I think the toughest part, they stopped the game to do the presentation while we were kind of halfway through it. We were sitting down for 20 minutes, whatever it was. It was kind of tough to get back into the game after that.
But besides that, I thought it was cool. First two games were pretty competitive.
But whatever. So if they could just find a way to not have that long intermission in between the games or during the game, I think it would be a lot better.”
Trae Young
“I didn’t like it at all, to be honest with you. I don’t know what the fan reaction is yet. But I think too many breaks. Guys are over there ready to play. I thought it was very competitive in the beginning. But as the games kept going on, I think it was too long of breaks … It was too long of a break. It felt like it was 30 minutes.” (via Dalton Johnson)
Jaylen Brown
“That kind of took the gas out of everything there for a little bit. But I know we’re just trying to be great professionals.” (via Bobby Manning)
Karl-Anthony Towns
“It hurt a little bit, but we good.” (via Rob Lopez)
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
“Yeah, breaks, I guess, weren’t ideal. I would rather play without breaks.”
Victor Wembanyama
“For sure, for sure, but it was good to pay homage to those guys. It was fun. But yeah, maybe 20 minutes, that’s a lot.”