Why is there going to be an All-Star Game? No one knows

The Detroit Pistons’ Jerami Grant should be named to the NBA All-Star Game. But, there is no way a game should actually be played.

What if they held an All-Star Game and nobody came? That would be fine with pretty much every NBA big name player except Chris Paul.

Packing 72-games into seven months is tough on athletes . Particularly those who either, like the Los Angeles Lakers and Miami Heat, barely had an off-season, while other teams, like the Detroit Pistons, had sat around for eight months growing stale.

To shoehorn the NBA season into the late December to late July window that Commissioner Adam Silver wants, and get the league back on its normal dates by next season, means a lot of sacrifices.

Training camp was barely a week, practices during the season have been rare. Teams are either playing games back-to-back or with just one-day in between.

The fact that the Television networks have basically dictated the schedule has not helped. They are not worried about players being worn out or traveling a lot in a worldwide pandemic. And it is not their job (it’s Silver’s!) either. They just want as many eyeballs watching as possible.

For example, common sense scheduling says, in a pandemic, to play as close to home as possible.

Only essential travel is really recommended right now. However, the Pistons just completed a 10-day Western swing. Lots of trips on airplanes, staying in different hotel rooms, different locker rooms and buses to games.

Is that really essential? Couldn’t Detroit just play their fellow Central Division teams like six times each. Trips to Milwaukee, Chicago and Cleveland would be a heck of a lot easier than going to San Francisco or Los Angeles in COVID-19 ravaged California.

Make sense? Sure, but the TV networks like those big East-West glamour matchups, like Lakers-Bucks and Clippers-Nets. Don’t forget, TV is paying the freight this season, with few fans allowed in most stadiums.

Detroit’s gallivanting around Arizona, Utah and two games in California, is just collateral damage, as none of their games were nationally televised.

Would playing your division rival so much get a bit tiring? Maybe, but it would be safer, and make more sense.

So, Pistons players and their league brethren, have basically spent the season bouncing from game to game, hopping on and off planes for long trips and getting little respite from the NBA grind.

There was one bright spot that all the players were looking forward to: The  All-Star break from March 5-10.

For five days, players had a chance to rest and relax. Maybe do something with the family. Simply get a chance to recharge their batteries for the second half of the season.

Even the top players, who usually play the most minutes, would get a break as, while an NBA All-Star team would be selected, there would actually be no all-star game played.

This made perfect sense. The NFL, which got its entire normal amount of games in, still did not hold a Pro Bowl. The NHL did not have an all-star game and neither did Major League baseball.

I mean, bring in a bunch of players, coaches and support staff from different teams, different sections of the country, all together in one spot would be, well, ridiculous.

Wait! TNT wants to televise an All-Star Game. The NBA’s reaction?

The reaction, across the board, from the top players is a resounding: ‘Are you kidding me?’

LeBron James spoke for everyone who should be there in Atlanta on March 7.

Joel Embiid, Giannis Antetokounmpo, James Harden, Kawhi Leonard and even De’Aaron Fox have all publicly voiced doubt about holding the game.

Oh, there will also be a skills competition planned. If they have a 3-point contest, you know Detroit’s Wayne Ellington will be invited.

Atlanta was chosen as a site, in part, as it is the headquarters for TNT, so their broadcast crew will not have to travel. How convenient.

Now, the players are not being forced to have a game. Since it was not on the original schedule, the players association had to agree to this.

NBAPA president Chris Paul is on-board with it. The game will reportedly help HBCU’s and COVID-19 relief efforts. And the argument goes, since they will still be under NBA health protocols, the top players will be safer than if they were home.

So while the NBA has issued guidelines to have players not go to Super Bowl parties, they can fly into Atlanta, be in close contact with a bunch of people from all over the entire country, and then fly back to their teammates.

That makes sense to …. I got nothing.

Yes, the NBA All-Star game will be a ratings winner. It will add a bit of money into the league’s pandemic suffering coffers. For some players, they will feel honored to be playing with and against the best basketball players in the world.

But, I’m sorry, it just seems stupid to have it.

• These players need a rest.
• These coaches need time to review film and look on how to improve their team.
• Everyone in the NBA needs to keep safe.

Jerami Grant should be voted to the NBA All-Star Game. I hope he gets a nice certificate, but he should have no game to play in.