The NBA was hoping its new All-Star Game format would get players treating the game more seriously. But in the middle of the championship game at the Warriors’ Chase Center, the league took an 18-minute break mid-game to pay tribute to TNT — sucking the oxygen out of the thing they wanted to make more serious.
When Steph Curry’s team took an 11-1 lead into a timeout, the NBA did its traditional handoff to the next All-Star city. But then the night’s emcee, Kevin Hart, came onto the court after a second commercial break for another ceremony, this time to honor the “Inside the NBA” crew of Ernie Johnson, Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith and Shaquille O’Neal.