Jaylen Brown opened up about his time playing at the 2023 NBA All-Star Game, and he isn’t pleased with the lack of effort on the court. During an after-game press conference on Sunday (Feb. 19), the Boston Celtics athlete was asked about this year’s display — and he was critical of each team’s defensive endeavors.
“All is fun in games like this,” Brown told reporters. “Real basketball is different. This was like a layup line. I don’t know how much notoriety we would want to to get from this. This was a glorified layup line. We’ve got to figure out how to make the game a little bit more competitive. If the fans like it, that’s all that matters.”
Brown, 26, wasn’t the only one with pointed criticisms lodged at the star-studded matchup. Denver Nuggets head coach Mike Malone, 51, discussed about the player’s performance and decided it was “the worst basketball game ever played.”
However, Malone did give props to Kyrie Irving and Joel Embiid, who attempted to rally their teams defensively to make the game worthwhile.
“It’s an honor to be here, and it’s an honor to be a part of great weekend with great players, but that’s the worst basketball game ever played,” the coach said. “I don’t know if you can fix it. I give Joel Embiid and Kyrie Irving [credit], those two guys were competing. They tried to get some defense in. No one got hurt, they put on a show for the fans, but that’s a tough game to sit through, I’m not gonna lie.”
The 2023 NBA All-Star Game between Team Giannis and Team LeBron found the former victorious, with a final score of 184-175 at Salt Lake City’s Vivint Arena. Jayson Tatum of the Celtics was the exhibition’s MVP, snagging 55 points — a new All-Star Game record.
Watch Coach Malone’s commentary below.