The fans aren’t the only ones disenchanted by the NBA All-Star Weekend. The lacklustre energy in the midseason festivities has long infected both players and fans. And most critics blame LeBron James for it. No prominent names in the Slam Dunk Contest? Because LeBron didn’t participate. No competitive flair in the game? Because LeBron wouldn’t take on Kobe. Is the 3-Point Contest getting boring? Well, that’s blamed on Steph Curry, who makes it look easy. Now notorious LeBron and Steph defender, Draymond Green, confirmed it.

While hosting Skip Bayless, the leading campaigner for blaming James on the All-Star downfall, on a live edition of his podcast, Green offered a blunt explanation for why the league’s biggest stars have seemingly checked out of the mid-season classic.

The long and short of it, Green argued that the modern All-Star Game has become a “corporate circus” that physically and mentally prevents elite athletes from preparing for a high-level basketball game. It’s something Dwyane Wade and Carmelo Anthony have previously explained.

“Where I blame the NBA is they’ve never made the All-Star game about the game,” Green explained. “So, it’s not an entire game day process.” He noted that on a typical game day, players spend hours on activation, hot tubs, and weight-room routines. In contrast, All-Stars are running between publicity engagements and sneaker deals, arriving at the arena with barely 20 minutes to shoot.

Contrary to the ASG schedules in Michael Jordan’s era, the current version causes a conflict between the league’s commercial demands and the meticulous body-maintenance routines of the modern NBA.

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The same routines have allowed icons like James, Curry, and Green to play deep into their late 30s and 40s, as Green said, “You see LeBron, you see Steph, you see KD, you see all of these guys, James Harden, Russ, who’s still playing at year 23, year 19, year 18. But that’s because the routines have changed.”

More than one NBA player has blamed the packed non-basketball schedules for All-Star fatigue. But Green has a way of pinning even that on LeBron James.

How did LeBron James ruin the old-school All-Star Game?

Contrary to how the critics phrase it, Draymond Green pointed directly to the “LeBron effect” on body science for the change in ASG.

“LeBron had a huge impact on just everything he’s figured out about the body and longevity,” Green told Bayless. “As people got more into that, I think you started to take the All-Star game less serious because you can’t get in your routine. So, I’m going to go out here and play hard in this game that I’ve prepared for 20 minutes, and I didn’t take a whole day?”

For veterans like James, who is currently navigating his 23rd season, the risk of injury outweighs the reward of an exhibition game. In 2025, James sat out the game at the last minute, too late to name a replacement, not to aggravate an injury. He’s still recovering from sciatica, which is probably why he’s not hurt about not making the starter.

Whereas Green argues a point that a few of his All-Star friends have made. And he’s aware their ‘laziness’ puts them in direct comparison with Kobe Bryant or Michael Jordan, who put in the work for this weekend.

“When you look at it back then, though, it wasn’t the same as it is,” Green noted. “But when you—old saying—’ You knew better, you do better.’ So if I know better about my body, then I’ma do better about my body.”

Green believes that unless Adam Silver allows more players to share the All-Star festivities, the aging superstars will continue to prioritize health over highlights.