The best of Boston Celtics icon Larry Bird at the All-Star Game

Imagine All-Star games with defense as well as scoring — we swear they happened.

The NBA’s 2024 All-Star Week may now be behind us, but our memories of it — both good and bad — will stay with us forever. And when it comes to Hall of Fame Boston Celtics legend Larry Bird, there are some seriously impressive memories to look back on.

With all the talk about the NBA All Star Game being another bust this season, plus Larry Bird resurfacing to meet Jayson Tatum, we thought it only logical that young fans would be curious about just how good Bird was. CLNS Media’s Nick Gelso also spends some time talking with CLNS reporter Bobby Manning on how the All-Star game has really fallen apart.

To see some of the best of the Hick From French Lick playing in All-Star Games from his era, check out the clip embedded below.

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LOOK: NBA All-Star uniforms through the years

One of the most exciting parts of every All-Star Game is finding out what the uniforms will be. Every year, the NBA styles the players in the best possible fits that flash on-screen. Below, you can check out every NBA All-Stara uniform since 1990.

One of the most exciting parts of every All-Star Game is finding out what the uniforms will be.

Every year, the NBA styles the players in the best possible fits that flash on-screen.

Below, you can check out every NBA All-Stara uniform since 1990.

Why the NBA’s All-Star Game was unwatchable, and how to fix All-Star Week

The All-Star Game itself bombed after reverting from the playground-style team picking and target score endings, and the Dunk contest was somehow both better AND worse.

Even days after the conclusion of the NBA’s 2024 All-Star Game and All-Star Week festivities, people are still reflecting on the many flops involved. But they are also still talking about a few of the high points, so maybe this event can be saved — or at least improved.

The All-Star Game itself bombed after reverting from the playground-style team picking and target score endings, and the Dunk contest was somehow both better AND worse in that the dunks were largely repeats. But there was a Boston Celtics star making some of the flushes, which was cool. Stephen Curry vs. Sabrina Ionescu was a seminal moment — that the broadcasters managed to sully.

And there are plenty of ideas out there in the ether of how to make things better, too. The hosts of the CLNS Media “The Big 3 NBA” podcast weighed in on a recent episode.

Check it out above!

Listen to the “Celtics Lab” podcast on:

Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3zBKQY6

Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3GfUPFi

YouTube: https://bit.ly/3F9DvjQ

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Can the NBA’s All-Star Week be fixed?

Could there be new wrinkles added to boost engagement? Or is it all pointless anyway, given the game is an exhibition tilt?

By now, we all have heard the many complaints about various aspects of the NBA’s 2024 All-Star Week festivities. From the overall lack of effort in the All-Star Game itself, and inconsistencies in the judging of star Boston Celtics forward Jaylen Brown in the Slam Dunk Contest to the sexism heard during Steph vs. Sabrina and the utter confusion that is the Skills Challenge, there’s plenty that irked fans to point to.

That it ended up happening despite the league’s best efforts to ensure a return to the sport itself over spectacle alone to bring forth a greater level of effort and fan engagement makes it worse.

Can anything be done to fix All-Star Week? Are there events that can be changed to make it better? Could there be new wrinkles added to boost engagement? Or is it all pointless anyway given the game is an exhibition tilt?

The hosts of the CLNS Media “Celtics Lab” podcast linked up with Thunder Wire editor Clemente Almanza to talk it over on a recent episode.

Check it out above!

Listen to the “Celtics Lab” podcast on:

Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3zBKQY6

Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3GfUPFi

YouTube: https://bit.ly/3F9DvjQ

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Bob Ryan and Gary Tanguay have feelings about this year’s All-Star Game

Ryan and Tanguay analyzed the NBA’s All Star Game and the lack of competition in the tilt.

The esteemed hosts of the CLNS Media “Bob Ryan, Jeff Goodman, and Gary Tanguay” podcast were about as happy as the rest of us were with the level of effort put forth in the NBA’s 2024 All-Star Game. Whatever was in the water in Indianapolis did not exactly produce any better results than the changes NBA commissioner Adam Silver and Co. made to the All-Star Week‘s proceedings to boost player effort.

The eponymous hosts took note, and Bob Ryan and Gary Tanguay analyzed the NBA’s All Star Game and the lack of competition in the tilt, despite the league’s hopes on their most recent episode. Ryan also looked back on the All-Star Games of old and the players who would have made it more competitive.

Plus, Gary and Bob talk about Jayson Tatum meeting Larry Bird for the first time and address Bird’s distance from the Celtics organization.

Check it out in the clip embedded above.

Listen to the “Celtics Lab” podcast on:

Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3zBKQY6

Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3GfUPFi

YouTube: https://bit.ly/3F9DvjQ

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A three-point plan to save the NBA’s All-Star Week

It’s not like it could get that much worse…right?

There may be no way to fully salvage the NBA’s annual All-Star Game. The league elected to get rid of several tweaks created to make the annual exhibition game more competitive by making it like a regular NBA game, only to see the tilt become almost unwatchable.

The same can be said for the events leading up to it. But we decided to throw out a few of our own half-baked ideas that could spice up the event we all love to complain about around the season’s two-thirds mark. They could also play the same way the NBA’s changes for this All-Star Game went (read: bad), but we figured we’d put them out into the ether just the same.

It’s not like it could get that much worse…right? So let’s take a look at each of our three ideas, then.

Looking back on the Boston Celtics in the NBA’s 2024 All-Star Game

What needs to happen for us to keep tuning in?

What do we think of the NBA’s 2024 All-Star Game, the All-Star Week of events before it, and how the Boston Celtics participating in both did? On one hand, there were new wrinkles that were very clearly a hit, like the additional 3-point shootout between Golden State Warriors star Steph Curry and New York Liberty legend Sabrina Ionescu.

On the other hand, the decision to go back to old-style formats that eschewed the target score ending, charitable donations per quarter, and playground-style team picking did not have the desired effect of bringing back some competitive fire to the big game. Is the NBA’s All-Star Game irretrievably broken? Are there still things that could save it?

Most of all, what needs to happen for us to keep tuning in?

The hosts of the CLNS Media “Garden Report” podcast linked up with Cameron Tabatabaie of Celtics Wire and the “Celtics Lab” podcast to talk us through the 2024 All-Star Game and how Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown did in it.

Check it out above!

Listen to the “Celtics Lab” podcast on:

Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3zBKQY6

Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3GfUPFi

YouTube: https://bit.ly/3F9DvjQ

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PHOTOS: Best moments from Celtics’ Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown in the NBA’s 2024 All-Star Game

Let’s take a look at the best of Brown and Tatum in the 2024 All-Star Game captured in images.

While there were certainly no shortage of things for people to complain about in the NBA’s 2024 All-Star Week and All-Star Game, the annual exhibition tilt and the contests going on around it were their usual controversial self.

People had complaints about the level of effort in the week’s main event as they usually do, and there were cool new wrinkles (Steph vs. Sabrina, for one) as they usually are. The changes made (and unmade) are a story unto themselves, but star Boston Celtics forwards Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum shone brightly in another of their several appearances in All-Star Week.

Let’s take a look at the best of Brown and Tatum in the 2024 All-Star Game captured in images.

Celtics Lab 241: Breaking down the good, bad, and irretrievably broken of All-Star Week with Clemente Almanza

What were the good, bad, and irretrievably broken aspects of the week-long event?

The NBA’s 2024 All-Star Game has come and gone, and with it the successes of the Boston Celtics who participated. The week of All-Star festivities saw some significant changes, but perhaps none more so than the actual All-Star Game itself.

Gone were the target score endings and charities for each quarter of the event, along with the East vs. West dissolving playground-style team choosing. The ostensible goal — stronger player efforts on both ends of the court — was decidedly not reached with a record-breaking offensive output. But it wasn’t all bad — what were the good, bad, and irretrievably broken aspects of the week-long event?

To talk through the state of All-Star Week, how the Celtics did in it, what needs to change and what was done right, the hosts of the CLNS Media “Celtics Lab” podcast linked up with Thunder Wire editor Clemente Almanza.

We also touch on the post-deadline order of the West, where OKC sits in it and who will come out of it in the 2024 NBA Playoffs, so buckle up for a bumpy ride into what All-Star was and can be.

The Celtics Lab podcast is brought to you by FanDuel.

Listen to the “Celtics Lab” podcast on:

Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3zBKQY6

Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3GfUPFi

YouTube: https://bit.ly/3F9DvjQ

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LeBron James told the corniest joke about his first All-Star Game and Nikola Jokić ate it all up

Nikola Jokic would’ve gobbled up anything LeBron James said.

In his 21st season, LeBron James has become something of an NBA elder statesman. He is an all-timer, still chugging along at an elite level, still mingling with some of the biggest names in basketball.

While sitting on the bench during the 2024 All-Star Game, James deployed a tried and true (but very cliche) old-age joke when he first played in an All-Star Game. While Luka Doncic and Paul George probably understood the corny “old school” route James was taking with his gag in advance, Nikola Jokić ate it all up.

Sometimes, you just gotta let a legend get some low-hanging fruit jokes off:

Corny as it is, it’s still funny hearing the almost 40-year-old James make reference to Wilt Chamberlain and Bob Cousy. It’s low-hanging fruit, but I can at least understand why Jokić thought it was funny and why he wanted to hear more from an icon like James.