The All Star Game proves the NBA isn't a 'moral' pro sports league

Let me say something that should be benign: The NBA is neither a progressive nor a moral sports league. However, headlines over the past few years — and just general sentiment — would have you believe otherwise.

Sure, players and coaches— people like LeBron James, Chris Paul, Carmelo Anthony, Gregg Popovich, and Steve Kerr, to name a few — are activists and progressives. But the league, the NBA itself, is not progressive, it is not moral, and to ascribe it those characteristics is a fool's errand.

If you had any doubt, look at Sunday night's All Star Game in Atlanta. Let me be clear: There is zero reason to hold this game beyond a capitalist calculation.

Why else would you fly the absolute best players in the world to a single spot where they'll mingle and sweat together, then fly them back out to every corner of the country? For a game that means nothing. It determines zilch in the standings. Most of the players rightly dog it for 90 percent of the game because, again, it has absolutely nada meaning.

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Who could have seen it coming — besides, you know, everyone — that two players would be ruled out for contact tracing after flying into Atlanta. Philadelphia 76ers Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid were withheld barely eight hours before tipoff.

That's awful already but it was nearly a nightmare. By some sheer stroke of luck, they reportedly hadn't interacted with other players yet, but they definitely had to have interacted with folks on their reportedly private flights to Atlanta. And not for nothing, but: Did they interact with drivers, or hotel staff, or anyone else?

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Around the city of Atlanta, meanwhile, the NBA has scrambled to shut down promoters throwing All Star-themed parties. It took just an ounce of foresight to see this coming.

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Pair that with other choices the NBA made lately. It drastically shortened the post-bubble offseason, which puts players' health at risk. And it planned a shortened 72-game season despitethat quick turnaround. It's had to cancel or move 31 games alreadybecause of COVID protocols.

The players' union has agreed to all this, and the All Star Game. But frankly, players need and want to get paid. They had to agree.

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NBA Commissioner Adam Silver largely gets a pass from sports fans because he's not NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell. But truly, that places the bar so low it's hugging the floor. Going through with an All Star Game shows where Silver's priorities lie, and its not with player or staff safety.

LeBron James called the decision to play the game a "slap in the face" and other stars agreed. And yet, Silver's only real response was effectively yeah but...there's money to be made.

"I haven't made a secret that economic interests aren’t a factor," Silver said to reporters. "When I say economic interests are a factor, it has less to do with the economics of one Sunday night on TNT in the United States. It has more to do with the larger brand value of the NBA and the fact that this is our No. 1 fan engagement event of the year."

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The NBA has tried to clean up the image of the 2021 All Star game by making it an act of social good. The court will be decked out in an HBCU (historically black colleges and universities) theme, the refs are all HBCU grads, and the league/players' union is donating $3 million to HBCU causes.

Here's the thing, though. If the NBA really cared it could've cut a $3 million check and ran HBCU-themed ads without an All Star Game. Three million bucks is bus fare to the NBA. Instead, the league co-opted a cause as window dressing for its moneymaker.

That's not to say Silver and the NBA as an organization don't want HBCUs to succeed — I'm sure they do — but the powers-that-be want an All Star Game way, way more. Adding an HBCU theme is a nice byproduct to cashing out on a game hardly anyone wanted to play.

Wosny Lambre, an NBA reporter for The Athletic, put it perfectly on the Ringer podcast "The Answer" with Chris Ryan.

"The NBA is a capitalistic endeavor, first and foremost," Lambre said.

He expounded on that idea, a statement I included nearly in full because it's really good, so bear with me:

"And I say that as a lesson learned, not just from the past season, but from the past year. The whole operation in the 'bubble' was to recoup money. The short turnaround this season is like, 'Yo... this season is going to be a sacrificial lamb so next season is back on our normal NBA schedule. We know there's gonna be bumps and bruises, we know the COVID thing isn't gonna be perfect, but we gotta get our financials in order. Sorry Miami. Sorry L.A. Yes, you just played in October, we're coming back in December because we've gotta get this paper straight.'

The All Star Game in Atlanta this year, there's no otherreason to play it but for the fact that the NBA has decided, along with their business partner in Turner, that 'this is one of our most lucrative weekends of the year. We budget around this damn weekend and how much money we make. We need these games. We need these events. We need this TV product.'

I just want everybody to understand that the only reason the NBA exists — meaning a partnership between the players' association, and the owners, and the league office — is because they make money together. ... The reason this product exists as it does is to make money. That gets complicated with sports because it's not like buying a car where we all understand this is a purely transactional situation. Sports is selling you more than that. It's selling you nostalgia. It's selling you pride in your city. Your connection with your dad or you mom or whoever. It's selling you all of this other touchy-feely stuff, but please remember, this is business."

Let me be clear: The NBA is not evil. It's also not inherently moral. It's not anything beyond a sports league. It is a money-making endeavor largely defined by one goal: make even more money. If it does good in the world — or it supports basic causes like maybe police shouldn't kill with impunity — it's because that cause serves its business interests.

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NBA players, through their activism, have forced the league to get onboard with some social causes. But it also serves the NBA's interests to keep its stars happy. At least to a point. Let's not forget: The biggest star there is — LeBron James himself — didn't want to play on Sunday.

The All Star Game airs Sunday, March 7 at 8:00 p.m. ET, live on TNT.