- Former President was speaking during appearance on Young Man and Three podcast
- Indiana Pacers star Haliburton compared the interaction with Obama to a conversation with his father
- Obama explained he would not be watching All-Star games in the future unless they are improved
If you’ve exhausted yourself complaining about the standard of the NBA All-Star game, then hope may be on the horizon, as Barack Obama has now waded into the mess that the game has become, going on the attack during a podcast appearance with Tyrese Haliburton.
Obama was appearing on the recently rechristened Young Man and Three podcast, hosted by Tommy Alter. The episode’s guest host was Indiana Pacers point guard Haliburton, who bore the brunt of Obama’s stinging criticisms of the current All-Star product.
Haliburton, a two-time All Star who dropped 32 points during the East’s 211-186 victory over the West in the ’23-’24 All Star Game in Indianapolis, went back and forth with the former President, but didn’t have much in terms of defence as Obama went on the attack.
“Y’all gotta have a little more pride in that All-Star Game. It’s not as if you all don’t play pickup during the summers. You know how to play in a way that, ‘alright, I’m not going to hurt anybody, I’m not going to take anybody out’, but that All-Star Game, it’s broke, man.
“Like, people just like not running,” Obama continued. “Everybody just trying all kinds of… it used to be when Kobe and Michael and Isaiah and those guys were playing, man. I mean they weren’t playing the way they did regular season, but they wanted to win.”
The comparisons to all-time greats such as Kobe Bryant, Michael Jordan and Isaiah Thomas were a stark reminder of how far the ASG has fallen in terms of watchability, with the entire weekend in general drawing a ton of criticism this year. Of course, the competitive element of the game is always going to be severely reduced when compared to a regular season or postseason NBA encounter, but even so, the complete lack of competition during this year’s meeting of East and West pushed a huge portion of fans seemingly past the point of no return.
Bob Kravitz of The Indianapolis Monthly, who saw the game played in his own city this year, were particularly scathing in their assessment of 2024’s edition, claiming it ‘made a mockery of the great game of basketball’.
When Haliburton tried to counter point Obama’s tirade, which he described as being like a conversation with his father, Obama doubled down, unconvinced by the 24-year-old point guard’s argument that he was “just reading the room” when he came off the bench in his first All-Star game.
“This is your business. This is your product. You don’t want people thinking you’re all out there just half-assed.
“Y’all need to do something because I ain’t watching that thing no more.”
The former President is probably not alone.
(h/t Sports Illustrated)
