Carmelo Anthony defends the reputation of the All-Star Game: “It’s not prestige no more which it should be”

Former NBA player Carmelo Anthony is the latest to chime in on the fading value of the All-Star Game, believing it has lost its prestige. He recalls the time when he made the ASG, sharing how he had to earn the respect of veterans.

"In my first year, when I came on the 2007 All-Star Game with Kobe and AI and like that sh*t? I couldn't say sh*t in the locker room like, I'm three years in," Hoodie Melo said when he spoke on the 7PM in Brooklyn podcast .

ASG stripes matter

A line was drawn at the time, especially for the younger players. Melo recalls how he could not rub elbows with top players back then.

"You gotta pay your respect. You couldn't, I couldn't sit on the side. First All-Star Game, I couldn't sit over here with Kobe and these ni***s looking at you like, man, you ain't got enough stars on your jacket," the 10-time All-Star stated.

He explains that making the ASG is one thing, but earning respect is another. Hence, this is the reason why every rookie needs to play hard and compete, to show the veterans what they are made of.

Melo laments that this no longer applies to today's game and that most feel they are at the same level as the veterans selected for the annual spectacle.

"I'm telling you. The minute that somebody make you feel like that, because you there, you made the All-Star…Now, it's all mingled into one. It's like, if I got one or 18. It's the same sh*t to the person who got one," Anthony said.

Passion and prestige are no more

Another thing that today's players forget is the prestige of being selected as an All-Star. For some, making it means getting bonuses and adding another entry to their basketball resume. However, they need to remember why fans wanted them to be there in the first place.

"It's no more of that passion no more. Like it's no more, it's not prestige no more, which it should be. It should be all about this moment. Like the prestige of this moment, these players, what they do, what they contribute to their team during that time. Stars are stars," Carmelo concluded.

Money over matter

Today's top players are earning millions, probably a reason why the honor of being counted as an All-Star hardly sinks in. Some look forward to All-Star weekend only because it gives them time to take a break.

Like Anthony, another former player, Paul Pierce, pointed out how the ASG allowed players to boost their stock. But with the birth of social media, all that has been rendered useless.

Players like Anthony Edwards of the Minnesota Timberwolves claim that they may never consider the All-Star Game competitive. There is a reason why players like him ended up with that kind of thinking.

That is something the NBA will have to figure out soon. League commissioner Adam Silver needs to do something fast to find a way to remedy the sagging ratings of the annual event, not to mention its importance.

Related: Carmelo Anthony talks about how disrespectful it was for Anthony Edwards to shoot left-handed in the ASG: “Adidas should have been like, ‘You are fu*king bugging’"