Rahimi, Harris & Grote Show - Nick Friedell doesn't see a fix for NBA's struggling All-Star Weekend

Episode Date: February 13, 2026

Leila Rahimi and Marshall Harris were joined by Nick Friedell of The Athletic to preview NBA All-Star weekend and to discuss the tanking crisis in the league.

Rahimi, Harrison Grooty, Midday's 2 on Chicago Sports Radio. I was a kid who marveled at all the all-stars, all-star games growing up. You know, and to be able to hit the floor and be a part of, like, the legacy and everything that's happened with NBA All-Star weekend, NBA All-Star game on Sunday. It's super humble, super blessed, and happy to be part of it. That was LeBron James. This is Rahimi Harris and Brody on 104-3 to score. And whether or not you like it, it's NBA All-Star Weekend. See, that's snuck up on us.

That's not nice. Why is it not nice? Whether or not you like it. It's just me laughing about it on the schedule. No, no, no. But I feel like NBA All-Star Weekend has disappointed so many people over the matter of time that people aren't willing to give it a chance anymore. People aren't willing to give it a chance.

If you're listening to our station, there's a good chance to probably. going to catch some of the NBA All-Star action. You really think so? Because I've heard a lot of people say they are not interested in tuning in for the NBA All-Star game. Yes, they also said they were going to boycott the NBA. There's all these other ways they talk about it. But something tells me it's going to come across.

Highlights, content, you're going to see it somewhere. That's just how it is. Nick Friedel joins us live from Los Angeles, the site of that All-Star Weekend. And he is on the Circus Sports Illinois Hotline. download the Circa Sports app today. Nick is also on Twitch. Twitch.tv slash the score Chicago.

Hey, Nick, yeah, what is, I guess is where we kind of should start because you remember the Heming and Hawing that was done last year over how failed the All-Star game was and how nobody cared. What do you think of the new format? Lela, the All-Star game remains terrible. Fair enough. Kind of goes back to the initial statement, yeah. Right off the top.

The All-Star game has been back. for years and years. And I'll give you two examples from the past where I thought it was actually good. The first one was in 2012 in Orlando when Dwayne Wade broke Kobe's nose because he was playing some serious defense. That was 14 years ago.

That shows how far the decline has gone. The other one was the end of that game that you all remember in Chicago. That was in 2020. There was a push to get more. money involved so players would have a bigger takeaway and there was some donations. They played hard at the end. And that's all anybody wants here.

I mean, the East and West thing worked forever. And then suddenly it didn't work because guys weren't playing as hard. Everybody has blamed in this thing that it got to this point. It's still such a showcase event for the league. And anybody who thinks, oh, well, it's going to disappear. There's no way. There's too much money involved. It's too big for the league to just pull completely,

even if we all agree that the product isn't close to what it used to be. Sadly, I don't think there's a fix, and that's the hardest part, because the fix is get these guys to play a little bit harder against each other. I don't care what format they roll out there, unless guys take the game itself more seriously. Not much is going to change. Okay, Nick, so you're right. But at the same time, can we get a one-on-one tournament?

Because I feel like that would up the stakes, at least, some personal pride on the line, at least. Marshall, I'm sure that is something that they'll continue to kick around. And my fear would be as a one-off, one year, sure, I think it would be interesting. But then if we kept running it back year after year, people would be like, okay, we'd see a lot of, all right, back me down. I'm going to start chucking up threes because I really don't want to give too much effort into it. So it's really too bad, though, y'all,

because so many years, so long, I would sit there and I would turn on the TV when I was a little kid and I would be looking forward to those moments. And you'd see the best players going after each other. And there's just not that pride anymore in going at somebody in a game that never really mattered, but it mattered to those that played it, which is what took it to a different point.

So if it's a one-on-one tournament, maybe as the newness is apparent with USA versus the world, sure, but, you know, Stefan going to be in that game. Go back to last year, LeBron was there. LeBron was like, no, I'm good. He didn't even want to stand out there and take a couple shots and throw some passes. So when you don't have the buy-in from the biggest of stars,

and that has been over and over and over again for years and years, you get to the place that they're in right now. Yeah, it frankly started with the dunk contest, Nick. You know, that was where we started to see the first opt-outs, and now we're wondering why the G-League dunker who's won it isn't even competing in it this year. That's where we've landed. it's really sad because Lila you know I just I saw a quote and it's MacKulng the guy who keeps winning it who everybody kind of rallies around in the moment and then forgets about for the

rest of the year but it's like you know he didn't want to upset the NBA guys who wanted to participate because they didn't want to go against the G league or I know the three of us have talked about this for several years now but it's what concerns me the most of somebody who makes their living off of the NBA, covering the league for as long as I have. The product itself, and this is much deeper and broader than just the All-Star game or All-Star Weekend, it's just not very good right now. The regular season NBA product is not very good. That is reality.

When you go to these games, even when the stars are playing, you're not sure how hard they're going to play. And on so many nights, you're not sure exactly. who's going to play? And when that starts to happen and you erode the trust of the public that has supported you for so long, you've got some problems. And the league has some serious problems. And guys, we're five minutes into the conversation here. We haven't even touched on the T word. We're about to. Don't you worry about that. It's through everything. But that, I mean, these are big fundamental issues that the league has. And when you have All-Star weekend and you get to a point of the schedule where everybody's going to go, oh, man, this should be a celebration.

It's not a celebration anymore. It's a reminder of the way things used to be. And it's a reminder of the current state of the game. So I'm sitting there watching this every night. And I can't tell you all how many times, even in the last couple months, being back in it day to day and I'm around the Warriors a lot, I look at my colleagues. on press row and we're looking at each other and we're like, are you, are you watching this? Like, are you looking at this? Like, people are just not going as hard as we're used to seeing.

And it's not just a one or two team thing. It's an everybody thing because there are too many games. The regular season is way too long. And you've got all the back to backs that guys either don't play in or when they do play, they aren't fully invested in the same way because they need. know, like we all know, that there are much bigger games down the stretch of the season. So there are a lot of problems right now for the league in the All-Star weekend and the dunk contest. Those are just reminders of much bigger issues. Nick Fidel is the senior writer for the

athletic covering the Golden State Warriors and the NBA, joining us here on Rahimi Harrison Grotie and Nick. That T-word, tank. A lot of teams driving one of those things, those bad boys right now. The Bulls are apparently trying to get into a brand new tank and drive their way. It's going to be a while to try to catch some of these teams that have gotten a nice head start on them. What do you make of the fines that were given out by the NBA as sort of this warning shot to both the Indiana Pacers, but more importantly, the Utah Jazz?

Marshall, at least they're trying something. I mean, 500 grand is as much as the league can go at anyone. I think what they're hoping for actually has two. different parts to it. One, that in Utah, it's so clear what they're doing that, you know, the next time Will Hardy, the coach looks down on his bench and is like, ah, maybe I shouldn't sub these guys out and attempt to let them play down the stretch of these games make it so obvious. But two, what they're hoping for is a lot of these other teams, and I know the jazz and the Pacers got dinged here, but they don't want to get that kind of

fine. And even more, they don't want the public scrutiny of, all right, well, are they really trying tonight? Is this really on the up and up? Because you're screwing with the fabric of the game. My old colleague Bobby Mark said the integrity of the game. And when you watch, that's the problem. You're just not sure what you're going to see night tonight. And Laila, you and I were at the UC for so many years watching all those Bulls games. That was never a question that popped in your head. No. It was like, all right, do they have enough tonight?

Are they running out of gas? But you never thought, is everybody giving their all? And that is what the league has become right now. So I think the NBA has some serious, serious issues. But Marshall, to your question and to the larger point, I think they're aware of them. I mean, it'd be one thing if they sat there and said, oh, no, everything's great. Let's celebrate basketball. And the regular season is awesome.

It's not. They know it. They're trying to do what they can. But the reward for tanking so far outweighs a half a million dollar fine or a slap on the wrist with some second round pick from five years from now. The league has to get way more creative in what it can do to stop it or else this is just going to continue to permeate. everything that's going on within the game. Well, how much of this, Nick, do you think is a result of the new CBA? You know, we're a little bit later into this now.

You know, this is season number two. So how much of this do you think is a result of that new deal taking a little bit of the competition element out of it? You can't trade for the same amount of players you used to be able to. You can't do as many transactions. Layla, I think you're spot on and I'd take it a step further and say the other reason that we're not seeing as much of the movement with picks or if you're trading first round picks,

you're getting back that Jaron Jackson juniors are bigger-named stars as teams don't want to mess up. All right, I've got this cap slot for a few million stretched out over the next few years. I can't mess this up unless I know I'm getting a sure thing in return. I mean, look no further than the Bulls. The league leaders in second round picks, They can't get a first round pick to save their life.

Well, there's a reason because nobody wants to give them that for any of the guys on the roster. I mean, that's a problem. So I think the cap aspect is a really good point, and it's kind of still flying under the radar because the casual fans don't understand the second aprons and all the different ramifications that have been created with this new one. But it goes to show one more time. If you have the right people in charge and they're making the right decisions, then that's front office, that is coaching staff players, but that's ownership. You have a really, really good chance to still find your way.

When you don't have that from top to bottom and you don't have everybody on the same page, well, you're going to be in big trouble. And in this case, the Bulls are in very big trouble because they are stuck in no man's land in the middle. So there are a lot of different issues with the league. But if your favorite team has the right people running the show, those issues become far less pronounced. We're talking to Nick Friedel, who is the NBA reporter covering the All-Star game. He is also there with the athletic, and now he covers the Golden State Warriors. Used to do time at the United Center, but not anymore. Nick, we always appreciate your insight.

Thank you so much, Nick. Great to be with you all. I'll talk to you soon. Nick, thanks so much. That's Nick Friedel, join us on the Circa Resort and Casino hotline, circle las Vegas.com. Coming up next year on Rahimi Harrison Grotie in his time for halftime. How would you explain the next?

Is it an opportunity for people? Is that what we're calling it? I guess it is technically an opportunity. It's real people and not real people. And the two shall commingle where? Next.