Some observations. Disclaimer, I still really like Inside. They crack me up. I'm also pretty laid back and not nearly as opinionated as a lot of folks here regarding NBA takes.
I watched this whole thing because I had nothing better to do, stuck home in a snowstorm watching 2 dogs. The whole thing could not have been much worse.
-The players tried to play hard. That was the one positive of the night. They were not going 100, but they were going maybe 75, whereas in the past few years they were going 40. This was an improvement.
-They way over did the farewell to the Inside crew. The players don't care. I don't think the players even like those guys for the most part. Plus it's the middle of the season, and we all know they're going to be back on ESPN next year. I understand the Inside guys have a lot of gratitude for the behind the scenes crews and want to give them their props, but do it during the Western Conference finals when the show is truly on its way out.
-Kevin Hart. I think they brought him in so someone could emcee the Inside farewell. Brutal.
-The breaks were brutal. The cameras caught multiple players gesturing to get the TV guys off of the court so they could play. The players wanted to play. The long Inside farewell break actually caused the players to revert to old ASG tendencies once play resumed. No defense and everyone jacking up 40 footers.
-Too much Draymond. I like Draymond and find him entertaining but no one needs a 2 hour pregame show with Draymond and Jalen Rose. They really should have just let the Inside guys do the Inside thing from the arena. We do not need them at center court or on the PA doing live commentary. I liked the alternate broadcast last year with Chuck, Taylor Rooks and Draymond all talking junk to each other.
-The game itself is irrevocably broken at this point and needs to go the route of the Pro Bowl. I would like to see them move the IST to later in the season and have the Cup final game on Sunday night of AS weekend. Keep the contests on Saturday night with some added incentives to get the stars out. Maybe do the Cup semis on Friday with the Rising Stars game in between.
Overall the entire thing was pretty terrible and the presentation made it much worse because some/most of the actual basketball was a slight improvement.