Overview
- Photos and eyewitness accounts from the Rising Stars mini-tournament showed large empty sections, with some fan estimates putting the 18,000-seat arena at roughly 95% vacant as the NBA provided no official attendance figure.
- All-Star Saturday events, including the three-point and dunk contests, also appeared thinly attended, with reports that bright LED seat lighting and broadcast angles struggled to disguise the emptiness.
- Observers pointed to high ticket costs, early start times around 2 pm PT, Los Angeles traffic and the Valentine’s Day date as likely contributors to poor turnout.
- Despite the sparse in-arena crowd, the Rising Stars games were described as competitive, and Philadelphia 76ers rookie V. J. Edgecombe was named MVP.
- Separate videos from an offsite Foot Locker activation at L.A. Live showed chaotic crowd scenes and fights, compounding negative optics for the weekend.