The NBA All-Star Game is lame. But it didn't used to be.

This year's game clocked in with the lowest numbers in its history, with a painful 29% ratings drop from the previous year — and 27% fewer viewers.

The combined TV audience of 2.2 rating and 4.59 million viewers easily makes it the least watched NBA All-Star Game ever.

I mentioned earlier that the NBA All-Star Game sucks, like, objectively ... but it didn't used to. You know what I'm talking about if you're older than 20. And I think this old clip from Kobe explains exactly why:

It used to be competitive!

Kobe was a certified savage. He was cut from the same cloth as Jordan, Bird, Isaiah, Malone. They'd rather get kicked in the ... knees than lose a game, any game.

Nobody wants to watch the best players in the world goof off for 2 hours and score 7,000 points because nobody plays D.

Most of these guys playing today are Charmin soft. Methinks there's a major void right now for some savages with mindsets like Kobe and Jordan to step up and step on these new-school softies.

It only seems proper and fitting to end this article with a video of Kobe rejecting LeFlop James twice in one ASG: