2018 was the first year in which the NBA utilized the new “draft” format for the All-Star Game. The new format saw LeBron James and Stephen Curry draft their teams as captains, which was pretty cool. It would have been a lot cooler, however, if fans, media and other players could have watched Curry and James draft their teams on live television. There’s a solid argument to be made that there’s a lot more intrigue in the order of the draft picks than in the All-Star Game itself.
Good news – NBA commissioner Adam Silver tells ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne that he expects the 2019 NBA All-Star draft to be televised:
“When we sat with the union and we came up with this format, we all agreed, let’s not turn something that’s 100 percent positive into a potential negative to any player,” Silver said. “But then … maybe we’re overly conservative, because then we came out of there, and the players were, ‘We can take it. We’re All-Stars. Let’s have a draft.’ So it sounds like we’re going to have a televised draft next year.”
Silver also expressed how pleased he was with this year’s All-Star Game, in which Team LeBron took down Team Stephen 148-145:
“I thought it was incredible. I can’t tell you how appreciative I am of the players.”
