It’s not a secret that the NBA All-Star Game is not the most competitive matchup between elite athletes. The contest is hardly one at all; instead, it is an exhibition where players can enjoy scoring at will without much resistance.
While that is presumably enjoyable for the players, it does not make for great entertainment for the TV market. We have heard a lot about the league needing to make changes to one of the league’s showcase events with none actually being applied.
However, it appears as though there may be some legitimate traction on some changes. Adam Silver spoke at the annual Sloan Conference, bringing to light conversations he’s had with Chris Paul about changing up the format of the All-Star Game.
Following via Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN:
“Chris said, ‘We need to fix this,'” Silver said while speaking on a panel with FiveThirtyEight’s Nate Silver at the MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference. “There is kind of a group-think notion out there that when you have general managers and coaches in essence saying, ‘Go easy, don’t forget this is just for fun.’
“I just think this is one where we just have to reset,” Silver continued. “Chris’ suggestion was let’s get back with maybe the same group we negotiated the collective bargaining, Michael Jordan on the owners’ side, Jeanie Buss, Wyc Grousbeck, James Jones, Kyle Korver and LeBron [James] and others, let’s all get back together and figure out a way to do this.”
Silver also brought up a couple of potential ideas to add quirks to the game:
“It is an All-Star Game, and you are out there to have fun,” Silver said. “You hear people talking about 4-point shots, something that’s not about to happen in the NBA but maybe in an All-Star Game; maybe there is few spots on the floor where it is a 4-point shot, maybe there’s a half-court shot in the last minute that is 10 points. I don’t know. Maybe those are crazy ideas.
“I encourage people [to email] [email protected],” Silver added. “We will change it by next year. It shouldn’t be playoff intensity, but the guys should be playing.”
I personally think the schoolyard rule of having team captains choose their teams would be phenomenal. It would add a little bit of a rivalry between the teams and make some players perform with more of a chip on their shoulders. Of course, that’s strictly a hypothetical situation.
I don’t think the All-Star Game is broken. It’s not entertaining because the whole idea of it is an exhibition. You don’t want players to get hurt in a meaningless contest. If Adam Silver and the NBA can add some entertainment value then they should go for it, but I truly don’t believe it is a significant issue.
