In the wake of the biggest All-star snub in NBA history (Damian Lillard), commissioner of the NBA Adam Silver said he is now open to expanding the NBA All-Star roster.
According to Marc Stein of ESPN.com:
[…] Silver told ?the “NBA Lockdown: Insiders” show Sunday night that he intends to broach the subject [of increasing the size of All-Star rosters] in the near future with new Players Association executive director Michele Roberts.
Asked to reflect on what he would remember most about his first year as commissioner, with Sunday marking exactly one since he replaced David Stern, Silver said: “That I had to decide between DeMarcus Cousins and Damian Lillard. I didn’t like having to make that choice. I wish I had another slot for Damian because I think he’s deserving of being an All-Star as well.? […]
Asked specifically about expanding the rosters in the respective conferences to 13 or even 15 players, Silver said: ?”I think that’s something that will get very strong consideration. I think that’s an issue that we’ll end up discussing with the Players Association. It has a direct impact on many of the player’s bonuses. There’s preset bonuses in their contracts for making the All-Star team. I think counter-balancing that is the issue of playing time. [NBA executive vice president] Rod Thorn and I were having this discussion yesterday. We said we should move to [Kentucky coach John] Calipari’s platoon system for All-Star to make sure that everyone gets [enough] playing time.
“In all seriousness, that’s one of the concerns with a larger team. We want to make sure guys get minutes as well if they’re All-Stars. I’m in favor of expanding it. I’m not sure if it’s by one or two [roster spots], but it is something Michele Roberts and I will discuss.”
Adam Silver has been very open to a lot of ideas, and he has definitely not been afraid to voice his opinion as the commissioner. In my opinion, a 15 man roster is definitely a good possibility but there are so many drawbacks to that, such as playing time, and too many players. The roster does need to be increased and as mentioned in numerous Def Pen articles the voting system MUST be changed. We can not have people like Kobe Bryant and Dwyane Wade making it over more deserving players such as James Harden and Kyle Lowry. It’s ridiculous. The voting and the overall All-Star roster limit has to change. Adam Silver is definitely looking to fans and other NBA executives to see what they think, before making his decision, but I believe Adam Silver will do the right thing.
