Adam Silver: NBA may be ‘past the point’ for a competitive All-Star Game
For the most part, the NBA All-Star weekend has been a laughing stock for over the last decade–from the disappointing All-Star weekend events to a lousy, near-unwatchable All-Star game on Sunday.
Players have plenty of different media and outside obligations they must fulfill during All-Star weekend behind the scenes, which could weaken and drain them of the game itself toward the end of the weekend. The game hasn’t been competitive outside of the fourth quarter for the last several seasons, which has drained the product itself from what it used to be not even a decade ago.
NBA commissioner Adam Silver went on CNN’s “King Charles” this week and said that the league will consider changing the format once again–this time to Team USA vs. Team World. Though he also said that the league may be past having a competitive All-Star game–similar to the NFL and the Pro Bowl.
“It was a great weekend, but it wasn’t a basketball game,” Silver said. “And had I not seen what happened this year, I think we were ready to do US vs. International. I’m just wondering now–and it’s a good conversation to have–whether this generation of players, and the teams, are (complicit) too because nobody wants them to play hard at the All-Star Game; nobody wants them to get hurt — they see it as a midseason break.
“I think, maybe as opposed to trying to create a super-competitive basketball game–which I’m not sure the teams or the players really want at that moment–we should do more fun (events) … We’re going to look at US vs. International. I just think maybe we’re past that point where we’re going to play a truly competitive game. And by the way, it’s happened in other sports.”
Silver, who recently signed an extension through the end of the decade as commissioner, accepted blame for the decline of the actual product during one of the jam-packed weekends of the entire season.
“I accept responsibility as the commissioner of the league,” Silver said. “I think we should’ve known at this point for an All-Star Game — as I started to say before, the NFL Pro Bowl, [they] moved it to flag football — there’s just a recognition it’s a different time.
“I think, particularly the young players, they see it as, again, a midseason break–an opportunity to have fun, an opportunity to take a break from a very long season. We roughly have 1,300 games over the course of the year, all incredibly competitive games, and I think they see that as something different.”
You can’t fault Silver for trying to find some solution; the format has changed each of the last few seasons, including back to the East v. West format this year, to try to make the All-Star game more competitive. He even named former 13-year veteran and Boston Celtics great Larry Bird as the “honorary captain” this year with the All-Star Game in Indiana, where Bird tried to urge the players to compete. It did not work.
New York Knicks star Jalen Brunson proposed an incentive last month, suggesting the winner between the East v. West could host the NBA Finals regardless of the two teams’ records–emulating MLB’s All-Star reward for over a decade. You look across all corners of the internet and there are different ideas.
Maybe a USA v. International idea works … maybe it doesn’t. Right now, Silver’s trying to find some answers–and I don’t blame him, nor should anyone, even if none of them ultimately work because of the possible injury risk attached to the game itself.
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