Drastic changes were made this offseason to the struggling NBA All-Star Game. Does this make things better for the league?
The NBA made small changes to the All-Star Game last season by changing up its voting percentages. Fan voting was reduced to 50 percent while media and players each were given 25 percent of the vote. The NBA has recently announced its brand new NBA All-Star Game Format for this season’s All-Star Game which will be played in Los Angeles on February 18th.
There will be two captains who will be able to choose any player in either NBA conference. Twenty-four players will be selected overall in this upcoming All-Star Game. Out of those twenty-four; twelve from each conference will still be selected. The selection of these All-Stars is no longer dependent on fan voting. The players who get voted the most in each conference will be chosen as the team captains.
Last season, Lebron James and Steph Curry gathered the most votes out of their conference. After the captains are chosen, they will have the power to chose any of the other twenty-two All-Stars to be apart of their team. Starters will be selected first through fan voting (50 percent), player voting (25 percent), and media voting (25 percent).
The NBA has also come out and said that each team would be playing for a charity of their choosing; either Los Angeles based or any national charity which gives teams a little more motivation to win the game.
Adam Silver and The NBA have not yet released the details to how precisely the draft will work entirely, but circumstances and finalizations are soon to come.
ESPN’s Brian Windhorst first reported how Houston Rockets point guard and the NBPA president Chris Paul made a significant impact in this new format.
“I’m thrilled with what the players and the league have done to improve the All-Star Game, which has been a priority for all of us. We’re looking forward to putting on an entertaining show in L.A.,” Paul said.
The NBA All-Star Game needed some change in its format and how things will be run. The new format was the right change and was the right change. This new format gives the fans more of a game to watch.
Even though these All-Star athletes will not “competitively compete” against each other and all fans will see is wide open dunks, crazy passes, and unexpected shots but fans will be the most excited about which athletes will be one which team. Can we see LeBron James and Kevin Durant on the same team? Which All-Stars will be teammates on Feb. 18th under the Staples Center lights? The anticipation builds for All-Star Weekend.