Back in the days of Magic Johnson and Larry Bird to the Michael Jordan era and even the Shaquille O’Neal-Kobe Bryant duo, the NBA All-Star Game was must-see TV, with fans tuning in all over the world to see a competitive game of basketball between the best players in the league.
In 2023, that no longer seems to be the case, with players caring less and less about the annual event while putting in no effort during the game, making for bad TV and bad ratings for the NBA.
It seems as though every year, the league tries to figure out a way to make the All-Star game more entertaining or, at this point, just watchable, and another change is being considered on Friday.
According to Shams Charania of The Athletic, the league is considering changing the format once again, with it going back to the best of the Eastern Conference going up against the best of the Western Conference.
The NBA is considering changing the All-Star Game format from the current Player Draft to Eastern vs. Western conference, among other concepts, sources tell me and @MikeVorkunov. It has been topic of discussion at recent Board of Governor and GM meetings after this year’s ASG.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) May 19, 2023
This change would change it back to what it was, but that won’t necessarily change the level of play during the game or motivate players to want to play.
The league’s biggest problem is that it has become so conditioned to players resting and load management rather than giving it their all every time they stepped on the floor like in the past.
It remains to be seen if the league will ever be able to get back to where it was with the NBA All-Star Game, but at least they’re trying to fix what has become an unwatchable event.
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