The NBA just can’t settle on an All-Star format. The Elam Ending came and went. The East vs. West format has been axed twice now with a player draft held in between those two runs. This season, the NBA tried something new. Rather than holding a single All-Star Game, it shifted to a tournament format. Three teams of eight All-Stars competed against one another as well as a team of Rising Stars for the weekend’s crown.
That update was not well-received by fans, and on Thursday, commissioner Adam Silver made it clear that he agreed with their frustrations. “It was a miss,” Silver said at his press conference following the Board of Governors meeting. “We’re not there in terms of creating an All-Star experience we can be proud of and our players can be proud of.”
Most frustrating to viewers, as Silver acknowledged, were the lengthy stoppages both between games and, in the case of the final, in the middle of the game. There was very little flow to the action as games either ended or stopped right as they were heating up with lengthy breaks before they resumed. Part of this was due to the unique circumstances involved in the weekend, which was TNT’s last producing the All-Star festivities. A ceremony honoring their broadcasting team is what held up the final game.
NBC will take over All-Star Weekend next season as part of the league’s new national media rights deal, and that will presumably include some measure of influence over whatever format All-Star takes moving forward. Silver noted the widespread interest in a Team USA vs. Team World format, but also cited the logistical difficulties involved. Given the reality that All-Star rosters will rarely be balanced between American and foreign players, that format probably isn’t immediately viable.
But seemingly every February begins with optimism that the All-Star Game might be salvaged and ends with a renewed sense of hopelessness surrounding the event. Each change seemingly creates further indifference in both the players and the fans, and if a permanent solution isn’t found soon, All-Star Weekend might be beyond saving.
