Fixing the NBA All-Star Game... Again

 The NBA's All-Star festivities have come and gone. As we regroup to return to regular season play, we find ourselves in a familiar place. Sunday's game left far more to be desired. It felt like a return to past all-star games where the players didn't take it seriously. If we're being honest, this should be expected. As good as the previous few games went from 2020 to 2022, they depended on the players and their teams being willing to risk injury to deliver the fans a real show.

The ultimate goal for all NBA teams and their players is to win the world championship. Considering the grind of an 82-game regular season and four rounds of playoff basketball, the all-star game feels like a lesser factor. The reality is that, though entertaining and memorable, it would be detrimental for the players to go full out in a game that ultimately serves no purpose beyond fan service. To that point, we saw these imperatives play out during the game. Both team captains, LeBron James and Giannis Antetokounmpo, ended their nights early to nurse their respective hand injuries. That's all fair game, but it shows how risky it is to exert a strong effort in this inconsequential exhibition.

Despite the disappointing final product, the night had its share of remarkable moments. The live player draft went better than I expected it to. Jayson Tatum won his first ASG MVP award with his record-setting 55-point performance. And the league honored LeBron James for becoming the all-time leading scorer in NBA history at the half. While all that was nice to see, it all comes down to the game itself. As the night's main event, it was bound to leave the biggest impression.

Team LeBron's head coach, Michael Malone, called it "the worst basketball game ever played." Celtics all-star, Jaylen Brown, referred to it as "a glorified layup line." At one point, players were just chucking up shots near halfcourt for the sake of it. There was practically no defense played all night. All in all, just a poor display from the supposed best players in the league. But what do you expect?

The only way for this to change permanently would be to incentivize these stars and their teams. But how do you do that without coming off as greedy? The league already asks so much from the players. There has to be something in place to insure them. 

Here is what I'd propose: a return to the East vs. West structure, with the added incentive that the winning conference would earn their champion homecourt advantage in the NBA Finals. In addition, I'd shift the lineup structure as well. The game would go by with three 10-minute quarters of 4v4 gameplay, with a different group each run, granting all elected all-stars equal runtime on the floor. By the fourth, the coaches' selection of the five best performers on each side would run the final stretch in a game to 24 (added to the leading team's score as the target number per the current all-star format). 

In this way, players would be incentivized to play harder in a limited time to earn their conference a competitive advantage on the biggest stage. Whether or not this would work depends entirely on the players' willingness to compete. Incentives can only do so much to deliver the change we fans seek. One thing is for sure, however. Something has to change.