The NBA is considering changing the format for the All-Star Game that will be played in San Francisco later this season, Commissioner Adam Silver said Saturday night.
Silver, speaking before the Miami-Washington game in Mexico City, has wanted a more competitive All-Star event for some time. The Eastern Conference beat the Western Conference 211-186 last season, combining for the most points in the game’s 73-year history and marking the first time a team eclipsed 200 points.
“We’re looking at other formats,” Silver said without specifying what may change. “I think there’s no doubt that the players were disappointed as well in last year’s All-Star Game. We all want to do a better job providing competition and entertainment for our fans.”
Silver added that the league is looking at making the All-Star Game “not a traditional game format,” but stopped short of saying what that could mean.
The league has tinkered with the All-Star formula several times in recent years. Among the attempts were scrapping the longstanding East vs. West format for a draft picked by team captains and going to an untimed fourth quarter with a target score to ensure that the game must end on a made shot.
Last year’s game went back to the traditional format — four full 12-minute quarters, East vs. West. And it was nothing but an offensive showcase, with the teams combining for 168 3-point attempts and nearly 400 points.
“Obviously, it wasn’t high intensity, at all,” Indiana’s Tyrese Haliburton said after the game in Indianapolis, where five players scored at least 30 points, and Karl-Anthony Towns scored 50 on 35 shots off the bench.
Silver said with the game being in San Francisco, he’s enlisted Golden State star Stephen Curry to help figure out a way to make the All-Star Game more competitive this season. Any changes would almost certainly have to involve the leadership of the National Basketball Players Association as well.
“It’s a home game for him,” Silver said, adding that he’s had “direct conversations” with Curry on the topic. “I know he’s very prideful and wants to make sure the players put their best foot forward.”
Curry said last year that players had talked “a little bit” about making the All-Star Game more competitive in some ways. The league has wanted that for some time, hoping a better All-Star contest leads to better television ratings for the game and more outside interest.
“I think everyone was disappointed in what they saw last year,” Silver said. “It wasn’t just the league. It was the players as well, the players association. I think we all did what we thought we could, thinking particularly in Indiana, sort of the heartland of basketball, we would see a more competitive game.”
Silver also pointed out that nobody expects the All-Star Game to have playoff-type intensity. He said league executives Byron Spruell, Joe Dumars and Evan Wasch have formed a committee to talk to team representatives and the players association to try and find a solution.
“We want to do something that will excite the fans and also excite the players, so it’s something they’ll be enthusiastic about playing in,” Silver said.
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