In what is quickly becoming an annual tradition, the NBA is once again changing the format of the All-Star game. After attempting a four-team, tournament-style format last year that absolutely did not work, they went back to the drawing board and determined they needed to be more like…golf?
On Wednesday, Shams Charania of ESPN reported that the NBA was adopting yet another format for the All-Star Game, this one to mimic “Ryder Cup-style” games. The league will have two squads comprised of players from the USA and one World team.
People have long been pining for a USA vs. World type of All-Star Game. The problem with that is you could be leaving off worthwhile All-Stars to shoehorn players into a specific type of format.
I suppose this is a compromise, but it’s not a good one. The problem with the All-Star Game wasn’t how the teams were comprised. It’s that this eight-player, multi-team format is just not good.
If the NBA wants to bring attention and prominence back to the All-Star Game, making it a night where multiple games are going to be played is not the solution. It’s hard enough to get the players to compete hard in one game. Asking them to do it multiple times feels like a fool’s errand.
None of that even speaks to the absolute circus that last year’s game was, with multiple long stops and way too much going on between games. Having long stoppages between games is also how you get players injured during the games, too.
The NBA needed to find a solution to their solution they tried last season. But they’re not addressing the root cause of the issue, which means this new format is just going to be a dud again.