The NBA Is Creating A New 4 Team Tournament Style All Star Game In Hopes That The Players Will Finally Give A Shit
David Dow. Getty Images.If there's one thing I think most NBA fans can agree on, it's that All Star Weekend is a broken product. Nobody gives a shit about the Celebrity Game, the Skills Challenge mostly stinks now, the Dunk Contest seems to get worse and worse as the years go on, and then the actual All-Star Game itself has turned into 2 hours of cardio. Remember how pissed Adam Silver was at the end of last year's game? Passive aggressive like you read about
It's safe to say that going back to the drawing board when it comes to this event wouldn't be the worst idea in the world.
If there's one thing to remember about Adam Silver when it comes to this stuff, it's that he's willing to get nuts. For all the league's faults, you can't say Silver hasn't tried new shit. The Play In has turned out to be a "win" in my opinion in terms of a new idea, the NBA Cup….well…we're still TBD on that, and now we have a new idea from Silver and the league in terms of fixing the All Star Game
The NBA's new four-team tournament-style format for the 2025 All-Star Game is expected to have two semifinal games played up to 40 points, with the winners advancing to the finals match up to 25 points, sources told ESPN.
The first-of-its-kind event is expected to serve as a quick-burst competition that resembles pickup games where the winner moves to the championship round in single-elimination play.
Sources told ESPN last week that the NBA was in serious discussions to have three All-Star teams of eight players each and the winner of the Rising Stars game take part in an All-Star Game tournament.
The four teams would face each other in matchups -- for instance, Team 1 versus Team 3 and Team 2 versus Team 4 -- and the winners move on to the final round.League officials discussed the new format last Friday with the competition committee consisting of governors, team executives, players, coaches and union personnel, sources said.
Alright Adam……you have my attention. Does it seem like Silver has a bit of a hard on recently for tournament-style play? Kind of, but that doesn't exactly mean this is a bad idea. We've reached the point where I'll take any sort of idea or plan that in theory gives us a better viewing experience during this fake game, so I say why not?
While it's an interesting idea, my only question is how does this solve the bigger issue which is players not giving a shit and not taking the game seriously? Isn't it entirely possible for players to mail in these "tournament" games as opposed to just mailing in the normal game? I'm not so sure the issue is that the games are too long or that there is only one of them, but what do I know?
There wouldn't exactly be a need to "save" the All Star Game with a fancy new idea if the players simply took it even remotely seriously. I don't think anyone wants to see a guy get hurt for going too hard in a fake game, but there's definitely a balance between trying and then what we got last year. I don't need you to play like it's Game 7 of the NBA Finals, but it would be nice to give even the smallest amount of effort.
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Maybe it's because I'm an old now, but I honestly think all you need to do is go back to the classics. East vs West, players get to wear their own jerseys, you know, like the good old days. Enough of this captains/picking rosters bullshit or fake tournament gimmicks. Just bring us back to this
Andy Hayt. Getty Images.
Getty Images.
Andrew D. Bernstein. Getty Images.Considering the All Star jerseys seem to be getting worse and worse, why not go back to something like this? I get it, money is almost always the answer, but who the hell is buying All Star jerseys given how dogshit they are now? Why not just have the normal jerseys with an All Star patch or something? Boom, you'll still sell a shit ton if not more. You can have that piece of advice for free Adam, you're welcome.
So while I'm skeptical of this new idea, I'll give it a chance. Maybe it works, maybe it's a disaster and they have to go back to the drawing board. I'm not sure it solves any of the real issues when it comes to the All Star Game, but I guess we'll see.