After the last NBA All-Star game ended with the result 192-182 in favor of the West, it became evident that something needed to be done to make the games more exciting. Players didn’t play any defense and everyone show 3 pointers. This is why the National Basketball Association announced on Tuesday that the next All-Star game will be played under the new format.
Starting from 2018 All-Star game, there will be no traditional matchup between Eastern and Western Conference. Instead, the two players who get the most fan votes will be named captains of the teams and get a chance to select the players regardless of the conference. One other major change is that the 2018 All-Star game will be played for charity. Each team will get to select a Los Angeles area based charity or national organization where donations will be used to support local efforts.
There will be still 12 players selected from each conference, 5 of them as starters. The fan vote will be worth 50%, media vote 25% and players vote 25%. The head coaches of the teams will get to choose 7 reserves. The draft details will be announced later this year. All-Star Game starters and captains will be known on Jan. 18 and the reserves will be unveiled on Jan. 23. The All-Star voting will begin on Christmas morning. The 67th All-Star Game will be played at Staples Center on Feb. 18.
This move made by NBA shouldn’t come as any surprise. Besides lack of players’ effort, one could argue that asides LeBron James, there are only a handful of NBA superstars left in the Eastern Conference. Paul George, Carmelo Anthony, Jimmy Butler and Paul Millsap all left the Eastern Conference teams and are now playing in the Western Conference. Although there will still be an even number of players from the each conference, at least both teams competing in the All-Star game will now be competitive. Because, let’s face it, if the old format remained, it wouldn’t be even close.
