Anna Dorsey | Staff Illustrator

I remember a time when I looked forward to the NBA All-Star Game. I was six years old, and the idea of seeing legends like Kobe, Melo, and LeBron share the court (alongside the Knicks’ very own David Lee) was mind-boggling. I remember anticipating the event for a week, but I was surprised when my dad told me he had a dinner scheduled during the game. 

“How can a real fan of basketball miss the All-Star Game?” I asked. He quickly responded, “It’s not real basketball.”

I didn’t know what he meant at the time, but not long after tip-off, I was debating switching back to SpongeBob. It was a glorified shootaround, with players chucking up uncontested logo threes on offense and turning in their best James Harden impressions on defense. It seemed as if most of the players didn’t even want to be there. While a 6-year-old me had more interest in seeing half-court shots than I do now, I was still massively disappointed. How could a basketball game with the best players in the world be so unwatchable?

The game has only gotten worse as time has gone by, and while it’s admirable that commissioner Adam Silver has tried to liven up the event with changes, nothing has worked. The league has assigned the best players to draft teams, added the Elam ending (where a set target score replaces the timed fourth quarter), and in this year’s edition, organized a four-team tournament, with no real improvements seen. That brings us to a difficult question: how can the All-Star Game be saved?

It’s really a question of what motivates an NBA player. You can incentivize a player with a monetary reward, but that’s a difficult proposition when some players have contracts totaling over $300 million. After the success of the NHL’s 4 Nations Face-Off, reporters have thrown out the idea of having the best international players team up against the American All-Stars, but I’m not sure if there’d be enough pride on either side to change things. There’d also be a logistical issue, as only six international players were elected this year.

What players care most about is winning meaningful games. It’s why there are effort concerns in the first place: players would prefer to rest during All-Star Weekend so that they can be fresh for the remainder of the season, helping their team win. So the first thing the NBA has to do is to meet them on their level and concede to their biggest stars.

As it’s currently laid out, the length of the NBA All-Star break is six days for most players, with no games being played from Friday through Tuesday and only one scheduled on Wednesday. With the All-Star Game being played on Sunday night, this means participants have at most a three-day stretch with no games played. For a league that’s been littered with minor injuries and load management concerns, that just isn’t long enough.

Instead, the break should last at least another three days, with games resuming on the following Sunday. Not only does this allow players to give their maximum effort during the All-Star game, knowing they have a week of rest ahead of them, but it keeps them healthy as well. As teams are fighting for playoff positioning, more rest means we are able to see the best players more often.

However, extending the break only solves half of the problem. In order to get players to truly buy in, you need to give a reward to the winning team. As we went over earlier, players care most about their success in real games, so the prize should reflect that. So why not return to the East v. West format and take a page out of the MLB’s book, having the winning side receive home-court advantage in the NBA Finals.

If you want players to give their all in the All-Star game, defending for 94 feet and diving for loose balls, this is the way to do it. Excluding the few All-Stars each season who know they’ll be in Cancun by May, there’d be no excuse for a lack of effort. The pinnacle of a basketball career is winning a title, and if trying hard in a February game gets a player closer to achieving their lifelong dream in June, you can bet players will show up.

Now, some basketball purists may argue that it’s not right for an exhibition game to impact playoff results, and the team’s regular season record should be the only factor. It’s a fair argument, but isn’t it also true that one conference is usually stronger than the other? Totaling 60 wins and making the finals has been much harder for Western conference teams in recent years, and this would be reflected in the All-Star Game. The better conference should have better All-Stars, making them more likely to receive the much-desired home-court advantage. 

In the past, Adam Silver has not been afraid to be inventive and make bold decisions, most notably by adding the in-season tournament. However, this would be his most radical change yet. Is it worth altering the NBA Playoffs in order to revive the All-Star Game?