End the NBA All-Star game

The 2024 NBA All-Star game ended with a bloated score of 211-186 with the East defeating the West, and many have said that the NBA needs to either make major changes or eliminate the game in general.

The term ‘load management’ has been used especially amongst the game stars to rest when necessary even if it means some fans don’t get to see a once-in-a-lifetime chance to see LeBron James.

The All-Star game has changed so much in the last 30 years. In comparison, the 1994 NBA All-Star game ended with the East beating the West 127-118.

The game has changed dramatically in the last quarter century but the players are just playing basketball like they would as a kid on their driveway at home as many NBA players can still recall those moments to this day.

The NBA is still sticking to this antiquated model under the belief that fans will watch and get extremely involved while watching the game from home. Many NBA fans prefer games where it is almost guaranteed that both teams will score 100 plus but to see any game where one team scores 200 looks really bad for the NBA.

It makes sense that stars in this game play with a different mindset vs. a regular season game. In general, All-Star games have become a liability for professional sports, everyone knows what to expect when watching these games and for the sake of the players, they have bigger plans than just a ceremonial game that means nothing and has turned off fans for years.

For the benefit of the players, making Steph Curry and Jayson Tatum play an extra game with no meaning could be better served by giving them rest and helping them perform better as the playoff push intensifies.

Instead, the NBA should continue doing what it did this year by embracing the WNBA-NBA crossover. Curry, the NBA all-time leader in three-pointers and Sabrina Ionescu, the single-season 3-point record holder, competed against each other in a 3-point shooting contest.

“This was so authentic for the both of us to be here,” Ionescu said, via ESPN. “Obviously very thankful to kind of make this dream that we both had a possibility, and knowing that it’s changed the landscape of how people are going to view what we’re doing, and we’re very excited to see what the future has to hold with more people having the opportunity to do stuff like this.”

Curry edged Ionescu 29-26 where Ionescu took her shots from the NBA 3-point line, which is different than the WNBA line. This competition was separate from the traditional 3-point shooting contest.

Most NBA fans would prefer watching the game’s best stars play in a game that matters such as for playoff positioning. The intensity of a game with every player being an all-star isn’t quite what a March regular season game resembles.

The NFL eliminated the Pro Bowl recently and replaced that weekend with skills competitions and the NBA would be wise to follow in their footsteps. The best way to recruit young people to pursue dreams of playing in the NBA is to have skills competitions such as dribbling contests. Most fans don’t see what NBA players do to make it to the association and more people would be impressed by players dribbling the ball behind their back or between their legs rather than play an extra game just for being a superstar and being voted in.

Altering the NBA playoff format

Daryl Morey, the 76ers team president wants the NBA playoffs to be a single-elimination and a reduced regular season.

"I like 58 games"@dmorey tells @ColinCowherd how to shorten the NBA season. pic.twitter.com/tABnSntRsO

— The Volume (@TheVolumeSports) February 17, 2022

NBC revealed that over 100 million people watched Super Bowl 56, and 11 million more streamed the big game between the Rams and Bengals. If you compare the championship clinching game of last year’s NBA finals, the NBA had about 10 percent of the NFL’s ratings.

The NBA imposed a play-in tournament where 4 teams play for 2 spots to the playoffs to face the top 6 seeds in each conference and that idea raises the stakes of win and advance or lose and go home for the summer.

AP Photo/Chris Szagola

In the MLB playoffs, there is a somewhat similar structure to the playoff series but with one fewer round, but all of the rounds end within a week. The playoffs last a month at the longest, where the NBA playoffs start on April 16 and including the finals series would take 2 months to complete. If this year’s finals series were to go 7 games, that would last two weeks looking at this year’s schedule. The NBA finals starts on June 2 and if it goes the distance, the series won’t end until the 19th.

Morey has a point, the fans tend to lose interest if it is not their team in the finals or championship series and a 7 game series seemingly never ends. It can be hard to keep up with all of the off days sandwiched in between games. I understand having extra days off when traveling from one city to another but why should a NO. 1 seed have to win 4 games against a NO. 8 seed in the first round when it is fair to assume the NO. 1 seed will advance? Why not save an extra game for the Phoenix Suns for when the competition starts to get even stiffer assuming they make it to the conference finals?

I understand the reason why the first round to the finals series is a best-of-seven but these games are absolutely grueling for the players, and for the teams that get in through the play in tournament. If the NBA wants to increase viewership in the playoffs, they should reduce the first round to 5 games at the bare minimum.

One-and-done is a stretch too far, but you could make the first round after the play-in tournament a best-of-3 and more fans would watch knowing that there is a sense of urgency to win now and not a week later.

Age limit debate in the NBA

A number of the NBA’s best stars made their debuts as teenagers, including but not limited to LeBron James (2003) and Kobe Bryant (1996). Effective by the 2006 NBA draft, the age limit was raised from 18 to 19 because some believed that potential participants out of high school were not ready for the big stage and the level of maturity at that age.

Shortly after becoming commissioner in early 2014, Adam Silver has made it clear that he wants the NBA to raise the age eligibility rule from 19 to 20.

“I’ve been a proponent of raising the age from 19 to 20 because I think it would make for a better league,” Silver said at the league’s office in a conference with sports editors back in April 2014. “I believe and continue to believe it will be in the best interest of the league. I think that the extra year in college will be a benefit for these young men to grow and develop as people and basketball players.”

However, the NBA players association says this not an idea they would support.

On NBA Age Limit: "Raising the age limit is not something we are willing to consider." NBPA COO Domonique Foxworth #SLAC15

— Liz Mullen (@SBJLizMullen) May 16, 2015

A couple reasons why some argue it is a bad idea to have the minimum age at 20 is because future draft picks may not have a say in whether one ends up being drafted or not.

Second, raising the age can and often does tamp down stars salaries. The NBA salary structure is based on when one signs with a team and their service in the league. The very best stars are restricted to a quarter of the teams salary until one has been in the league for at least 7 years. Then, most if not all of the players can sign contracts that is at 30% of their teams salary cap.

Steve Kerr, who is now the coach of the world champion Golden State Warriors believes that franchises should not have the burden to develop a player that at one time colleges could assume that role for them. Back in the 1980’s, a number of the sports greatest athletes took at least a few years before taking more prominent roles with their respective teams. They include, Michael Jordan, Larry Bird and Magic Johnson and Kerr has a solid point, the likes of Jordan weren’t rushed into the league even when there may have been doubt whether he can have an immediate impact.

At the end of the day, it is understandable that a player like Derrick Rose would feel he is ready for the NBA draft after just one season at the University of Memphis after all he accomplished both at Memphis and in high school. He was drafted by the Chicago Bulls in 2008 having attended high school in Chicago, and while he won the MVP award in the 2010-11 season, since then, he has suffered from injuries that have made it difficult for him to stay on the court.

While there are similarities between high school, college and the NBA, there are many differences. One of the biggest differences between high school and the NBA is that there are many more games in the NBA and many players who have been in college for just one season are not ready to make that jump in such a short period of time. Another difference is that a player like Rose, when he debuted had to compete against veterans right off the bat and many veterans are able to expose their weaknesses.

While I did not watch much of Derrick Rose’s career in high school, he did make mistakes but those mistakes made in high school are magnified in the NBA and that is part of the reason why he has not fully lived up to his potential.

If he wasn’t going to finish college, it would have been highly recommended that Rose spend a year or two in the D-League. The D-League is the NBA’s version of the minor leagues and one of the problems with making the quick jump from high school to the NBA is that most coaches at the high school level have no experience with coaching in the NBA, whether as a head coach or assistant.

The game from a strategic point of view is much different in high school than in the NBA. In order to have success at the highest level of basketball, one must have the strategic parts of the NBA game implanted into their minds. One of if not the only way to ensure that is to require that players right out of high school spend at least two seasons in college and one season in the NBA D-League.

Emotions tend to get the best of high school basketball players because many of them feel like they are on top of the world during those years. Most athletes in whatever sport when in high school do not look at the big picture and tend to feel over confident as they make the attempt to ascend. The sport is extremely competitive and for some reason, some are not made out to succeed at the highest level of basketball. Its time for once to make high school basketball players and athletes in general do some more critical thinking and self assessing themselves, something that has been lacking for some time. This starts with the people who are responsible for guiding them through the best of times and the worst of times.

Proposed new playoff format

In nearly a 10 year span, 3 of the 4 major sports have had a change in commissioners and a trend has been noticed and that is, testing new ideas. This week I wrote about MLB commissioner Rob Manfred talking about changing the non-waiver trade deadline. Next in line is NBA commissioner Adam Silver.

NBA moving forward w/plan to seed conference playoff teams 1-8 regardless of division winner starting in 15-16, per high-ranking NBA exec.

— Jeff Zillgitt (@JeffZillgitt) June 25, 2015

Winning a division guaranteed a top 4 playoff seed but that will not necessarily be enough to get in the playoffs. This past season, the Portland Trailblazers won the Northwest division and had the No. 4 seed as a result. There is a caveat in this and it is that they won 51 games, which was good for 6th in an extremely competitive Western Conference. The San Antonio Spurs won 55 games and were bumped down to the 6th seed and that mean that they had to play the Los Angeles Clippers in the first round, who won one more game than the 2013-14 NBA champions. Both LA and San Antonio ranked second and third respectively in point differential but in the same round in the east, the Atlanta Hawks who won 60 games went up against a 38 win team in the Brooklyn Nets.

“That’s a flaw,” Clippers coach Doc Rivers said, via ESPN.com’s Arash Markazi. “I think the divisions are important. They’re nice to have. They’re nice to be celebrated, for some and some not, but I don’t know if they should be celebrated as far as in the standings.”

This past season, the Boston Celtics, 40-42 and the Brooklyn Nets 38-44 made it into the circus but were eliminated in relatively short order in the first round.

Year-By-Year Look at West’s No. 9 Seed vs. East’s No. 8

Season	West’s 9th Seed	Wins	East’s 8th Seed	Wins
2014-15	OKC Thunder	45	Brooklyn Nets	38
2013-14	Phoenix Suns	48	Atlanta Hawks	38
2012-13	Utah Jazz	43	Milwaukee Bucks	38
2011-12	Houston Rockets	34	Philadelphia 76ers	35
2010-11	Houston Rockets	43	Indiana Pacers	37
2009-10	Houston Rockets	42	Chicago Bulls	41
2008-09	Phoenix Suns	46	Detroit Pistons	39
2007-08	GS Warriors	48	Atlanta Hawks	37
2006-07	LA Clippers	40	Orlando Magic	40
2005-06	Utah Jazz	41	Milwaukee Bucks	40

Basketball-Reference.com

What does this tell us? In the eastern conference, it only takes 39 wins to make it to the playoffs whereas if a western conference team wins 4 more games, that is not enough to make it to the playoffs. Note: the 2011-12 season was shortened due to a partial strike and there were 66 regular season games played.

Of course, this is just a proposal and as of now has not received approval from the appropriate folks.

This is a good start in improving a flawed playoff system but there will have to be more changes made in the future because this is just the first step. As any NBA fan will attest to, the western conference is much better than the east and the east will not be thrilled about more playoff revenue headed to the western conference.

In the past, when a team who wins 58, 59 games would play out a few of the games in the latter part of the season like it means nothing. As a result, games 80, 81, and 82 will be many teams playoffs and these games will actually mean something instead of which team will get the third or fourth seed. Seeing an extension of what could be a preview of the playoffs to come can increase the suspense level during the latter days of the regular season instead of people with the tendency to tune out in game 82. If not, fans who go to a game 82 would not see stars like James Harden and Stephen Curry play as often but relatively unknown players that fans are not too aware of.

It will take some time to adapt to this change but if approved, we will not see a team who is under .500 and still makes it to the postseason, that is my biggest issue with the current system. We know that a team like the Nets are an automatic first round exit but the first round could be more difficult to predict.

The contract controversy

DeAndre Jordan verbally agreed to a maximum 4-year contract with the Dallas Mavericks but had a sudden change of heart and re-signed with the LA Clippers last Thursday. The contract is reportedly worth an estimated $88 million, sources informed ESPN and Jordan can opt out after 3 years.

According to Dwain Price of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, it was not Chris Paul, Blake Griffin, Steve Ballmer or even Clippers head coach Doc Rivers who convinced Jordan to stay in southern California.

A source said he believes Doc Rivers' daughter, Callie, got to DeAndre Jordan and convinced him 2 change his mind and return 2 the Clippers.

— Dwain Price (@DwainPrice) July 13, 2015

Jordan agreed to the deal on July 3 but a few days later, had second thoughts after Clippers officials flew to his home in Houston to lobby him out of the deal and a few hours later, he bowed to pressure and re-signed with the Clippers.

While Jordan previously agreed to return to his home state of Texas, according to David Aldridge, there were some issues at hand.

League rules, though, are clear: teams and players can not enter into oral agreements during the moratorium. They can only discuss terms.

— David Aldridge (@davidaldridgedc) July 8, 2015

The Sporting News’ Sean Deveney explains the significance behind Jordan returning to the Clippers.

Kevin Blackistone of The Washington Post mentions how he has been called a coward with Chandler Parsons leading the way. “When a man gives you his word and an organization his word, especially when that organization put in so much effort and I walked him through this process and was very, very open and willing to work with him,” Chandler Parsons, a would-be teammate in Dallas, lamented to ESPN.com, “it’s just very unethical and disrespectful.”

Blackistone argues that Jordan had “buyers remorse” and continues by saying, that who doesn’t?

Jordan did not rush to make a decision he argues and some will argue that is what is necessary when making a critical decision like this.

Mavericks owner Mark Cuban told Brian Windhorst of ESPN, “I’m going to bring it up to the league that we really do have to re-evaluate the issue of player tampering,” Cuban said. His statement continued, “Who knows what will happen? But I have to suggest it to them because there has to be more definitive rules.”

Former NBA executive Stu Jackson tweeted that some changes may be forthcoming.

Change to the moratorium system is imminent 8-9 days is too long and process could move back. Diff in BRI is minimal https://t.co/RN7fW574cu

— Stu Jackson (@StuJackson32) July 9, 2015

Jackson was the NBA’s executive vice president from 2007 to 2013, he was in charge of scheduling, game rules, conduct and discipline, as well as overseeing NBA Basketball Operations-International. In an question and answer session with The Dallas Morning News, Jackson said that Jordan did not break the rules but added of an ethical dilemma and added he should have thought twice before committing.

Cuban was fined $25,000 for commenting about the team’s agreement with Jordan and Wesley Matthews, who came from the Portland Trailblazers.

This week the NBA’s Board of Governors are meeting in Las Vegas.

I am not the biggest fan of Mark Cuban but I agree with him on this issue. Yes the signing period had not begun when Jordan changed his mind but if he knew he was going to have second thoughts, shouldn’t Jordan have announced, my decision will be put on hold. I’m not convinced that a rule change should be in order but in order for situations like this to be avoided, it is up to the individual to be 100% sure he wants to move from one city to another. It wouldn’t be the worst thing if Jordan waited 4-5 extra days to make a decision.