Adam Silver is looking into making the game a world competition. But some think this idea is terrible.
Look, the NBA All-Star game has not been great over the past few years.
All-Stars don’t compete in it anymore and they view the game more like a friendly scrimmage.
The NBA commissioner, Adam Silver, has tried out a bunch of things to improve the game, such as implementing a goal score in the final quarter and letting captains select their teams.
But these only worked for a short time. They only made one or two of the games more competitive.
So, what should be done to revamp the once-great All-Star game that NBA fans longed for?
I’m not entirely sure. But one suggestion Silver has in mind is making the game a U.S. vs. International game.
However, on CNN’s King Charles with Charles Barkley and Gayle King, Silver also added he thinks the game is not going to get back to its competitive nature.
Via NBC Sports:
“We are going to look at U.S. vs. international. I just think maybe we are past that point where we are going to play a truly competitive game.
“I think maybe as opposed to trying to create a super competitive basketball game, which I am not sure the teams or the players really want, we should do different things and make it a celebration of basketball.”
On paper, this sounds like a fun idea. You get to see Jokic, Luka, Shai, Sabonis and Giannis on the same team duking it out against some of the great American players.
But Gilbert Arenas absolutely hates it. And his reason for why this won’t work is valid.
On an episode of Gil’s Arena, he said that there isn’t enough All-Star level international talent to fill out a team.
“What are we talking about here? There’s 24 All-Stars right? There are 24 All-Stars and four made the game. Four. Four international players made the game. There are 20 Americans. So, if you want an All-Star game, you have to penalize 8 Americans to put in 8 Europeans who wasn’t even good enough to make the team in the first f—ken place. So how is that going to make it more competitive if you’re getting rid of 8 All-Stars to put in 8 dudes who wasn’t even good enough to make this team? When we talking about the snubs, there’s not even a Euro player complaining about being snubbed.”
Later in the conversation, Arenas added that the Europeans lack depth, in regards to basketball positions, and won’t be able to complete an All-Star team as they can only fill out a couple of the positions.
“The Euros are great in one position, two positions. It’s the power forward. They’re tall, they can pass, they can shoot. They can play the game… When you’re talking about the guards -just straight Europe, they played international only, no American style, right- you’re only talking about three players.”
So, do you agree with Arenas? Or do you think a U.S. vs. International All-Star Game would be fantastic?
Again, I don’t know. But I’m for anything that will make the beloved game more entertaining.
