NBA Rumors: All-Star Game Format Could Lose Player Draft, Return to East vs. West

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What’s old may be new again for the NBA.

According to Shams Charania and Mike Vorkunov of The Athletic, the league is considering returning the All-Star Game format to one between the best players of the Eastern Conference and Western Conference as soon as the 2023-24 season.

The idea has been discussed at recent board of governor and general manager meetings as the NBA and NBPA attempt to make the game more competitive.

While the NBA All-Star Game has reached the point where there is little defense played until the closing stretch, the player draft that is currently in place was a way to generate fan interest.

The current system features the players from each conference who received the most fan votes as the two captains. They then draft from a pool of starters and reserves to form their team regardless of conference affiliation.

There was a notable change this year when LeBron James and Giannis Antetokounmpo chose their teams as captains right before tipoff in a televised event.

It took on the feel of a playground game where the sides were chosen and they jumped right into play, and it created the opportunity for some trash talk and entertaining television before the actual game.

Sometimes teammates such as Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown of the Boston Celtics even face each other in the current format when they are drafted to different sides, which creates entertaining moments when they guard each other.

Changing the All-Star Game format in the name of competitiveness is nothing new.

The league currently uses a format that features no game clock in the fourth quarter as the two teams play to a target score that is 24 points more than the leading side’s cumulative score through three quarters. The number 24 was chosen in honor of Kobe Bryant, who wore that number in the second half of his career.

Perhaps returning to the old format will lead to some competitiveness with conference pride on the line, but there were similar complaints about lack of competitiveness during the last East vs. West game in 2017.