Adam Silver drops massive bombshell on prospects of NBA East vs West All-Star game format

Adam Silver recently dropped a major teaser regarding the future of the NBA All-Star game. In recent years, All-Star weekend has seen players nominated from both conferences before entering a draft pool with two captains selecting teams. While the format has created opportunities for players like Giannis Antetokounmpo to team up with Steph Curry, the format may not be here to stay.

One of the most controversial aspects of the draft format is that the last player selected often winds up being the butt of jokes from fans online. Although the league has worked to combat that by having players draft their reserves in reverse order, it seems they're trying to pivot away from the All-Star draft entirely.

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver spoke about the situation this week on ESPN leading up to the start of the 2023-24 NBA season.

From the sounds of things, the Elam Ending may be here to stay, but the old-school East vs. West rivalry may be coming back.

"We're looking at some potential changes in format in Indianapolis this year, maybe a return to something more traditional in terms of how the teams are presented."

“We went to this captain, draft notion, but clearly, historically, it was East vs West. So that's something we are looking at. (…) A lot of it comes down to reinforcing with our players and our teams how important this is for the fans.”

Looking at the All-Star game format, and the hopes of Adam Silver and the NBA

As Adam Silver stated, NBA legend Joe Dumars is now the Head of Basketball Operations for the league. As such, it sounds as though he and the league are working to restore the All-Star game to its former glory.

While the new format has helped make each quarter a high-stakes affair, the level of competition has been lacking in recent years. Although fans have been eager to see the league's biggest stars compete, many give less than 100% given the low stakes.

This has resulted in backlash from fans, who have been frustrated with the All-Star game for several years now. Back in 2017, Silver spoke to media members about the league's desire to make the All-Star game more competitive, saying that there needed to be "some change".

Since then, despite the league's best efforts, they find themselves in a similar position all these years later. With the 2023-24 NBA All-Star game set to take place in Indianapolis, it will be interesting to see how Adam Silver and the NBA change things up.