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Recently, NBA Commisioner Adam Silver was on the “King Charles” show, co-hosted by Charles Barkley and Gayle King. Barkley who had previously been highly critical of NBA players taking the All-Star Game lightly, posed the same question. Barkley asked Silver if the All-Star Game could be fixed.
Alluding to how successful “Steph vs Sabrina 3-point Contest” was, Silver noted that fans are looking for pure entertainment during the All-Star break.
Silver also added that players during the break do not play seriously because they are looking to relax and give their bodies some rest.
To make the game more competitive, Adam Silver suggested that the league should think in terms of changing how the All-Star Game is played.
"We're going to look at USA vs International. I just think maybe we're past that point where we're going to play a truly competitive game."
USA vs International has been suggested by many fans and the NBA pundits. However, as far as the question of competition goes, several NBA fans disagreed with Adam Silver.
Alluding to Silver saying that the All-Star Game is beyond being competitive, one of the fans wrote:
“Bro gave up on national tv.”
Another fan pointed out that Nikola Jokic and Luka Doncic were All-Star players as well. Given they are also international, the plan wouldn’t work.
“This makes no sense considering Jokic and Doncic treat All Star weekend like it’s a joke. Changing it to USA vs International won’t solve that problem.”
Here are some more reactions from fans on X/Twitter.
Adam Silver opens up on the reasoning behind new 65-game rule
Ahead of the 2023-24 season, the NBA under Adam Silver, introduced the 65-game rule. The rule required players to play at least 63 games with at least 20 minutes and two games with at least 15 minutes to qualify for end-season awards.
Playing less than 65 games would disqualify players from making All-NBA Teams, All-NBA Defensive Team, MIP, Sixth Man of The Year and MVP awards.
The rule saw Joel Embiid being disqualified from the MVP race, Donovan Mitchell disqualified from All-NBA Teams. Notably, the league brought in the rule to handle the increasing cases of load management. Even Adam Silver admitted to the problem of load management.
"There wasn't a lot of dispute about the fact that load management was not working well for this league."
When Silver was asked about the reception of the new rule, he said that it had been largely positive.
"Generally, it's been positive," Silver said. "Just take the pool of All-Star players. And if you looked at the number of games to date that they have played last season, essentially to the All-Star, and compare it to this season, it's up significantly."
The NBA Commissioner also added that the league did thorough research on the impact of 65-game implementation before it was introduced in the league.
While it cannot be denied that the rule has increased players’ participation, it can also not be denied that several All-Star level players would miss awards and nominations due to the rule.
Guess the Lakers players!
