Fixing the NBA All-Star Game: A Modest Proposal
The NBA All-Star game is broken. But unlike many commentators suggest, it is not uniquely broken. The NFL Pro Bowl is broken as well.
Both sports suffer from a problem. Their sports are hard. Their players are tired. And the All-Star break, which could promise players an opportunity to retreat from the labors of their sport, instead asks them to do more.
At least it did, in the NFL, until the NFL moved to a flag football competition.
The NBA should follow suit.
The NBA should adopt a 3x3 tournament as the center piece of its All-Star game.
3x3, a short-handed codification of the popular pick-up games rules, is being promoted heavily by FIBA and the Olympic Committee. The NBA can join in the promotion of this exciting version of the sport, by featuring it during it’s All-Star break.
The Format
Over the course of an extended weekend, the proposed format would feature three days of 3x3 basketball, played by the world’s best players.
Each game would be a 3x3 game. Teams would score by 1s and 2s, first to 21 or whomever is leading after two 5 minute halves.
The original teams would be selected by draft, with the eight highest vote-getting All Stars acting as team captains. Teams would play in a double-elimination tournament, until all teams but one had two losses.
The winning team would be play at most 50 minutes of basketball over three days, split into 10 minute chunks. Less than double the amount of time players play now, spread over three days instead of condensed into a single game.
This format would also leave ample amounts of time for commercials, celebratory festivities, and other distractions.
The New All-Star Weekend
The weekend would be structured as follows:
Friday would be the opening round of games: four games, between each of the eight All Star teams. Friday night would also feature the Celebrity All-Star game.
Saturday would feature the most games of any day. Four second round games, and one third round game. Each of the winning teams would play one another (2 games), and then each of the losing teams would play one another in win or go-home knockout matches (2 games).
Sunday would then feature the final games. A series of six games, all of which are single elimination for someone, would crown the tournament champion.
Example Tournament
The follow shows what an example All Star tournament could look like in this new configuration.
Eight teams of three are drafted from the eligible All-Star roster by the players receiving the most fan votes. All eight teams then face off in the opening night of games.
Friday evening, 8pm to 11pm Eastern
Teams Giannis, Tatum, Luka, SGA are victorious. They move on to the winners bracket. Teams Haliburton, Dame, LeBron, and Jokic lose in the first round; so, they’ll player one another in the losers bracket.
Saturday evening, 8pm to 11pm Eastern
On Saturday, Temas Giannis and SGA triumph over Teams Tatum and Luka. And Teams Dame and Jokic knock Teams Haliburton and LeBron out of the tournament. Teams Dame and LeBron say their final goodbyes to the fans, who they’ll join in the stands the following day.
Sunday afternoon, 1pm to 5pm Eastern
On Sunday, the day opens with games between Teams Luka and Dame, and Teams Tatum and Jokic. The international stars prevail, knocking Dame and Tatum’s squads out of the tournament. Then a showdown in the winners bracket takes place between Teams Giannis and SGA. Giannis’ team wins the contest and sends SGA’s threesome into the knockout bracket.
Luka and Jokic’s teams then dual for the right to play Team SGA. Team Jokic earns the opportunity, and then dispatches team SGA, setting up a battle of the big men— Team Jokic versus Team Giannis—in the final round.
Ultimately, Team Giannis takes the All-Star crown.
Objections
That all said, there are a few obvious objections to this system.
First, the injury risk. If players are expected to play competitive ball, they may be exposed to injury, and that’s bad.
This argument rehashes a common meme—that NBA players are especially prone to injury and that those injuries are bad for the sport. But this format actually asks players to play less basketball, at least at one time.
Most avoidable injuries come from bodies moving explosively, in fatigued states. All NBA players will be fit enough to play in a casual, 10 minute game, with a half-time commercial break, without risking injury. Consider that the entire length of a game is less than one NBA quarter, so even a team playing six games in three days, plays only six 10 minute chunks, with meaningful rest in between games.
Second, there is an objection that 3x3 is not real basketball. The counterpoint to this is: Yes. It is not 5-on-5 NBA basketball. That’s the point.
3x3 has advantages over 5-on-5 basketball: namely, that there are fewer players, resulting in more space for players to do impressive, athletic things. This is especially true when the game is of the casual, All-Star weekend variety. Those highlight moments when players decide to take advantage of the 3x3 spacing will make the games worth watching.
Third, does this really solve the apathy problem? Probably not for some players. But for some, it will. Even if the short games are only competitive for 3 minutes, and not all 10, that would be much more interesting than the All Star game now.
The tournament format also comes with a built-in narrative, and encourages the natural competitiveness of these elite athletes. Further, the 3x3 format makes it more personal than the 5-on-5 format. There is nowhere to hide in 3x3.
Fourth and finally, is the format too complex? No. College baseball manages the double elimination format just fine. The World Cup has a round-robin stage. NASCAR has an opaque points system that is hard to understand. If ABC or TNT puts the brackets up on TV, people will be able to figure it out. At some point it all resolves to win or go home anyways.
Still not convinced? Watch the 3x3 World Cup
Here’s the 3x3 World Cup final. The entire game fits into a 20 minute YouTube video. The play is competitive, interesting, and engaging throughout.
Check it out, and tell me you’re still not convinced.