NBA Commissioner Adams Silver acknowledged Oklahoma City Thunder point guard Chris Paul played a key role in series of changes the All-Star Game will see this year.
Paul, who is also the president of the National Basketball Players Association, called Silver to pitch a potential change to the ASG dynamics, taking inspiration from The Basketball Tournament, an open invitation tournament with $2 million prize money.
“The genesis of this latest tweak comes directly from Chris Paul, who called me last summer and said, ‘I’m a big fan of The Basketball Tournament. And are you familiar with the so-called Elam endings?’ And I said I was,” Silver told K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago. “I’ve watched it a few times. I said, ‘It’s fascinating to me.’ I think in some cases it’s confusing to some fans. But Chris said, ‘I think it’s terrific. I think we should look at changing the format.’ I said, ‘If that’s something you’re serious about, why don’t you talk to other members of your executive committee and other players whose views you respect and I’ll talk to my colleagues at the league office and members of our competition committee. And what we heard back from everyone was it sounds really intriguing. Let’s try something new.”
Back in 2017, TBT adopted an ending strategy created by professor Nick Elam, in which a target score discouraged late-game fouling.
Silver, Paul, and the NBPA combined a few different concepts, including adding 24 points in the fourth quarter, a nod to the late Kobe Bryant. Couple that with a charitable contribution after each quarter, and the NBA had the workings to a brand new All-Star Game format.
“I’ve learned the hard way in my many years here that people generally don’t like change,” said Silver. “I mean, everyone talks a good game about innovation. But then when you try it, there are plenty of critics out there. But at the end of the day, I feel you have to be extraordinarily cautious about affecting our regular season or playoffs. But when it comes to an All-Star game, it is a celebratory occasion. I hear from those who say, ‘I remember back in the day, players competed in a different fashion in All-Star.’ But like a lot of things in life, they change.
“We have a partnership with our players and this is something they think they’ll have fun in. I recognize you want to have a competitive game. But this is not the place necessarily you want players to go all out and risk potential injury. I think this is something new and intriguing for fans.”
The NBA is doing something that a lot of other sports are too timid to pull off — to innovate.
Yet to do so, it requires some sort of risk — and what better than the All-Star Game to get those creative juices flowing without risking the massive uproar of fans and players with tweaks to the regular season.
If it all goes well, it could invite the possibility of more Silver-led changes, including the potential of an in-season tournament and other tweaks that could come in the future.
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