The All-Star Weekend is coming up! Which players are involved, how does the mode work – and why could Larry Nance Jr. Make history? SPOX presents all information! The events can all be seen at DAZN.
The dissatisfaction was great after the All-Star Game 2017 in New Orleans, nothing new, there was already a lot of criticism in the years before – and rightly so. At 192:182, the West won the show game and at first glance it became clear what the big problem was: there was no defence, nobody seemed to take the game seriously. DeMarcus’ cousins’ trade from the Sacramento Kings to the New Orleans Pelicans, who leaked through the game, made the headlines.
So something had to happen and Commissioner Adam Silver did not shy away from making changes, as he had done with other issues such as the draft or the resting policy. The old format, where the West met the East, is in principle history. During the voting process this division still existed, but the players with the most votes from their conference, Stephen Curry and LeBron James, were allowed to choose their teams without restrictions.
It’s the big change and caused a little hype, because the concept itself is a good idea. Two captains choose their teams from a pool of the best players in the world? This should be obvious to everyone and brings the basketball back to the asphalt courts of this world with rusty chains as nets and bumps due to tree roots and the like.
But it’s also still a little unfermented. The players probably prevented the captains’ election process from being broadcast live. A missed opportunity for the league, which could have produced such excellent television. Who will LeBron choose first? Who has to wait till the end? For the topic of trash talk alone, a live broadcast would have meant an enormous amount and LeBron demanded that the selection should be shown in the future.
The game will write stories one way or the other. LeBron is playing with Uncle Drew for the first time since the trade of Kyrie Irving. In addition, Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook are two true rivals in one team. Whether the two of them will still be in the field together is surely one thing that should be looked at in more detail.
Will the players suddenly play Lockdown-Defense? Probably not, but it is a first break-up of outdated structures. On top of that, the league doubled the bonus for every player who is part of the winning team. 100,000 dollars is at least a nice pocket money for players who earn over 20 million dollars a year.
Page 1: The New Mode and Participants in the All-Star Game
Page 2: Three- and Dark Contest and the Rising Stars