New All-Star Game format a small step
This season’s NBA All-Star Game will have a bit of playground flair, thanks to format changes announced this week, and it sounds refreshing. Unfortunately, the league didn’t go far enough.
The voting process remains the same, left to the fans, players and media to select five starters from each conference. The respective head coaches determine the seven reserves for each team. Then it gets interesting: The two leading vote-getters will be designated team captains, free to choose any teammates they want from either conference in a special, fantasy-like draft.
Two problems here: Only the 10 players voted in as starters can be designated as such, and the 24-man contingent is split down the middle between the East and West. Why not let voters choose the best players, period, regardless of conference? And let the team captains determine who starts (imagine LeBron James and Stephen Curry in the roles and let your imagination run wild).
Warriors head coach Steve Kerr, ineligible to coach in this year’s game because he enjoyed that honor last season, agrees. “I think it really would have been interesting if they’d just picked the 24 All-Stars, and not necessarily 12 from each side,” Kerr said. “Just get the 24 best players. But I respect the fact that the league is looking to alter the format.”
This could be the first step in a long-awaited process to eliminate the conferences altogether. Every year it’s the same tired scenario: Too many good teams in the West and a bunch of lousy Eastern teams making the playoffs. Perhaps, in future years, the balance of power will swing over to the East. In any case, the 16 best teams should make the playoffs.
“I’m waiting for the day when it’s going to happen,” Dwyane Wade told reporters in Cleveland. “I think (playoff seeding) is needed.”
At that point, perhaps Commissioner Adam Silver will keep pushing for a shorter schedule — a notion he brought up this week, saying, “Eighty-two games is not a magic number.”
If the owners ever agree to such a thing — and don’t hold your breath — remember this column’s annual recommendation: No conferences. Each team plays a 58-game schedule, with a home-and-home series against each of the other 29 teams. Perfect balance, plenty of rest for the players, and let the 16 best teams move on.
The new-look Cavaliers
Forever obsessed with playing the Warriors on even terms, the Cleveland Cavaliers made a number of offensiveminded acquisitions last season (notably Deron Williams and Kyle Korver) and came up badly short in the Finals. Now it’s a whole new look, with Kevin Love starting at center, James up front with ex-Celtic Jae Crowder, and Derrick Rose (replacing injured point guard Isaiah Thomas) teaming with either Wade or J.R. Smith in the backcourt. It’s all about floor spacing, with each of the frontcourt players a three-point threat, and that will be a blessing if Rose still has his explosive moves to the basket ... Crowder is a tough-minded defender, and his presence will allow James to be a sort of shot-blocking free safety, picking up attackers as he chooses. But with Tristan Thompson on the bench, this is a mediocre defensive unit at best, likely to be dismantled by Golden State. Reminder: The teams first play each other Christmas Day in Oakland ... No coincidence: The locker once belonging to Kyrie Irving, who wanted out of Cleveland so he could be the centerpiece somewhere else (Boston), was assigned to Wade, LeBron’s best friend in the game ... Ex-Cal star Jaylen Brown on the Celtics’ new dynamic: “It changes the whole culture,” he told Complex Magazine. “We’ll see if it’s good or bad. Time will tell, but it’s still a little weird to me. I loved Isaiah. He was like a big brother to me, and he tried to plant his flag in Boston. He and Jae will definitely be missed.” ... The Staples Center is about to become a haven for smart and spectacular passing. Lonzo Ball needs no introduction with the Lakers, and the Clippers have Milos Teodosic, a tremendously gifted and creative point guard who starred in Europe for years. He’s no Chris Paul as a shooter or defender, but his passing is worth the price of admission ... It looks as if Seth Curry will be starting in the Dallas backcourt with rookie point guard Dennis Smith. Add Harrison Barnes, Dirk Nowitzki and Wesley Matthews, and that’s an entertaining group.
Nick Young has been a vintage knucklehead through most of his NBA career, and you don’t expect such a selfobsessed player to change at the age of 32. I’m sure I’ll be wrong, amid the swirl of proYoung endorsements from Kerr, Curry, Bob Myers and Luke Walton, but I’ll say it, anyway: Swaggy Nope. You don’t get better when you sign this guy, and on this team, in this sytem, he’s not an upgrade over Ian Clark ... There’s a fear of disclosure when it comes to college football injuries, and then there’s outright paranoia. Cal wide receiver Demetris Robertson is out for the year, he just had surgery, and we still don’t know the details ... Asked by a female reporter Sunday about his receivers’ routes, Carolina quarterback Cam Newton flashed a condescending smile and said, “How would a female ever know what those are?” To which one could only ask, “Seriously?” Newton looked properly contrite in his apology, speaking directly into a camera without a written document, but he’ll be taking heat for months. Tweeted Amy Trask, the former Raiders executive: “Oh Cam, don’t worry — I don’t talk routes. I talk man v zone, single high safety, 3 man rush, 4-3 v 3-4 — lemme know if you need a hand.”