The 2024 NBA All-Star Game was reverted to the East versus West format in an attempt to restore its luster.
However, the game ended up getting worse as the two teams turned it not only into a three-point practice, with the two squads attempting a combined 168 three-pointers, but also committed a total of three personal fouls during the entire 48-minute game. Worse, the teams went on to score a combined 397 points, with the East putting up a record 211 points. After the game, the NBA was bombarded with tons of criticism for another flop.
Hall of Famer Charles Barkley revisited the All-Star game topic during his recent appearance on the Dan Patrick Show and gave his two cents on the topic.
"The All-Star game sucks," said Barkley. " I've been pushing for the last probably seven years, the United States against the World. Think about it, Dan. You know what the NBA is afraid of? That the United States would lose. I love Adam. I love him a lot. He's a great dude, Adam Silver, but I think they're afraid that the United States will lose."
Will there be enough international All-Stars?
The USA vs. World All-Star format is among the suggestions that have been thrown around to possibly improve the competition in the NBA All-Star Game. However, since Americans still dominate the NBA's population, the main concern about the format is whether will there be enough international all-stars to play in the game.
"An idea that's come up in the past is doing the Ryder Cup style, except not just the US versus Europe, [rather] the US versus the World," Silver said . "One of the reasons we hadn't done that historically was there's an imbalance because even as the number of international players grows, it's still far less than half. But I think to me, as we look to make it more engaging for fans, that shouldn't be the sole reason we don't do it. I think we could add additional All-Stars. There's something we could do."
However, the opening night rosters of the 30 NBA teams for the 2023-24 season showed 125 international players representing 40 different countries in the league. Although that's still a minority, that number is more than good enough to build a World All-Star team.
The international firepower
During Barkley's conversation with Patrick, the two agreed that you could make an argument that the five best basketball players in the world today are international players - Luka Doncic, Nikola Jokic, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, and Joel Embiid. Dan and Charles also named Pascal Siakam, Lauri Markkanen, Josh Giddey, and the Wagner brothers.
With the names above, the NBA can not only assemble a complete 12-man World All-Star team, but they can easily put together a group that can beat a U.S. All-Star squad. According to Barkley, that's the reason why Adam Silver is hesitant to use the USA vs. World All-Star format.
In March, Silver discussed abolishing the All-Star Game because he thinks it is beyond the point of being competitive again . However, he has not tried this format yet. Perhaps Barkley is right in his observation.
Related: "I don't know that there's a fix" - JJ Redick bashes the 2024 NBA All-Star Game due to players not giving any effort
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