The NBA is missing the point of the All-Star Game Draft if it’s not televised

Over the past couple of years, the NBA All-Star Game has gotten even less serious than it had been, which is saying something. The drama in the 2017 edition was tied up in three things, all non-serious: Whether a team would break the 200-point barrier (nope), whether Russell Westbrook or Anthony Davis would break Wilt Chamberlain’s ancient All-Star scoring record (it was Davis), and whether Westbrook and Kevin Durant would fight at midcourt despite being on the same team (nope). There was also the small matter of an All-Star getting traded during the game and being told in whispers during his postgame media scrum.

Legend has it that ultra-competitive union president Chris Paul and ultra-competitive franchise owner Michael Jordan joined forces to push the NBA to change up the All-Star format to draw out an actually competitive game where players, like, cared who won and stuff. (As if we don’t have enough of those games throughout the year.) All-Star is supposed to be pure, unadulterated fun. It turns out that many people — especially little generals like CP3 and Jordan and crusty sportswriters (you know who you are) — don’t find the Race for 200 Points, absurd alley-oop attempts, or lazy threes galore fun. So change was in order.

That big change: Instead of standard East vs. West sorting, the top two vote-getters would be captains and choose their teams from among the appointed All-Stars.

Does this actually make the eventual game more competitive? Probably not. It’s still an exhibition game without stakes. There’s a new charity element as well, but most of these players are already raising copious amounts of money for good causes. An extra million for one charity over the other team’s also-worthy charity isn’t going to have anyone diving for loose balls. There’s also no guarantees that player captains are going to divvy up talent any better than random assignment.

So really, the only reason to make these changes to the All-Star Game is to add some intrigue on the front end and ensure some odd, unexpected pairings. But word came last week that the intrigue might not actually be televised. Rachel Nichols and the crew addresses that possibility on ESPN’s The Jump.

It is borderline criminal that the NBA would make this change and then undercut it completely by keeping the process secret. The NBA’s argument seems to be that players are concerned there will be unnecessary drama surrounding who picks who when. Of course there will be unnecessary drama surrounding who picks who when! That’s the whole point! How did this idea come to pass at the league office without someone explicitly making the case that it was a reform worth pursuing entirely because of the intrigue, drama, and hilarity it would spark? What was the case for the change if not that?

LeBron, who is a lock to be one of the two captains picking teams and is the vice president of the players’ union, thinks concern about hurt feelings should be set aside.

”We’re all grown men. It doesn’t stop your paycheck from coming. It won’t stop you from playing time when the season starts. Trying to win. Listen, just trying to win in the All-Star Game. You want to get the best player, the best caliber of player. You’re going to have some type of faithfulness, obviously, to your teammates. But also you want to compete.”

Obviously, LeBron won’t have to worry about being the last pick. But he has the toughest job since his teammate Kevin Love is likely to be a fellow All-Star. Love should probably be something like the 20th pick in an All-Star in 2018. His three-point shooting would be valuable, but he’s not going to play many minutes. LeBron is going to have to decide whether to take him much higher due to camaraderie.

If Stephen Curry or Kevin Durant are the captain in the West, they will have similar issues deciding whether to choose rivals or teammates. This is a feature, not a bug. Keeping it secret insomuch as not televising the proceedings does not mean that players or others involved won’t leak the actual order anyways, which would exact whatever damage the NBA thinks doing it live would. So why bother? One of the captains is with it. Just run it!

If Love or Kemba Walker or Joel Embiid or Kyle Lowry gets sore that they are the last All-Star picked in the draft, so be it. The NHL used this format for a couple of years. Not only did they run it live on TV, but they plied the captains and draft picks with alcohol! And the players had immense fun with it.

“It was really fun. I was nervous going into it, but I had a great time with it,” [2015 All-Star captain Nick] Foligno said. “The guys made it really easy. The personalities really came out. It was a lot of fun.”

The NHL mitigated the last pick concerns by giving the last players picked a car. This had guys lobbying to be the last player picked. The NBA still has that deal with KIA, right?

The NHL has since moved to a different format — a three-on-three tournament, which honestly might be something in the NBA’s All-Star future as well — but its foray into playground-style All-Star team selection seemed to be a net benefit for the event.

The NBA has actually used this idea before — for a couple of years, two “general managers” picked teams for the Rising Stars Challenge. In 2012, Shaquille O’Neal and Charles Barkley picked teams. The NBA got around the “last player picked” issue by having a blind draw for the last four picks. (Those last four picked: Evan Turner, Brandon Knight, Tristan Thompson, and ... Kawhi Leonard. Welp. Also, Kenny Smith chose Norris Cole over Klay Thompson as the commissioner’s choice to add to the field. Double welp.)

The NBA is aware of how events like this can impact the psyche of players and the chemistry of teams. That’s good. Being aware of how decisions impact humans is worthwhile and necessary. But don’t let that awareness cripple the product. No one is actually going to get hurt by this process. We’re talking about NBA All-Stars here: Men who make $20 million a year and have been selected as the elite — the top 5 percent in the league — of their field. They will be fine. Trust them to handle this.

Don’t ruin this, NBA! Televise the NBA All-Star Draft!