The 2017 NBA All-Star game was the league’s most-watched mid-season event since 2013. A big reason for the boost in popularity was the widely known drama between former Oklahoma City Thunder teammates and BFFs Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook.
Everybody wondered if the game would defrost the icy relationship that started when Durant took his talents to The Bay without even giving Westbrook a heads up.
The stars gave each other the silent treatment during team practices and media sessions. Epic levels of passive-aggressive shade were thrown between the two players. The KD vs Westbrook storyline dominated every sports-related TV show, article, podcast and social media post leading up to the game.
In the end, the played together for just 80 seconds but shared the lob heard ‘round the world when Durant connected with an alley-oop pass to Westbrook. The moment gave fans and media a feel-good moment for the day.
After an exciting offseason, that featured plenty of wheeling and dealing of star players, it’s clear the NBA intends to milk the drama for all its worth.
The league announced it will depart from the usual East vs West format for the 2017 All-Star Game. Instead the two leading vote-getters, aka LeBron James and Stephen Curry, will serve as captains and draft their teams from the entire roster of All-Star selections, regardless of conference affiliation. Those voted in as starters will be selected first, followed by the reserves.
The new format is surely designed to stir up chatter at barbershops and water coolers, message boards and basketblogs.
Will James pass over former teammate Kyrie Irving for a lesser player? Will Durant and Westbrook end up on opposite teams and take turns dunking on each other? Will the Warriors implode if Draymond Green kicks Durant in the crotch? Will DeMarcus Cousins and Anthony Davis battle for New Orleans supremacy?
So many wonderful storyline possibilities exist after this wonderful format change. It’s sure to keep social media buzzing, which means the TV ratings will likely increase once again.
Though the league removed the conference restriction in terms of All-Star teams, it did not remove the 12-player limit from each conference. That means that the (L)Eastern Conference will still field 12 players in the All-Star Game.
The talent pool was already considered awfully thin in the East. Now, 2017 All-Stars Paul George (Thunder), Carmelo Anthony (Thunder), Paul Millsap (Nuggets) and Jimmy Butler (Timberwolves) have all moved out West. The Cavaliers’ Isaiah Thomas is not expected to return from his hip injury until January. Maybe Adam Silver can convince Michael Jordan and Jason Kidd to swap out their front-office suits forjerseys and shorts to help the East have proper star representation from the East.
I understand why the league won’t eliminate the conference restrictions on the number of players in the All-Star Game. First, it would be a formal admission that the East is currently an inferior conference. Secondly, it would eliminate one of the few incentives for conference parity.
Don’t think for one second that Gordon Hayward didn’t at least consider that the Eastern Conference would provide an easier path to becoming a perennial All-Star when he decided to leave the Utah Jazz for the Boston Celtics.
Still, Western snubs like Damon Lillard, Mike Conley, Rudy Gobert and Karl Anthony-Towns are prohibitively better than players who will likely represent the East. The league needs to find a way to fix this problem. Still, the NBA’s All-Star changes are a huge step in the right direction.
Big Baller ego strikes again
With everything going on in the world, I try hard to be on Issa Rae’s level and root for “everybody black.” However, Mr. Big Baller Brand, LaVar Ball, makes it so very difficult.
Ball recently made headlines when he announced that he would remove his youngest son, LaMelo Ball, from Chino Hills High over a dispute with the new head coach, Dennis Latimore.
“[Latimore] came in with his own mindset. Like he was gonna change the whole program,” LaVar Ball stated. “I told him, ‘We lost three games in three years. C’mon, man. What are you bringing to the table?’”
Despite losing just three games in the past three seasons, Chino Hills is on its third basketball coach during that same period. Many point to LaVar Ball as the reason for the high turnover, despite the enormous level of success.
In an interview with ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne, LaVar Ball stated, “That coach has his own frame of mind on how he wants to play and who he picks in the team. OK, y’all got that going on, let’s see how you do without my tutelage.”
In an instant, LaVar Ball decided to end his 16-year-old son’s high school basketball career in order to home school him and train him privately. Going forward, LaMelo Ball will only play competitive prep basketball on the AAU circuit.
Now I’m not one to tell a father how he should raise his son, however, it seems absurd for a parent to remove a child from high school and high school sports because a basketball coach wants to … coach.
The move to pull LaMelo Ball from school is the most egotistical decision made this side of the White House.
Hopefully, the rash decision will not negatively impact LaMelo’s basketball career. You have to believe that UCLA is trying to determine whether the talented Ball brothers are worth the headache their father brings. Then again, NCAA programs have currently have other concerns and bigger fish to fry. But that’s a column for another day.
Follow Ishmael and In the Clutch on Twitter at @IshmaelSistrunk.
