The NBA could be on the verge of swapping the All-Star game’s current format of a player draft back to a matchup between the Eastern and Western conferences, according to The Athletic’s Mike Vorkunov and Shams Charania.
The news comes after the NBA and the NBPA agreed to discuss the idea of making the annual exhibition game more competitive in recent months as part of the league’s new collective bargaining agreement, per the Athletic. The East vs. West structure is just one of the concepts being discussed, Vorkunov and Charania report.
Changes to the game could come ahead of the 2024 All-Star game in Indianapolis.
The player draft format for the All-Star game has been in place since 2018. Currently, the players with the most votes in each conference serve as team captains and hold a draft to select the starters and reserves for their respective teams, regardless of which conference each player competes in.
Prior to the change in ’18, the players were selected based on their conference affiliation. The head coaches for the All-Star teams come from the teams with the best records in their conference.
Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo (Team Giannis) and Lakers forward Lebron James (Team LeBron) served as team captains during the 2023 All-Star game in Salt Lake City, Utah. Team Giannis defeated Team LeBron, 184–175, in February.
