This season’s NBA All-Star Game will be held in San Francisco at Oracle Arena, home of the Golden State Warriors. While it remains an honor to host All-Star Weekend for any city, the honor of playing in the game itself has lost its shine in recent years as fans and players alike have grown less enthusiastic about the midseason exhibition.
It’s not a new problem and the NBA has spent the last six years trying to fix the All-Star Game. The format has been overhauled a few different times but nothing has stuck yet and frustration among basketball fans peaked with last year’s game in Indianapolis, which featured a return to a standard four quarter format, a record 168 three point attempts and the weakest display of defense yet. The pressure is on this season to put forth a product fans can enjoy, as well as one that entices players to put on more of a show than last year’s glorified shootaround.
What better way to find that formula than by asking current players? That seems to be the thought process of commissioner Adam Silver, who said the NBA has consulted with Steph Curry to bring big changes to the format this year.
“We’re looking at different formats for this year’s All-Star Game,” Silver said on Saturday via The Athletic’s Joe Vardon. “We’ve had direct conversations with Steph Curry—it’s a home game for him. I know he’s very prideful and wants to make sure that the players put their best foot forward, so we’re looking at other formats.”
It’s a tough nut to crack. But Curry has accomplished the impossible many times in his career to this point. He’s got as good a chance as anybody to finally figure this out.