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The Bill Simmons Podcast • An NBA All-Star Fix www.fountain.fm/episode/tmtrPZd6RY2WLfJT5b7J

297 sats \ 10 comments \ @Undisciplined 18 Feb Stacker_Sports

I think Bill Simmons came up with a really elegant fix for the NBA All Star Game.

Basic Idea

Stakes: Go back to East vs West and they play for home court advantage in the Finals
Incentive Compatibility: Only players from good teams are eligible for the All Star Game

This is such a great blend of carrot and stick. Bill probably thinks and cares about this stuff more than anyone else. Real stakes for the best players on the best teams should get them to really try (and maybe not just in the All Star Game).

Extra Details

The would be All Stars who don't qualify for the main game will now play against the Rising Stars on Saturday
Only 8 players per team: 8 East, 8 West, 8 Misc., and 8 Rising Stars,
The main game has one Commissioner's Pick for each conference (for cases where one of the mega stars is on an underperforming team: i.e. Steph Curry this year)
Consequences: Players who skip the All Star Game are not eligible to be selected the following year

Having a Saturday game and Sunday game creates a status differential that will motivate players to win more, so they can play in the "real" All Star game. While the Commissioner's Picks may not care about home court in the finals, since their teams aren't competitive, they will care about being eligible the following season, when they expect to be competing.

Tweaks

I would add and tweak a couple of minor details from this proposal.

Each of the top 6 seeds should get one player (Bill only had eligibility for the top 5 seeds), with the other two slots going to the top two vote getters in each conference (I don't like the Commissioner Picks).
In addition to the top seed coach being the HC, the 2nd seed coaches should be assistant coaches.
The 3-point and dunk contest participants should also be decided by fan vote, with the same penalty for non-participation as the All Stars face.

I think this solves pretty much all the problems with the All Star weekend. What do you think?

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26 sats \ 9 replies \ @grayruby 18 Feb

I don't mind the ideas but I don't like the ASG impacting home court in the finals.

What if all the teams represented in the winning conference get a bonus 5M in cap space the following year for each one of their players on the winning team?

40 sats \ 8 replies \ @Undisciplined OP 19 Feb

I don't think players care about that. Why not home court?

As is, home court is often just based on which conference is stronger, since you play more in-conference games. This way, it's determined by a direct fair contest between the conferences, by the players and coaches most likely to be involved in it.

26 sats \ 7 replies \ @grayruby 19 Feb

What if the team that ended up getting home court advantage in the finals only had one all star and that player scored zero points in the ASG? What did they do to earn their team the home court advantage? At least if it is based on record you actually have to win more games.

40 sats \ 6 replies \ @Undisciplined OP 19 Feb

I think teams have enough incentive to win more games because of conference seeding.

I see what you're saying about earning it, but I don't think home court advantage in the finals is actually doing anything useful for us during the season.

Think about the extra benefits these incentives create. Teams are going to be trying harder during this middle part of the season, because they want to get their stars into the game that determines home court. That's also a way that winning can be rewarded.

24 sats \ 5 replies \ @grayruby 19 Feb

I don't know. MLB tried the whole try to win home field advantage thing for over a decade. Maybe the first couple years it added some intrigue but the quality of the games did not improve over that time period.

I suppose since the rosters would be smaller than baseball and you have only guys from top teams it could be better but I still don't like rewarding a potential home court in a game 7 of the finals for winning a meaningless game that the two finals teams didn't even play in.

40 sats \ 4 replies \ @Undisciplined OP 19 Feb

Interesting, I didn’t know MLB had tried this. That is why Simmons proposed the restriction to top teams, though.

Also, game 7’s aren’t that common in the finals and half of those would be the same either way. It seems like an incentive that feels more important than it really is, which is perfect.

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