League happy with new All Star format - draft may be aired next year

The way some people were talking about it, getting picked last on national television was something to be ashamed of.
Mind you, this isn't getting picked last at the neighborhood rec center league, or even last in the NBA Draft - we're talking about getting picked last in the new NBA All Star Game, a new wrinkle added by the league that made teams out of all players who made the All Star Game by a snake draft, each team chosen by one of the top vote-getters by conference.

We're talking about getting picked last out of arguably the 24-best players on earth, and not even in order of popularity or talent on that list - just the whim of the captain of your respective conference. This could have (and should have) been televised, but concerns about optics put a lid on a potential boon to NBA ratings for at least this year's game.

The results of the new format were pretty impressive; a score in the mid-100s may not reflect it as well as some regular-season games might, but these guys actually played defense, and tried hard to win. It was one of the most compelling performances in years, and Commissioner Adam Silver took note.
He also had a little to say about not televising the draft (per ESPN):

"When we sat with the union and we came up with this format, we all agreed, let's not turn something that's 100 percent positive into a potential negative to any player ... but then ... maybe we're overly conservative, because then we came out of there, and the players were, 'We can take it. We're All-Stars. Let's have a draft.' So it sounds like we're going to have a televised draft next year."

Given how many guys on Team LeBron went down with an injury before the game, it might make sense just to have the draft right before the game, anyway. And once the initial All Stars have been elected into the game, what is the point of conferences in choosing injury replacements, anyway? In future years, they should just select whichever player from either conference was next-closest to getting in by votes, as the eventual end-product has nothing to do with conferences, anyway.
What did you think of the All Star Game? Did you like the changes? Do you want them to do it again this way, or revert back to the old style? Should they have televised the draft? What other changes would you like to see with All Star Week? Let us know in the comments below.

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Image: Boston Herald
Follow Justin at @justinquinnn

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