Before battling (for real) in the NBA final, Nikola Jokic and Bam Adebayo had already faced each other (for fake) last February, during the All-Star game. Will we see the two men again in a starry match in a revised setting? Namely that of a confrontation between American and international players.
” The idea is not new “recalls Adam Silver, on the set of ESPN ahead of the third meeting between Heat and Nuggets. The question of this development was raised in 2015 when a new “USA vs Rest of the world” format was introduced during the “Rising Star Challenge”.
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” When it was brought up in the past, it was thought that there would be such an imbalance, not because of competition on the pitch, but out of fairness to the players. Even today, as growth continues, over 25% of our players were born outside of the United States. If you choose from a group of 25% and another of 75%, it may not be fair “Judges the leader whose league had 120 international players (out of around 450) at the start of the year.
Since these first reflections, the rise in power of “foreign” players is no longer in doubt. Giannis Antetokounmpo, Nikola Jokic and Joel Embiid have notably won all the MVP trophies since 2018, while Jayson Tatum is the only American in the last “All-NBA First team”.
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Meanwhile, the All-Star game plunges into discomfiture in edition after edition. Hence this potential new formula while the idea of a return to a match between the two conferences is also mentioned.
” When the issue was raised again this year in the competitions committee, some said ‘Maybe we can find a way to fix this’, if you select an All-Star team and you need add some international players to balance the teams. I agree with that. That would be incredibly interesting Silver continues.
The latter specifies that such a reform could not materialize from the next edition, in 2024 in Indiana, because discussions are necessary with the players’ union. But he says he is convinced that he there would be huge excitement from the fans and the players would be very intrigued as well.”
