Bonn1997 wrote:

Allanfan20 wrote:This makes me want to watch the all star game even less. Now you don’t even have a team to root for. I feel this will make it even less competitive too.

Playoff seeding will no longer be East vs West? That’s fine but the only way you can make it work that will make sense is if there will be an American League and National League. Not just a bunch of teams scrambled up.

Yeah the league took a game that was already boring and pointless and found a way to make it worse.

its gotten so bad, it's like a morning shoot around, they launched a combine 122 3 point attempts, and not one was contested..who the hell wants to watch that

JesseDark wrote:I am wondering if that last all star selected will feel snubbed? No one likes being picked last. On the other hand, it is kind of like picking sides in a school yard game. When your captain the guy you feel is the best you pick to be on your team.

To avoid this, the usual method is the last 6-8 guys not picked yet have names put into a hat and picked at random.

Since Steph Curry is technically a point guard and will odds on be picking for the "West", and since LBJ will be picking for the "East" , my guess is Kyrie Irving gets into that hat pool and "magically" ends up on the non LBJ team.

The league desperately tried to play up Draymond Green to make him, and by extension, the Warriors, into the "bad guys" the year before last. Desperately. This is literally like pro wrestling, the "narrative" requires good guys and bad guys. Kevin Durant left OKC, so he is a "bad guy", Westbrook is right now in OKC, so he's a "good guy"

LBJ could try to pull off the Al Swearagen "bad guy so fun, he's good to watch" narrative, but he's an idiot. Zero charisma. Zero ability to handle the press. Literally a mush mouth with a mic in his face. Think of the huge burned face guy in Game Of Thrones. Killing people and screaming for chickens. Fun bad guy.

What's this mean for the Knicks long term. If the Knicks build the right way, make good decisions, focus on team play, if the ratings are not there and the shoes don't get sold, then the NBA will simply screw them. It's just like wrestling, you can't just compete and win, that's not enough. You need to hit them with a guitar afterwards ( Honky Tonk Man) or hit them with a 2x4 (Jim Duggan) or have a supermodel and a snake with you ( Ultimate Warrior)

Would you shoot another person down in cold blood for their shoes? That seems to be the only prevailing narrative in how the NBA tends to market itself now. Find the lowest common denominator amongst your non luxury suite/non courtside seat fans and appeal to them relentlessly.

Let's see if LBJ just hits Irving with a guitar at halftime. Honestly even that wouldn't surprise me now.