Many fans and NBA players alike are saying that the solution to the All-Star game is staring Adam Silver in the face – make it USA vs. World.
In their All-Star pre-game and postgame press conference, the players were asked about their thoughts on this kind of format.
“I would love to. My opinion is that it’s more purposeful,” first-time All-Star Victor Wembanyama said. “There’s more pride in it. More stakes.”
Giannis Antetokounmpo was all in on the idea of USA vs. World.
“I would love that. Oh, I would love that,” said Antetokounmpo, who is a native of Greece and of Nigerian descent. “I think that would be the most interesting and most exciting format. I would love that. For sure, I’d take pride in that. I always compete, but I think that will give me a little bit more extra juice to compete.”
He added, “Having Shai, Jokic, Luka, Wemby, Towns, Sengun — I know those players, obviously I’m missing some guys that I cannot think from the top of my head — going against the best U.S. players, I think it would be fun. I think that would be the best format.”
Giannis also suggested that the NBA should rotate the host city between the U.S. and other parts of the world like Paris, London and even China.
The 4 Nations Face-Off tournament, which kicked off last week, has been super intense between the countries, so the NBA could certainly follow suit if it ends up a success.
“Sometimes things just get old and kind of need a facelift,” Draymond Green said. “I know they’ve done different things to try to get it going. I think what’ll be interesting to see is how this 4 Nations thing turns out in hockey. If that turns out great, might have to peek an eye.”
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