{"id":70757,"date":"2024-03-27T10:34:32","date_gmt":"2024-03-27T14:34:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=70757"},"modified":"2024-03-27T10:34:32","modified_gmt":"2024-03-27T14:34:32","slug":"usa-vs-world-pros-cons-proposed-all-star-game-change","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/03\/27\/usa-vs-world-pros-cons-proposed-all-star-game-change\/","title":{"rendered":"USA vs. World: Pros and Cons of Proposed All-Star Game Change"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>NBA commissioner Adam Silver is suggesting a change to the All-Star Game format. To increase competitiveness and restore the spirit of the annual exhibition, the NBA is considering switching to a format that pits the best U.S.-born players against the best international players: USA vs. World.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"&#039;I accept responsibility&#039;: NBA&#039;s Adam Silver on All-Star Game failure, league&#039;s future\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/urmDcQKB8eY?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s a workable concept that may not have been proposed in years past.<\/p>\n<p>However, due to the influx of foreign-born talent, it\u2019s a legitimate possibility. After all, the best player in the NBA might be a Serbian center. The reigning MVP is a Cameroonian center. This season\u2019s MVP may be a Canadian point guard. The 2023-24 Defensive Player of the Year will almost certainly be a French big man.<\/p>\n<p>In the 2024 All-Star Game, seven of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nba.com\/allstar\/2024\/roster\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">the 24 selections<\/a> were international players. That is if counting Minnesota Timberwolves big man <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/t\/townska01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Karl-Anthony Towns<\/a>, a New Jersey native who plays for the Dominican national team. With Miami Heat center <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/a\/adebaba01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Bam Adebayo<\/a> playing for Team USA despite his Yoruba roots, the league may not though.<\/p>\n<h3>Con \u2014 Not Enough International All-Stars<\/h3>\n<p>Therein lies the first potential problem with Silver\u2019s plan. The NBA may not want to force a player to claim another country, especially in a country that espouses freedom of choice as one of its greatest principles.<\/p>\n<p>Yet, there may not be 12 international players worthy of an All-Star selection. Even now, at the height of their prominence, they may only field one-half to one-third of an All-Star roster. In such a scenario, the league might have players like Adebayo play for the World team.<\/p>\n<p>This is a situation that other potential All-Stars could find themselves in as well:<\/p>\n<p>Cleveland Cavaliers guard <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/m\/mitchdo01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Donovan Mitchell<\/a> is party of Panamanian descent and even speaks fluent Spanish. Orlando Magic rising star <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/b\/banchpa01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Paolo Banchero<\/a> is an Italian-American who\u2019s even considered playing for the Italian national team. In a USA vs. World format, he could also be caught in the middle.<\/p>\n<h3>Con \u2014 Potential for Ambivalence<\/h3>\n<p>Another potential pitfall of a USA vs. World exhibition is an extension of the first. Presumably, switching to this format will increase competitiveness because of national pride. The thinking appears to be a bite off of the FIBA and Olympic apples, as athletes proudly represent their home country.<\/p>\n<p>To that point, there\u2019s no doubt there are several players who will take pride in representing a non-American team:<\/p>\n<p>Denver Nuggets center <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/j\/jokicni01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Nikola Jokic<\/a> and Dallas Mavericks guard <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/d\/doncilu01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Luka Doncic<\/a> are always honored to represent Serbia and Slovenia, respectively. Born to Nigerian parents, Milwaukee Bucks forward <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/a\/antetgi01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Giannis Antetokounmpo<\/a>, has played for the Greek national team for a decade. Frenchman <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/g\/goberru01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Rudy Gobert<\/a>\u00a0has played for his home country\u2019s national team for just as long.<\/p>\n<p>Yet, just as many players could be ambivalent.<\/p>\n<p>Cameroon native <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/e\/embiijo01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Joel Embiid<\/a> caught flak <a href=\"https:\/\/theathletic.com\/5354067\/2024\/03\/20\/joel-embiid-olympics-usa-france-sixers\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">from the French national team<\/a> for switching allegiances and joining Team USA. 2-time All-Star <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/s\/siakapa01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Pascal Siakam<\/a>, another Cameroon native, has never played for any national team. As mentioned, Banchero chose <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2023\/08\/05\/usa-basketball-reveals-brave-new-talent-for-2023-fiba-world-cup\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">to play for<\/a> the USA instead of Italy during the 2023 FIBA World Cup. Players like Adebayo and Booker may not feel much motivation if playing for the World team either.<\/p>\n<h3>Pro \u2014 Rising International Talent<\/h3>\n<p>Nonetheless, in normal circumstances, athletes are quite patriotic. If there are enough foreign-born All-Stars, the competitive juices will be flowing.<\/p>\n<p>Several up-and-coming players could help that cause:<\/p>\n<p>San Antonio Spurs rookie <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/w\/wembavi01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Victor Wembanyama<\/a> (France) will be a perennial All-Star, likely starting next season. Sacramento Kings center <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/s\/sabondo01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Domantas Sabonis<\/a> (Lithuania) was <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/02\/01\/biggest-western-conference-2024-all-star-snubs\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">already seen as<\/a> an All-Star snub this year. Finnish forward <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/m\/markkla01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Lauri Markkanen<\/a> is putting up All-Star caliber numbers with the Utah Jazz. Houston Rockets center <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/s\/sengual01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Alperen Sengun<\/a> (Turkey) is on an All-Star trajectory.<\/p>\n<h3>Pro \u2014 Minimizing AAU Influence<\/h3>\n<p>International players didn\u2019t grow up in the AAU culture that made many future pros fast friends. With that said, the AAU culture hasn\u2019t been explicitly mentioned as a reason All-Star Games have been less competitive. Yet, there\u2019s a high degree of correlation between the rise of AAU and the decline of NBA players\u2019 competitive spirit.<\/p>\n<p>Consider that Booker recently cited the friendships developed \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/m.youtube.com\/watch?v=qNMqnET1Y-M&amp;feature=youtu.be\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">because of grassroots basketball<\/a>\u201d as why there are no longer rivalries in the NBA. This is a necessary glimpse into the psychology of today\u2019s players, especially as it pertains to their competitiveness. The lack of league rivalries and defensive tenacity speak to a less competitive league than in years past.<\/p>\n<p>This extends to the All-Star Game itself. Players won\u2019t fight against their nature for one game. As a result, the All-Star Game resembles a glorified pick-up game, like most AAU exhibitions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>NBA commissioner Adam Silver is suggesting a change to the All-Star Game format. To increase competitiveness and restore the spirit of the annual exhibition, the NBA is considering switching to a format that pits the best U.S.-born players against the best international players: USA vs. World. It\u2019s a workable concept that may not have been [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5008,"featured_media":70795,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[62,1608,9,30,20,31,11,16,15,21,17,13,29,34,24],"tags":[615,267,1133,639,72],"class_list":["post-70757","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nba","category-basketball","category-cavaliers","category-mavericks","category-nuggets","category-rockets","category-pacers","category-heat","category-bucks","category-timberwolves","category-magic","category-76ers","category-kings","category-spurs","category-jazz","tag-adam-silver","tag-joel-embiid","tag-luka-doncic","tag-nba-all-star","tag-nikola-jokic"],"modified_by":"Quenton S Albertie","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70757","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5008"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=70757"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70757\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/70795"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=70757"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=70757"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=70757"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}