There is nearly unanimous agreement that the NBA All-Star Draft should be televised next season, but Kevin Durant expressed an even more radical idea during an interview with NBATV on Sunday: Have the players pick each other right before the game.
“It’d be cool if we just picked teams right before the tip-off!”@KDTrey5 speaks on the new #NBAAllStar teams format. pic.twitter.com/hPQlbJxP6O
— NBA TV (@NBATV) February 17, 2018
Durant noted that it would probably be difficult logistically. It also wouldn’t give the respective teams any time to practice together. Still, it would play into the pick-up style atmosphere, and serve as a wildly entertaining spectacle.
The original plan was to have the draft televised according to ESPN’s Marc Stein, but push back from the NBA Players Association put the kibosh on that idea. It will be interesting to see if that changes next year, especially after captains LeBron James and Stephen Curry, both tweeted that they would prefer the event to be televised.
Yo @StephenCurry30 that was fun!! Definitely should’ve been televised. ??♂️ #AllStarDraft⭐️
— LeBron James (@KingJames) January 25, 2018
Yeah I’d have to say that was legit! #nextyear https://t.co/fj4flo8lgq
— Stephen Curry (@StephenCurry30) January 25, 2018