It Sure Sounds Like The NBA All-Star Draft Will Be Televised Next Year

Giddy after the success of the 2018 All-Star game, and seemingly convinced of the connection between the format changes and the competitive spirit of the contest—and girded by the apparent encouragement of players—Adam Silver sure made it sound like it’s a foregone conclusion that next year’s All-Star draft will be televised:

“When we sat with the union and we came up with this format, we all agreed: let’s not turn something that’s 100 percent positive into a potential negative for any player. But then we were overly conservative because when we came out of there the players were, “we can take it, we’re All Stars—let’s have a draft.” So, it sounds like we’re gonna have a televised draft next year, but I’ve gotta sit down with LeBron and all the guys in the union, and we’ll figure it out.”

I don’t particularly care whether the draft is televised, or even made public, except for the dark-hearted joy of mocking the [obviously insanely talented and wealthy and successful] players who are selected last. I’m not sure how it would be possible to know whether the new draft format actually contributed to the quality of this game, and I’m not sure how it will be possible to know whether or how a public draft would have such an effect on future games. For now: there was a draft; the 2018 All-Star game was Good; therefore let’s just go with it. If it is reasonable to believe a public draft will make future All-Star games better, then I suppose I am for it.

Mostly a televised event would just be another block of programming for the NBA to sell, and for whoever broadcasts it to sell to advertisers. But I can certainly imagine a situation where, say, Steph Curry has to squirm while choosing whether to draft, say, Draymond Green or Ben Simmons, and that would for sure be a hoot.