WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.279 Welcome back to the Deep Dive. It is Wednesday, 00:00:02.419 --> 00:00:07.019 February 18th, 2026. And if you're anything like 00:00:07.019 --> 00:00:08.820 us, you are probably still trying to process 00:00:08.820 --> 00:00:11.259 what exactly we just witnessed over the weekend. 00:00:11.480 --> 00:00:13.939 I think process is the right word. Yeah. I feel 00:00:13.939 --> 00:00:16.100 like I need a flowchart, like a full -on conspiracy 00:00:16.100 --> 00:00:18.859 board with red string just to explain the last 00:00:18.859 --> 00:00:21.839 48 hours of basketball. It was definitely... 00:00:21.839 --> 00:00:24.660 Yeah. a lot spectacle feels like the right word 00:00:24.660 --> 00:00:26.719 but i'm not even sure that does it justice it 00:00:26.719 --> 00:00:29.579 was almost overwhelming right we're fresh off 00:00:29.579 --> 00:00:33.020 the 2026 nba all -star game or i should say the 00:00:33.020 --> 00:00:35.469 all -star tournament which was held at the brand 00:00:35.469 --> 00:00:39.289 new Intuit Dome in Inglewood. A beautiful building, 00:00:39.329 --> 00:00:41.609 by the way. Incredible. And just to set the record 00:00:41.609 --> 00:00:43.789 straight for anyone who maybe got lost in all 00:00:43.789 --> 00:00:48.250 the chaos, the USA Stars defeated the USA Stripes 00:00:48.250 --> 00:00:50.030 in the championship game. Which, and let's be 00:00:50.030 --> 00:00:51.609 honest about this, was maybe a little bit of 00:00:51.609 --> 00:00:54.770 an anticlimax given the buildup. Huge anticlimax. 00:00:54.789 --> 00:00:57.429 Everyone, I mean everyone, wanted to see that 00:00:57.429 --> 00:00:59.729 USA versus World Final. That was the narrative. 00:01:00.250 --> 00:01:03.159 Exactly. We spent... months, maybe the better 00:01:03.159 --> 00:01:06.379 part of a year, debating the world champion title, 00:01:06.620 --> 00:01:10.159 looking at the rosters, hyping up this this clash 00:01:10.159 --> 00:01:13.620 of civilizations. Right. And we end up with what 00:01:13.620 --> 00:01:16.019 felt like an intra squad scrimmage for the actual 00:01:16.019 --> 00:01:19.519 trophy. But I will say. Anthony Edwards taking 00:01:19.519 --> 00:01:22.900 home the MVP felt right. Oh, absolutely. He was 00:01:22.900 --> 00:01:25.700 the one guy who consistently played like he actually 00:01:25.700 --> 00:01:28.640 cared, which is, you know, half the battle in 00:01:28.640 --> 00:01:30.680 these things. More than half the battle. He really 00:01:30.680 --> 00:01:32.239 did bring that competitive spark, and that's 00:01:32.239 --> 00:01:35.260 the one thing the league is always, always chasing 00:01:35.260 --> 00:01:37.060 with this event. But here's the thing that really 00:01:37.060 --> 00:01:39.140 struck me. We were watching the game, and you're 00:01:39.140 --> 00:01:41.219 seeing the new format, the three teams, the round 00:01:41.219 --> 00:01:44.079 -robin bracket, the confusing point differential. 00:01:44.420 --> 00:01:46.060 It was a little confusing, yeah. And it hit me. 00:01:46.420 --> 00:01:49.980 Most people... They tune in for the dunks. They 00:01:49.980 --> 00:01:52.319 tune in to see the stars in cool shoes, to see 00:01:52.319 --> 00:01:54.719 the halftime show. But I really don't think many 00:01:54.719 --> 00:01:56.900 people actually know why we even have this game 00:01:56.900 --> 00:01:59.219 in the first place. Or that the entire concept, 00:01:59.299 --> 00:02:02.120 this whole massive weekend, was basically born 00:02:02.120 --> 00:02:05.079 out of a huge sport -threatening scandal. Right. 00:02:05.140 --> 00:02:07.019 Most fans just assume it's always been this way, 00:02:07.079 --> 00:02:09.539 this grand celebration of basketball greatness. 00:02:10.080 --> 00:02:13.439 But the origin story is it's actually pretty 00:02:13.439 --> 00:02:16.159 dark. It is. It's a story of desperation, really. 00:02:16.259 --> 00:02:18.360 And beyond that, I don't think people appreciate 00:02:18.360 --> 00:02:21.020 why the format keeps changing every five minutes. 00:02:21.219 --> 00:02:23.120 I mean, think about it. We went from the classic 00:02:23.120 --> 00:02:26.879 East versus West for decades. Then all of a sudden, 00:02:26.979 --> 00:02:29.840 it's captains drafting teams on TV. Playground 00:02:29.840 --> 00:02:32.500 style. Then we get the Elam ending, which was 00:02:32.500 --> 00:02:35.340 amazing. Then last year, it was teams named after 00:02:35.340 --> 00:02:37.810 the Inside the NBA crew. Which is interesting. 00:02:38.030 --> 00:02:40.689 And now this USA versus world tournament bracket, 00:02:40.889 --> 00:02:43.250 it feels like the league is constantly tinkering 00:02:43.250 --> 00:02:45.629 almost, I don't know, desperately. They are. 00:02:45.750 --> 00:02:48.389 And that's because to really understand this 00:02:48.389 --> 00:02:51.229 event, you have to understand its DNA. It has 00:02:51.229 --> 00:02:52.930 always been an experiment. It has always been 00:02:52.930 --> 00:02:55.389 a reaction to whatever was happening in the league 00:02:55.389 --> 00:02:58.629 at that specific moment. Ah, so every format 00:02:58.629 --> 00:03:01.169 change tells a story. Exactly. Every rule change, 00:03:01.330 --> 00:03:03.889 every tweak to the voting, every new format tells 00:03:03.889 --> 00:03:05.909 you something important about where the NBA was 00:03:05.909 --> 00:03:08.490 at that point in its history. It's a barometer 00:03:08.490 --> 00:03:11.009 for the league. OK, so that's our mission today. 00:03:11.349 --> 00:03:14.889 We are going to peel back the layers of the NBA's 00:03:14.889 --> 00:03:17.449 midseason spectacle. We are not just going to 00:03:17.449 --> 00:03:20.250 recap the weekend. We are going to trace this 00:03:20.250 --> 00:03:23.169 whole beast all the way back to its desperate 00:03:23.169 --> 00:03:26.650 origins in 1951. All the way back. We'll walk 00:03:26.650 --> 00:03:28.849 through the evolution of the format, the good, 00:03:28.889 --> 00:03:32.569 the bad, and the very ugly. We'll unpack the 00:03:32.569 --> 00:03:35.650 weird little rules like the Riley rule or the 00:03:35.650 --> 00:03:38.009 death of the center position on the ballot. And 00:03:38.009 --> 00:03:39.629 finally, we'll look at the culture of the event 00:03:39.629 --> 00:03:41.969 itself. And honestly, I think that journey from 00:03:41.969 --> 00:03:45.969 1951 to what we just saw in 2026 tells you almost 00:03:45.969 --> 00:03:48.370 everything you need to know about how the NBA 00:03:48.370 --> 00:03:51.210 itself has changed. It's a perfect microcosm 00:03:51.210 --> 00:03:53.530 of the league's entire history. Okay, so let's 00:03:53.530 --> 00:03:55.349 start at the beginning, part one. the desperate 00:03:55.349 --> 00:03:57.569 origins. You mentioned a scandal. And when you 00:03:57.569 --> 00:03:59.349 say scandal, we're not talking about a player 00:03:59.349 --> 00:04:00.930 tweeting something controversial. No, no, no. 00:04:01.009 --> 00:04:02.449 Not even close. We're talking about something 00:04:02.449 --> 00:04:04.449 that almost killed the sport of basketball in 00:04:04.449 --> 00:04:06.310 the public eye. We have to go back to the early 00:04:06.310 --> 00:04:09.669 1950s. And to really get this, you have to strip 00:04:09.669 --> 00:04:11.969 away everything you know about the modern NBA. 00:04:12.289 --> 00:04:14.710 Forget the billion -dollar TV deals. Forget the 00:04:14.710 --> 00:04:16.990 global icons. Forget Nike contracts. Whoa, wait. 00:04:17.009 --> 00:04:18.610 This is not the league we know today. Not at 00:04:18.610 --> 00:04:21.029 all. The NBA was a struggling sort of regional 00:04:21.029 --> 00:04:24.029 league that was barely breaking even. But the 00:04:24.029 --> 00:04:26.350 biggest cloud hanging over the entire sport of 00:04:26.350 --> 00:04:28.889 basketball wasn't even about the pros. It was 00:04:28.889 --> 00:04:31.649 about the college game. The point shaving scandal. 00:04:31.870 --> 00:04:34.529 The point shaving scandal. And we really need 00:04:34.529 --> 00:04:38.589 to pause on just how massive this was. In 1950, 00:04:38.889 --> 00:04:42.990 1951, college basketball was king. Bigger than 00:04:42.990 --> 00:04:45.449 the pros. Oh, much bigger. The center of the 00:04:45.449 --> 00:04:47.589 basketball universe was New York City and Madison 00:04:47.589 --> 00:04:49.850 Square Garden. And the kings of that universe 00:04:49.850 --> 00:04:53.339 were CCNY, the City College of New York. This 00:04:53.339 --> 00:04:56.899 is the team that won both the NCAA and NIT tournaments 00:04:56.899 --> 00:04:59.240 in the same year, right? A historic achievement. 00:04:59.519 --> 00:05:01.439 Exactly. They pulled off the double Grand Slam. 00:05:01.560 --> 00:05:02.959 It's the only time it's ever happened. These 00:05:02.959 --> 00:05:04.959 guys were heroes in New York. They were celebrities. 00:05:05.279 --> 00:05:08.879 And then the news broke. The arrest. They, along 00:05:08.879 --> 00:05:11.079 with players from several other prominent schools, 00:05:11.459 --> 00:05:13.920 were arrested for taking money from bookies and 00:05:13.920 --> 00:05:17.089 mobsters to shave points. And shaving points, 00:05:17.230 --> 00:05:18.610 just to be clear for anyone who doesn't know, 00:05:18.670 --> 00:05:20.569 doesn't mean losing the game. No, that's the 00:05:20.569 --> 00:05:23.310 insidious part. It means making sure your team 00:05:23.310 --> 00:05:26.790 wins, but by less than the point spread. So if 00:05:26.790 --> 00:05:28.850 the spread is 10 points, you make sure you only 00:05:28.850 --> 00:05:31.970 win by eight. It's almost impossible for a casual 00:05:31.970 --> 00:05:34.990 fan to detect. Which makes even more damaging 00:05:34.990 --> 00:05:37.480 to public trust. Absolutely. And this wasn't 00:05:37.480 --> 00:05:40.579 just a few bad apples. It was systemic. The fallout 00:05:40.579 --> 00:05:43.500 was nuclear. It completely shattered the public's 00:05:43.500 --> 00:05:45.959 faith in the sport. It effectively killed the 00:05:45.959 --> 00:05:48.019 reputation of college basketball in New York 00:05:48.019 --> 00:05:50.860 for a generation. It did. And the problem for 00:05:50.860 --> 00:05:53.480 the NBA was that the public didn't really distinguish 00:05:53.480 --> 00:05:56.139 between college basketball and pro basketball. 00:05:56.360 --> 00:05:58.560 They just saw basketball. They just saw basketball 00:05:58.560 --> 00:06:01.800 and thought. They thought, why should I pay my 00:06:01.800 --> 00:06:03.839 hard -earned money to watch this? The outcome 00:06:03.839 --> 00:06:05.980 is probably determined by some guy in a smoke 00:06:05.980 --> 00:06:08.459 -filled back room. So Maurice Podoloff, the NBA 00:06:08.459 --> 00:06:10.379 president at the time, is sitting in his office, 00:06:10.500 --> 00:06:13.279 and he's not just worried about ticket sales 00:06:13.279 --> 00:06:16.240 for next Tuesday's game. He's worried about the 00:06:16.240 --> 00:06:19.160 existential legitimacy of the entire sport. He's 00:06:19.160 --> 00:06:21.420 worried the whole enterprise could just collapse. 00:06:21.860 --> 00:06:24.980 So the NBA needed a PR win, and they needed it 00:06:24.980 --> 00:06:27.920 bad. They had to do something, anything, to regain 00:06:27.920 --> 00:06:30.300 public attention and prove that professional 00:06:30.300 --> 00:06:32.500 basketball was still a premier entertainment 00:06:32.500 --> 00:06:35.220 product, and more importantly, an honest one. 00:06:35.360 --> 00:06:37.439 Right. They needed a good story. They needed 00:06:37.439 --> 00:06:40.079 a distraction. So who are the brains behind this 00:06:40.079 --> 00:06:42.699 whole operation? Because usually these big ideas 00:06:42.699 --> 00:06:45.300 start in a boardroom with 20 consultants and 00:06:45.300 --> 00:06:47.800 a PowerPoint presentation. This was much smaller, 00:06:47.939 --> 00:06:50.360 much more of a Hail Mary. You essentially had 00:06:50.360 --> 00:06:52.720 three key players. You had Maurice Podoloff, 00:06:52.720 --> 00:06:54.860 the president. You had a man named Haskell Cullen. 00:06:54.860 --> 00:06:57.319 who is the NBA's publicity director. And then 00:06:57.319 --> 00:06:59.420 you had Walter A. Brown, the owner of the Boston 00:06:59.420 --> 00:07:02.100 Celtics. OK, so the league office and a very 00:07:02.100 --> 00:07:05.279 important owner. Right. And Haskell Cohen is 00:07:05.279 --> 00:07:07.819 really the one who gets the ball rolling. He 00:07:07.819 --> 00:07:10.279 looked over at Major League Baseball and he saw 00:07:10.279 --> 00:07:13.439 how incredibly successful their all -star game 00:07:13.439 --> 00:07:15.420 was. Which had been around for a while at that 00:07:15.420 --> 00:07:18.860 point. Since 1933. It was a huge, established, 00:07:19.019 --> 00:07:23.139 midsummer classic. Cohen suggested an exhibition 00:07:23.139 --> 00:07:26.160 game featuring the league's best players. He 00:07:26.160 --> 00:07:28.779 basically said, if baseball can do it, why can't 00:07:28.779 --> 00:07:31.139 we? And I'm guessing everyone in the room just 00:07:31.139 --> 00:07:34.000 immediately loved the idea. Because in hindsight, 00:07:34.139 --> 00:07:36.420 it seems like such a no -brainer. Put all your 00:07:36.420 --> 00:07:38.779 best guys on the floor, throw the ball up, and 00:07:38.779 --> 00:07:41.139 print money. Not at all. That's the most fascinating 00:07:41.139 --> 00:07:44.160 part of the story. Most people... including the 00:07:44.160 --> 00:07:46.879 president, Podolov, were incredibly skeptical. 00:07:47.100 --> 00:07:48.980 They were pessimistic. They didn't think anyone 00:07:48.980 --> 00:07:52.019 would come. Why? What was the logic there? Podolov 00:07:52.019 --> 00:07:54.680 literally told him, nobody wants to see these 00:07:54.680 --> 00:07:57.259 guys play for nothing. The assumption was that 00:07:57.259 --> 00:07:59.699 without the integrity of a league standing, which, 00:07:59.759 --> 00:08:01.939 again, fans already doubted because of the scandals, 00:08:01.980 --> 00:08:04.819 the product was worthless. Why would fans pay 00:08:04.819 --> 00:08:07.060 money to watch a game that didn't count? It's 00:08:07.060 --> 00:08:08.899 a fair question, I guess, from their perspective 00:08:08.899 --> 00:08:10.600 at the time. Especially when you're fighting 00:08:10.600 --> 00:08:13.120 for every dollar. So the idea was dead in the 00:08:13.120 --> 00:08:16.379 water. Until Walter Brown stepped up. A Celtics 00:08:16.379 --> 00:08:19.120 owner. Walter Brown was the catalyst. He believed 00:08:19.120 --> 00:08:21.620 in the idea. He stepped up and said, I'll host 00:08:21.620 --> 00:08:25.019 it. He offered to hold the very first game at 00:08:25.019 --> 00:08:29.819 the Boston Garden on March 10, 1951. But then 00:08:29.819 --> 00:08:31.819 he went even further. What'd he do? He told the 00:08:31.819 --> 00:08:34.100 league he would personally cover all the expenses. 00:08:34.679 --> 00:08:36.779 The travel for the players, the lodging, the 00:08:36.779 --> 00:08:39.100 promotion, everything. Wow. And not just the 00:08:39.100 --> 00:08:41.720 expenses. He promised to cover any potential 00:08:41.720 --> 00:08:44.080 losses incurred from the game. It was a massive 00:08:44.080 --> 00:08:46.500 financial gamble on his part. So he was basically 00:08:46.500 --> 00:08:49.399 saying, if this thing is a total disaster and 00:08:49.399 --> 00:08:51.919 we lose money, the check comes out of my pocket, 00:08:52.019 --> 00:08:54.240 not the league's. Precisely. He was ensuring 00:08:54.240 --> 00:08:56.379 the league's reputation with his own bank account. 00:08:56.539 --> 00:08:59.000 He put his own wallet on the line to prove this 00:08:59.000 --> 00:09:02.009 concept could work. That is a true put your money 00:09:02.009 --> 00:09:04.710 where your mouth is moment. It's almost impossible 00:09:04.710 --> 00:09:07.529 to imagine an owner today doing that without 00:09:07.529 --> 00:09:10.690 a whole team of analysts guaranteeing a 10 to 00:09:10.690 --> 00:09:12.710 1 return on investment. It's a different world. 00:09:12.950 --> 00:09:17.730 So March 2, 1951, the first game happens, Boston 00:09:17.730 --> 00:09:19.750 Garden. What was the result on the court? Well, 00:09:19.750 --> 00:09:21.409 it was a classic format right from the jump. 00:09:21.610 --> 00:09:23.809 Eastern All -Stars versus the Western All -Stars. 00:09:23.830 --> 00:09:28.960 The East won 111 to 94. Fittingly, since the 00:09:28.960 --> 00:09:31.220 game was in Boston, Celtic took home the first 00:09:31.220 --> 00:09:34.220 ever MVP award, Ed McCauley. A hometown hero. 00:09:34.320 --> 00:09:37.259 Perfect. But the score, as you said, probably 00:09:37.259 --> 00:09:39.220 mattered a lot less than the gate receipts, right? 00:09:39.480 --> 00:09:42.700 Did people actually show up or was Podoloff right 00:09:42.700 --> 00:09:45.139 to be skeptical? That was the aha moment. Yeah. 00:09:45.259 --> 00:09:48.299 The big reveal. The attendance was 10 ,094. 10 00:09:48.299 --> 00:09:51.519 ,000. Now, to you and me in 2026, where we just 00:09:51.519 --> 00:09:54.139 saw the game in a dome with 18 ,000 people and 00:09:54.139 --> 00:09:56.259 millions watching around the world, that might 00:09:56.259 --> 00:09:59.019 sound... You know, a decent crowd. Right. It 00:09:59.019 --> 00:10:00.980 doesn't sound world shattering. But you have 00:10:00.980 --> 00:10:02.980 to contextualize it. Right. The season average 00:10:02.980 --> 00:10:05.519 attendance for a regular season NBA game at that 00:10:05.519 --> 00:10:07.379 time was only about 3 ,500 people. OK, wait. 00:10:07.440 --> 00:10:09.220 So they almost tripled the average attendance 00:10:09.220 --> 00:10:11.539 for a single exhibition game. Exactly. It was 00:10:11.539 --> 00:10:14.879 a massive, unqualified success. It proved that 00:10:14.879 --> 00:10:17.830 people. did want to see the stars. Regardless 00:10:17.830 --> 00:10:20.769 of the stakes, it completely shifted the trajectory 00:10:20.769 --> 00:10:23.269 of the league. It validated the whole idea. It 00:10:23.269 --> 00:10:26.009 turned a public relations crisis into a foundational 00:10:26.009 --> 00:10:28.889 tradition. Without that gamble by Walter Brown, 00:10:29.070 --> 00:10:30.970 we might not be sitting here talking about the 00:10:30.970 --> 00:10:34.370 2026 tournament today. It proved that the spectacle 00:10:34.370 --> 00:10:37.289 of basketball had a value all its own, independent 00:10:37.289 --> 00:10:40.289 of the championship race. It's just wild to think 00:10:40.289 --> 00:10:42.509 that all the glitz and glamour we see now, the 00:10:42.509 --> 00:10:45.169 pyrotechnics, the celebrity halftime shows, the 00:10:45.169 --> 00:10:47.509 millions and millions of dollars, it all started 00:10:47.509 --> 00:10:49.710 because a guy in Boston promised to cover the 00:10:49.710 --> 00:10:51.669 losses just to get people to trust the sport 00:10:51.669 --> 00:10:54.250 of basketball again. It really is. And that initial 00:10:54.250 --> 00:10:57.269 success, it's cemented the format for decades. 00:10:57.509 --> 00:10:59.889 For a very long time, it was simple. It was East 00:10:59.889 --> 00:11:02.610 versus West. The best from one side of the country 00:11:02.610 --> 00:11:04.809 against the best from the other. Which brings 00:11:04.809 --> 00:11:07.149 us right into part two, the evolution of the 00:11:07.149 --> 00:11:09.990 game. Because for a long, long time, East versus 00:11:09.990 --> 00:11:12.690 West wasn't just a format. It was an identity. 00:11:12.870 --> 00:11:16.429 It was a real rivalry. From 1951 all the way 00:11:16.429 --> 00:11:19.990 until 2017, that was the standard. And for most 00:11:19.990 --> 00:11:22.169 of that history, the East actually dominated 00:11:22.169 --> 00:11:25.129 that rivalry. Really? That surprises me. I feel 00:11:25.129 --> 00:11:28.679 like... For my entire adult life, at least, the 00:11:28.679 --> 00:11:31.620 West has been so strong. You think about the 00:11:31.620 --> 00:11:34.179 Warriors dynasty, the Lakers with Kobe and Shaq, 00:11:34.259 --> 00:11:36.759 the Duncan era Spurs. It just feels like the 00:11:36.759 --> 00:11:39.179 West has been the power conference for so long. 00:11:39.360 --> 00:11:41.379 They're a perfect example of recency bias at 00:11:41.379 --> 00:11:44.080 work. If you look at the entire East versus West 00:11:44.080 --> 00:11:46.980 era, the East holds the all -time lead with 38 00:11:46.980 --> 00:11:50.399 wins against just 29 losses. Huh. Okay. So for 00:11:50.399 --> 00:11:52.779 a long time, they each really ran things. But 00:11:52.779 --> 00:11:54.700 eventually, a new problem emerged with the format. 00:11:55.129 --> 00:11:57.190 It wasn't an external scandal this time. It was 00:11:57.190 --> 00:11:59.509 the product itself on the court. Right. Let me 00:11:59.509 --> 00:12:02.009 guess. The defense just disappeared. Completely. 00:12:02.149 --> 00:12:04.870 Vanished. Over time, the game became purely about 00:12:04.870 --> 00:12:07.850 flashy dunks, alley -oops, and ridiculously inflated 00:12:07.850 --> 00:12:10.269 scores. The competitive edge that existed in 00:12:10.269 --> 00:12:12.269 those early days where players actually felt 00:12:12.269 --> 00:12:13.909 conference pride and wanted to beat the other 00:12:13.909 --> 00:12:16.350 guys for bragging rights, it just eroded. It 00:12:16.350 --> 00:12:18.669 became a layup line. A very, very expensive layup 00:12:18.669 --> 00:12:21.330 line. I remember those games in the mid -2010s. 00:12:21.929 --> 00:12:23.789 The final scores were getting absolutely ridiculous. 00:12:24.149 --> 00:12:27.990 Like 196 to 173. It looked like a video game 00:12:27.990 --> 00:12:30.309 on rookie mode with the sliders all the way up. 00:12:30.370 --> 00:12:32.389 Guys were literally moving out of each other's 00:12:32.389 --> 00:12:34.690 way to let people dunk. There was no resistance. 00:12:35.070 --> 00:12:37.070 It stopped looking like a basketball game and 00:12:37.070 --> 00:12:39.090 started looking more like a glorified warm -up 00:12:39.090 --> 00:12:41.549 drill. Precisely. And the fans started complaining. 00:12:41.750 --> 00:12:43.669 You could hear it in the discourse, see it on 00:12:43.669 --> 00:12:46.909 social media. The ratings started to dip. The 00:12:46.909 --> 00:12:49.889 prestige of being an all -star was fading because 00:12:49.889 --> 00:12:52.190 the game itself looked like a joke. So the league 00:12:52.190 --> 00:12:55.250 had to do something. They did. So in October 00:12:55.250 --> 00:12:58.490 2017, they decided to blow it all up. They announced 00:12:58.490 --> 00:13:01.549 the end of the East versus West era. Starting 00:13:01.549 --> 00:13:04.309 with the 2018 game, they introduced the Captains 00:13:04.309 --> 00:13:06.710 in Draft era. I have to admit, I actually loved 00:13:06.710 --> 00:13:09.230 this format. You take the top vote getter from 00:13:09.230 --> 00:13:11.610 each conference, you make them captains, and 00:13:11.610 --> 00:13:13.490 you let them pick their teams playground style 00:13:13.490 --> 00:13:16.490 right there on TV. It felt like recess. It added 00:13:16.490 --> 00:13:19.809 this great layer of personal intrigue. You know, 00:13:19.830 --> 00:13:21.850 who picked whom, who got picked last. It was 00:13:21.850 --> 00:13:24.629 drama. And the key mechanic was that they could 00:13:24.629 --> 00:13:27.529 draft from the entire pool of all -stars, regardless 00:13:27.529 --> 00:13:29.909 of conference. Which broke down all those old 00:13:29.909 --> 00:13:32.480 geographical barriers. Totally. And that led 00:13:32.480 --> 00:13:34.679 to some really crazy roster constructions that 00:13:34.679 --> 00:13:36.700 you would never have seen under the old system. 00:13:36.799 --> 00:13:38.919 And the most notable moment of that era has to 00:13:38.919 --> 00:13:42.639 be the very first game, 2018. Team LeBron versus 00:13:42.639 --> 00:13:45.320 Team Steven. Yep. Because of that draft format, 00:13:45.480 --> 00:13:48.440 Team Steven managed to draft four players from 00:13:48.440 --> 00:13:51.139 a single team, the Golden State Warriors. Four 00:13:51.139 --> 00:13:53.309 players from one team. That has to be a record, 00:13:53.409 --> 00:13:55.690 right? It tied the record, actually. It had happened 00:13:55.690 --> 00:13:58.309 a couple of times before, way back in 1962 with 00:13:58.309 --> 00:14:01.529 both the Celtics and the Lakers. But seeing four 00:14:01.529 --> 00:14:04.509 Warriors on the same All -Star squad in the modern 00:14:04.509 --> 00:14:07.509 era really highlighted the super team dynamic 00:14:07.509 --> 00:14:09.389 we were in. I mean, you had Steph Curry, Kevin 00:14:09.389 --> 00:14:11.669 Durant, Klay Thompson, and Draymond Green all 00:14:11.669 --> 00:14:13.429 on the same All -Star team. It was basically 00:14:13.429 --> 00:14:16.309 the Warriors' starting lineup plus one. It was. 00:14:16.610 --> 00:14:19.450 But even with the draft, which fixed the roster 00:14:19.450 --> 00:14:22.009 problem, the end of the games could still be 00:14:22.009 --> 00:14:25.230 a bit, well, anticlimactic. For sure. You know, 00:14:25.230 --> 00:14:27.570 if one team was up by 15 with two minutes left, 00:14:27.669 --> 00:14:29.210 it was still just guys running out the clock. 00:14:29.549 --> 00:14:32.169 The fourth quarter often felt like a formality. 00:14:32.570 --> 00:14:35.990 Which leads us to maybe the single most significant 00:14:35.990 --> 00:14:38.409 innovation in recent sports history, and I don't 00:14:38.409 --> 00:14:40.710 think that's an exaggeration, the Elam ending. 00:14:40.909 --> 00:14:44.029 2020. The Kobe Bryant tribute. This was such 00:14:44.029 --> 00:14:46.230 a powerful moment. It was a pivotal moment for 00:14:46.230 --> 00:14:48.389 the league. Yeah. Kobe had tragically passed 00:14:48.389 --> 00:14:51.710 away just a month prior to the 2020 game in Chicago. 00:14:52.190 --> 00:14:55.289 The entire basketball world was just reeling 00:14:55.289 --> 00:14:58.289 just in mourning. And the league wanted to honor 00:14:58.289 --> 00:15:00.250 him, but they also desperately wanted to fix 00:15:00.250 --> 00:15:02.710 this fourth quarter problem. So they introduced 00:15:02.710 --> 00:15:05.210 the Elam ending. OK, so for those who might have 00:15:05.210 --> 00:15:07.110 forgotten how this works, because, again, we've 00:15:07.110 --> 00:15:09.250 already changed format since then, break down 00:15:09.250 --> 00:15:11.750 the Elam ending for us, because on paper, it 00:15:11.750 --> 00:15:13.470 sounds really confusing. You're telling me you 00:15:13.470 --> 00:15:16.129 just turn off the clock. It sounds totally counterintuitive, 00:15:16.169 --> 00:15:19.179 but it's brilliant in its simplicity. So the 00:15:19.179 --> 00:15:21.080 game clock is turned off for the entire fourth 00:15:21.080 --> 00:15:23.000 quarter. Instead of playing for a set amount 00:15:23.000 --> 00:15:25.679 of time, you are playing to a target score. Okay. 00:15:25.799 --> 00:15:28.259 And to honor Kobe, they set that target score 00:15:28.259 --> 00:15:30.919 by taking the leading team score after three 00:15:30.919 --> 00:15:33.919 quarters and adding 24 points for Kobe's number. 00:15:34.220 --> 00:15:37.100 The first team to hit that target score wins 00:15:37.100 --> 00:15:39.639 the game. And the psychology of that is just 00:15:39.639 --> 00:15:42.039 fascinating because it forces a game -winning 00:15:42.039 --> 00:15:44.480 shot every single time. There's no other way 00:15:44.480 --> 00:15:45.980 to win. You can't just dribble out the clock. 00:15:46.179 --> 00:15:47.960 Exactly. Think about a normal basketball game. 00:15:48.220 --> 00:15:50.559 If you're down by 10 with a minute left, what 00:15:50.559 --> 00:15:52.840 do you do? You foul. You stop the clock. You 00:15:52.840 --> 00:15:55.360 intentionally foul. You stop the game. You turn 00:15:55.360 --> 00:15:57.799 it into a free show contest. It's slow. It's 00:15:57.799 --> 00:16:00.659 boring. It's terrible TV. Or in an all -star 00:16:00.659 --> 00:16:02.779 game, if you're up by 20, you just stop trying. 00:16:02.980 --> 00:16:05.620 You let the clock bleed out. The ELAM ending 00:16:05.620 --> 00:16:08.940 removes the bleed out option. You cannot win 00:16:08.940 --> 00:16:11.799 by existing. You have to win by scoring. And 00:16:11.799 --> 00:16:15.769 the result in 2020 was electric. I remember watching 00:16:15.769 --> 00:16:17.889 that. I was on the edge of my seat. You had the 00:16:17.889 --> 00:16:21.309 best players in the world, LeBron, Giannis, Kawhi, 00:16:21.470 --> 00:16:24.250 Chris Paul, suddenly realizing, wait a minute, 00:16:24.350 --> 00:16:27.009 I can't just chill. If I don't get a stop right 00:16:27.009 --> 00:16:29.909 now, we lose. That 2020 game is the perfect case 00:16:29.909 --> 00:16:32.909 study. It created this incredible urgency. Players 00:16:32.909 --> 00:16:34.830 were actually playing defense. They were drawing 00:16:34.830 --> 00:16:38.450 charges. We saw Kyle Lowry in an exhibition game 00:16:38.450 --> 00:16:41.750 step in and take a charge against Kawhi Leonard 00:16:41.750 --> 00:16:45.429 in a clutch moment. A charge! In the All -Star 00:16:45.429 --> 00:16:47.169 game, I remember seeing that play and just thinking, 00:16:47.230 --> 00:16:49.830 OK, this works. That singular play proved the 00:16:49.830 --> 00:16:52.289 format worked. It reintroduced risk and consequence. 00:16:52.570 --> 00:16:55.490 And arguments with the refs. You saw real, genuine 00:16:55.490 --> 00:16:57.629 intensity. Now, that game did end with an Anthony 00:16:57.629 --> 00:16:59.850 Davis walk -off free throw, which was a little 00:16:59.850 --> 00:17:02.190 anticlimactic as a final play. Yeah, a little 00:17:02.190 --> 00:17:03.870 bit. But the possessions leading up to it were 00:17:03.870 --> 00:17:05.609 some of the most competitive, compelling All 00:17:05.609 --> 00:17:08.470 -Star minutes we had seen in decades. It proved 00:17:08.470 --> 00:17:11.200 that if you change the incentives... The players 00:17:11.200 --> 00:17:13.380 will absolutely compete. It really, really felt 00:17:13.380 --> 00:17:15.579 like they had finally cracked the code. But the 00:17:15.579 --> 00:17:18.660 NBA never sits still. They kept tinkering. And 00:17:18.660 --> 00:17:21.420 that brings us to the last two years, the era 00:17:21.420 --> 00:17:24.380 of the tournament experiments. Right. We saw 00:17:24.380 --> 00:17:27.619 a brief. and kind of unpopular return to East 00:17:27.619 --> 00:17:31.079 versus West. But then in 2025, they went completely 00:17:31.079 --> 00:17:33.599 off the board with the inside the NBA format. 00:17:33.680 --> 00:17:36.359 That was wild. A four -team mini tournament. 00:17:36.480 --> 00:17:38.299 I remember the announcement and thinking, what 00:17:38.299 --> 00:17:41.420 are they doing? It was 24 All -Stars plus some 00:17:41.420 --> 00:17:44.539 of the top rising stars. And they had four teams 00:17:44.539 --> 00:17:48.039 named after the TV analysts. Team Shaq, Team 00:17:48.039 --> 00:17:50.660 Chuck, Team Kenny, and Team Candace Parker. I 00:17:50.660 --> 00:17:53.569 remember that. And Shaq's team, Shaq's OGs ended 00:17:53.569 --> 00:17:55.769 up winning the whole thing. They did. They beat 00:17:55.769 --> 00:17:58.029 Candice's Rising Stars and Chuck's Global Stars. 00:17:58.269 --> 00:18:00.430 It was fun. You know, it's the novelty. But it 00:18:00.430 --> 00:18:02.730 felt a bit like a TV show gimmick. It felt less 00:18:02.730 --> 00:18:04.990 like a major sporting event and more like a reality 00:18:04.990 --> 00:18:06.730 show challenge. I think that's a perfect way 00:18:06.730 --> 00:18:09.730 to put it. What brings us to this year, the 2026 00:18:09.730 --> 00:18:12.089 format we just witnessed here in Inglewood. The 00:18:12.089 --> 00:18:14.910 USA versus World Tournament. And this format 00:18:14.910 --> 00:18:17.269 really reflects the changing landscape of the 00:18:17.269 --> 00:18:20.769 league. The talent pool is so global now, so 00:18:20.769 --> 00:18:24.130 deep, that a single world team isn't just a novelty. 00:18:24.289 --> 00:18:26.710 It's a legitimate powerhouse. So the format was 00:18:26.710 --> 00:18:29.730 three teams in total, one world team with eight 00:18:29.730 --> 00:18:32.349 of the best international players, and then two 00:18:32.349 --> 00:18:35.589 separate U .S. teams, 16 American players divided 00:18:35.589 --> 00:18:39.029 into USA Stars and USA Stripes. Very interesting 00:18:39.029 --> 00:18:41.589 setup. We have to talk about how that final bracket 00:18:41.589 --> 00:18:44.089 played out. We went into the weekend so hyped 00:18:44.089 --> 00:18:46.710 for USA versus the world. The narrative was set. 00:18:47.130 --> 00:18:50.170 The world team has multiple MVPs, Luka, Giannis, 00:18:50.289 --> 00:18:53.250 Jokic, Wemby. The expectation was a coronation 00:18:53.250 --> 00:18:54.910 of the international game. And mathematically, 00:18:55.109 --> 00:18:56.990 you could argue the world team was at a disadvantage 00:18:56.990 --> 00:18:59.490 from the start one team against two USA squads. 00:18:59.690 --> 00:19:01.769 But the shock wasn't the math. It was the on 00:19:01.769 --> 00:19:03.910 -court chemistry, or lack thereof. The bracket 00:19:03.910 --> 00:19:06.289 was a little complex. It was a round robin. Game 00:19:06.289 --> 00:19:09.109 one was team A versus team B. Game two was the 00:19:09.109 --> 00:19:11.710 winner of game one versus team C. And game three 00:19:11.710 --> 00:19:14.180 was the loser of game one versus team C. Right. 00:19:14.339 --> 00:19:17.059 It was a three -game round robin to determine 00:19:17.059 --> 00:19:19.660 the two finalists and looking at the results. 00:19:19.880 --> 00:19:24.059 The first game, USA Stars beat Team World in 00:19:24.059 --> 00:19:27.160 overtime. It was a thriller. That was the game 00:19:27.160 --> 00:19:30.759 of the weekend by far. No question. Then USA 00:19:30.759 --> 00:19:34.759 Stripes beat USA Stars. And the final round robin 00:19:34.759 --> 00:19:38.660 game, USA Stripes beat Team World. So both USA 00:19:38.660 --> 00:19:40.859 teams beat the world team and made the final. 00:19:41.119 --> 00:19:44.119 Exactly. The championship game was USA Stars 00:19:44.119 --> 00:19:48.019 versus USA Stripes. And the Stars, led by Anthony 00:19:48.019 --> 00:19:51.579 Edwards, just took it to them, 47 to 21. A bit 00:19:51.579 --> 00:19:53.519 of a blowout in the final, but those round -robin 00:19:53.519 --> 00:19:55.970 games were tight. It's just so interesting that 00:19:55.970 --> 00:19:57.670 with all the talk of international dominance, 00:19:57.829 --> 00:19:59.970 the final ended up being an all -American affair. 00:20:00.289 --> 00:20:02.569 Well, again, the USA had two teams, so the odds 00:20:02.569 --> 00:20:04.170 were slightly in their favor. But I think it 00:20:04.170 --> 00:20:06.210 also shows the depth of U .S. talent is still 00:20:06.210 --> 00:20:08.789 absolutely incredible. That USA Stars squad, 00:20:08.950 --> 00:20:10.829 the Anthony Edwards team, they plated the chip 00:20:10.829 --> 00:20:12.529 on their shoulder we haven't seen in years. It 00:20:12.529 --> 00:20:14.789 really felt like a direct response to all the 00:20:14.789 --> 00:20:17.049 world champion discourse from the last Olympics 00:20:17.049 --> 00:20:19.230 and World Cup. I think it was. By the time they 00:20:19.230 --> 00:20:21.450 got to that all -American final, the statement 00:20:21.450 --> 00:20:24.420 had been made. But it does bring us to this weird 00:20:24.420 --> 00:20:28.339 place. We now have a tournament format that is 00:20:28.339 --> 00:20:30.900 clearly trying to manufacture the intensity of 00:20:30.900 --> 00:20:33.339 the playoffs because the old exhibition model 00:20:33.339 --> 00:20:36.779 is officially dead. And that's the real key takeaway 00:20:36.779 --> 00:20:39.180 from all these format changes, isn't it? The 00:20:39.180 --> 00:20:41.519 league realized that the word exhibition implies 00:20:41.519 --> 00:20:44.940 meaningless. Exactly. But tournament implies 00:20:44.940 --> 00:20:48.599 stakes. Even if the prize money isn't life -changing 00:20:48.599 --> 00:20:51.640 for these guys, the format itself, with a bracket 00:20:51.640 --> 00:20:54.400 and a final, forces a winner and a loser in a 00:20:54.400 --> 00:20:56.900 much more direct and compelling way. Okay, let's 00:20:56.900 --> 00:20:58.640 unpack how these guys actually get there in the 00:20:58.640 --> 00:21:00.299 first place. Because you can have all the fancy 00:21:00.299 --> 00:21:01.839 formats you want, but if you don't pick the right 00:21:01.839 --> 00:21:04.539 players, it doesn't matter one bit. This brings 00:21:04.539 --> 00:21:07.359 us to part three, the mechanics of selection. 00:21:07.759 --> 00:21:10.200 Right. And the voting process is something the 00:21:10.200 --> 00:21:12.819 NBA takes very, very seriously. And it has evolved 00:21:12.819 --> 00:21:15.279 significantly over the years. It used to be a 00:21:15.279 --> 00:21:17.220 popularity contest, pure and simple. It used 00:21:17.220 --> 00:21:19.460 to just be the fans stuffing ballot boxes at 00:21:19.460 --> 00:21:21.779 the arena, right? For a very long time, yes. 00:21:22.399 --> 00:21:26.299 But that led to some questionable results. So 00:21:26.299 --> 00:21:29.180 in 2017, they changed the weighting. Now, the 00:21:29.180 --> 00:21:31.539 fan vote accounts for 50 percent. The player 00:21:31.539 --> 00:21:34.359 vote accounts for 25 percent. And the media vote 00:21:34.359 --> 00:21:37.140 accounts for the final 25 percent. That player 00:21:37.140 --> 00:21:39.220 vote is always so interesting to look at when 00:21:39.220 --> 00:21:41.059 the results come out. You can really see some 00:21:41.059 --> 00:21:43.140 of the petty rivalries come out in the voting. 00:21:43.240 --> 00:21:45.259 Oh, you do. You see guys leaving their sworn 00:21:45.259 --> 00:21:47.980 enemies off the ballot entirely or voting for 00:21:47.980 --> 00:21:50.420 their own teammates who, you know, clearly don't 00:21:50.420 --> 00:21:53.609 deserve it. You do see that. But it also balances 00:21:53.609 --> 00:21:56.809 out the pure popularity contest aspect of the 00:21:56.809 --> 00:21:59.490 fan vote. You remember those years where a guy 00:21:59.490 --> 00:22:01.609 like Zaza Pachuli almost became a starter just 00:22:01.609 --> 00:22:03.569 because of a coordinated Internet campaign from 00:22:03.569 --> 00:22:05.369 his home country? I do. It was a running joke 00:22:05.369 --> 00:22:07.369 for a while. The current waiting system prevents 00:22:07.369 --> 00:22:09.710 those kinds of anomalies from actually taking 00:22:09.710 --> 00:22:13.009 a roster spot from a more deserving star. The 00:22:13.009 --> 00:22:15.029 players and media act as a check and balance. 00:22:15.250 --> 00:22:17.309 And speaking of the fan vote, the accessibility 00:22:17.309 --> 00:22:21.170 has changed so much. Hugely. Since 2003, the 00:22:21.170 --> 00:22:23.049 official ballots have been offered in English, 00:22:23.170 --> 00:22:25.750 Spanish and Chinese. That was a massive step 00:22:25.750 --> 00:22:28.150 in acknowledging the league's global fan base, 00:22:28.309 --> 00:22:30.950 particularly in China, with Yao Ming's rise. 00:22:31.130 --> 00:22:33.170 The sheer volume of votes coming from overseas 00:22:33.170 --> 00:22:36.529 now must be staggering. It is. It has a real 00:22:36.529 --> 00:22:38.890 impact on who the starters are. Now, one of the 00:22:38.890 --> 00:22:40.829 biggest changes in who gets voted for has been 00:22:40.829 --> 00:22:42.829 the treatment of positions. I remember growing 00:22:42.829 --> 00:22:44.849 up, you had to pick a center. It was a required 00:22:44.849 --> 00:22:47.390 field on the ballot. The death of the center, 00:22:47.529 --> 00:22:50.349 as it's often called. Prior to 2013, the ballot 00:22:50.349 --> 00:22:53.529 was very strict. Two forwards, two guards and 00:22:53.529 --> 00:22:56.349 one center. But the game itself was changing. 00:22:56.589 --> 00:22:58.490 Small ball. Teams started playing small ball. 00:22:58.630 --> 00:23:00.769 The traditional back to the basket center, the 00:23:00.769 --> 00:23:03.529 Patrick Ewing or Shaq type was fading away. More 00:23:03.529 --> 00:23:05.769 teams were using versatile, shooting big men. 00:23:05.910 --> 00:23:08.289 So they changed the ballot to reflect that. In 00:23:08.289 --> 00:23:10.670 2013, they eliminated the center designation 00:23:10.670 --> 00:23:13.849 entirely. Fans started voting for three generic. 00:23:14.430 --> 00:23:16.690 front court players. It didn't matter if there 00:23:16.690 --> 00:23:18.670 were three small forwards or three power forwards. 00:23:18.890 --> 00:23:22.289 And in 2026, what was the rule for this year's 00:23:22.289 --> 00:23:25.150 game? For the first time ever, it was completely 00:23:25.150 --> 00:23:28.049 positionless. The voting for this year's game, 00:23:28.150 --> 00:23:31.450 you just picked your best players. If you thought 00:23:31.450 --> 00:23:33.309 the five best players in the conference were 00:23:33.309 --> 00:23:36.029 all point guards, so be it. You could vote for 00:23:36.029 --> 00:23:38.859 them. That is a huge, huge shift, and it really 00:23:38.859 --> 00:23:41.859 does mirror how the actual game is played now. 00:23:41.980 --> 00:23:44.299 You have savvy footers like Wemby bringing the 00:23:44.299 --> 00:23:45.960 ball up the court and shooting step -back threes. 00:23:46.019 --> 00:23:49.059 The distinction between a guard and a center 00:23:49.059 --> 00:23:52.539 is blurrier than it has ever been. Exactly. The 00:23:52.539 --> 00:23:56.119 ballot is just finally catching up to the reality 00:23:56.119 --> 00:23:58.619 of the sport. But what about the coaches? Because 00:23:58.619 --> 00:24:00.519 at the end of the day, someone has to manage 00:24:00.519 --> 00:24:03.420 all these egos. Someone has to tell Luca to sub 00:24:03.420 --> 00:24:05.799 out for a minute. The coaching selection is generally 00:24:05.799 --> 00:24:08.220 pretty simple. The head coaches of the teams 00:24:08.220 --> 00:24:10.119 with the best record in each conference get to 00:24:10.119 --> 00:24:12.319 lead the All -Stars. But there's a very specific 00:24:12.319 --> 00:24:14.279 and interesting rule attached to it called the 00:24:14.279 --> 00:24:16.759 Riley Rule. I love this rule. It sounds like 00:24:16.759 --> 00:24:19.519 the title of a 1980s action movie. The Riley 00:24:19.519 --> 00:24:22.559 Rule. It's named, as you might guess, after Pat 00:24:22.559 --> 00:24:26.480 Riley, the legendary Lakers coach. In the 1980s, 00:24:26.480 --> 00:24:29.099 the Showtime Lakers were so utterly dominant 00:24:29.099 --> 00:24:31.940 that Riley earned the right to coach the Western 00:24:31.940 --> 00:24:35.079 Conference team eight times in nine seasons. 00:24:35.559 --> 00:24:39.619 between 1982 and 1990. Wait, eight times in nine 00:24:39.619 --> 00:24:42.799 years? That's absurd dominance. He was basically 00:24:42.799 --> 00:24:45.079 the permanent all -star coach for a decade. Yes, 00:24:45.140 --> 00:24:47.299 and the league and probably some of the other 00:24:47.299 --> 00:24:49.319 coaches basically said, okay, this is getting 00:24:49.319 --> 00:24:51.059 a little boring. We need to give some other guys 00:24:51.059 --> 00:24:53.519 a chance. So they instituted the rule. Which 00:24:53.519 --> 00:24:56.339 is? A coach cannot be selected in two consecutive 00:24:56.339 --> 00:24:59.039 years. If your team has the best record again 00:24:59.039 --> 00:25:01.599 the next year, the honor automatically goes to 00:25:01.599 --> 00:25:03.559 the coach of the team. with the second best record. 00:25:03.720 --> 00:25:06.299 I love that. It's basically the Pat Riley was 00:25:06.299 --> 00:25:08.460 too good for his own good rule. It forces variety. 00:25:08.880 --> 00:25:10.819 It does. It also spreads the burden because, 00:25:10.920 --> 00:25:13.460 frankly, not every coach wants to spend their 00:25:13.460 --> 00:25:16.359 only midseason break babysitting a bunch of superstars 00:25:16.359 --> 00:25:18.059 in a different city. That's a good point. So 00:25:18.059 --> 00:25:19.779 we have the starters who are voted in. We have 00:25:19.779 --> 00:25:22.000 the coaches selected by the Riley rule. How are 00:25:22.000 --> 00:25:24.440 the reserves picked? The rest of the team. The 00:25:24.440 --> 00:25:26.400 head coaches from around the league pick the 00:25:26.400 --> 00:25:29.869 reserves. But, and this is a very key detail, 00:25:30.130 --> 00:25:33.670 they cannot vote for their own players. Ah, so 00:25:33.670 --> 00:25:35.869 that prevents any obvious bias. You can't just 00:25:35.869 --> 00:25:37.809 pick your own sixth man to try and get him a 00:25:37.809 --> 00:25:40.630 contract bonus. Correct. Each coach selects two 00:25:40.630 --> 00:25:44.069 guards, three frontcourt players, and two wildcards 00:25:44.069 --> 00:25:47.250 players of any position. This part of the process 00:25:47.250 --> 00:25:50.109 is where the real debates and snubs happen. Right. 00:25:50.250 --> 00:25:53.809 This is where you see the coaches' favorite kind 00:25:53.809 --> 00:25:56.589 of players maybe get rewarded, the defensive 00:25:56.589 --> 00:25:59.730 grinders, the high IQ guys who don't put up flashy 00:25:59.730 --> 00:26:02.509 numbers, but coaches love. Exactly. They get 00:26:02.509 --> 00:26:04.890 rewarded over the flashy scorers who don't play 00:26:04.890 --> 00:26:07.289 a lick of defense. And what happens when someone 00:26:07.289 --> 00:26:09.069 gets hurt? Because it feels like that happens 00:26:09.069 --> 00:26:11.509 every single year. We always have the injury 00:26:11.509 --> 00:26:13.730 replacement drama. The commissioner, Adam Silver, 00:26:13.930 --> 00:26:15.640 currently is the one who... selects the injury 00:26:15.640 --> 00:26:18.099 replacement however there's an important nuance 00:26:18.099 --> 00:26:21.000 here if a starter is injured the commissioner 00:26:21.000 --> 00:26:23.000 picks the new player to be added to the roster 00:26:23.000 --> 00:26:25.500 but the coach of the team is the one who decides 00:26:25.500 --> 00:26:28.079 which of his existing players moves into the 00:26:28.079 --> 00:26:30.460 starting lineup got it so the commissioner doesn't 00:26:30.460 --> 00:26:33.140 get to name a starter Correct. The coach still 00:26:33.140 --> 00:26:35.700 has control over the rotation and the starting 00:26:35.700 --> 00:26:37.980 five. You don't want the commissioner's office 00:26:37.980 --> 00:26:41.180 meddling in on -court lineup decisions. It makes 00:26:41.180 --> 00:26:43.359 perfect sense. Okay, so we've covered the history, 00:26:43.519 --> 00:26:45.759 the evolution of the format, and the nitty -gritty 00:26:45.759 --> 00:26:48.559 of the selection process. But the All -Star Game 00:26:48.559 --> 00:26:51.059 is so much more than just the basketball game 00:26:51.059 --> 00:26:54.740 itself. It's a cultural event. It's a massive 00:26:54.740 --> 00:26:57.619 party. It's where the league flexes its muscle. 00:26:58.059 --> 00:27:01.769 Let's talk Part 4, Spectacle and Society. and 00:27:01.769 --> 00:27:04.569 the venues themselves play a huge role in the 00:27:04.569 --> 00:27:06.950 vibe of the entire weekend. We just mentioned 00:27:06.950 --> 00:27:10.069 the Intuit Dome in Inglewood hosting 2026. This 00:27:10.069 --> 00:27:11.829 is actually a really significant moment because 00:27:11.829 --> 00:27:13.490 it's the first time the Clippers have hosted 00:27:13.490 --> 00:27:15.509 the event individually. Right. They used to have 00:27:15.509 --> 00:27:17.950 to co -host with the Lakers at Staples Center 00:27:17.950 --> 00:27:20.430 or sorry, Crypto .com Arena, whatever we're calling 00:27:20.430 --> 00:27:22.589 it this week. Exactly. So this was a massive 00:27:22.589 --> 00:27:24.849 moment for the Clippers identity as a franchise. 00:27:25.410 --> 00:27:28.130 Steve Ballmer built that arena specifically to 00:27:28.130 --> 00:27:31.069 get out of the Lakers very long shadow. And hosting 00:27:31.069 --> 00:27:34.190 the all -star game there is the ultimate we have 00:27:34.190 --> 00:27:37.480 arrived. statement for them. But if we're talking 00:27:37.480 --> 00:27:40.380 about venues and just pure scale, we have to 00:27:40.380 --> 00:27:42.680 talk about the 2010 game. Oh, yeah. Cowboy Stadium 00:27:42.680 --> 00:27:45.200 in Arlington, Texas. Everything is bigger in 00:27:45.200 --> 00:27:48.420 Texas. And this was proof the NBA decided to 00:27:48.420 --> 00:27:51.119 go as big as they possibly could. They held the 00:27:51.119 --> 00:27:54.380 game in a massive football stadium and the attendance 00:27:54.380 --> 00:27:57.470 record they set that night. is, I think, very 00:27:57.470 --> 00:27:59.670 likely to stand for a very, very long time. How 00:27:59.670 --> 00:28:03.910 many people were there? 108 ,713 attendees. That's 00:28:03.910 --> 00:28:06.029 just mind -boggling for a basketball game. I 00:28:06.029 --> 00:28:07.609 can't even picture it. Usually play in front 00:28:07.609 --> 00:28:10.670 of, what, 20 ,000 people? Tops? It completely 00:28:10.670 --> 00:28:12.589 shattered the previous basketball attendance 00:28:12.589 --> 00:28:15.910 record, which was around 78 ,000 for a college 00:28:15.910 --> 00:28:18.930 game. It turned the game into this. gladiator 00:28:18.930 --> 00:28:21.430 arena spectacle. Now, let's be honest. The sight 00:28:21.430 --> 00:28:23.289 lines for watching a basketball game were probably 00:28:23.289 --> 00:28:25.049 terrible for most people. You must have needed 00:28:25.049 --> 00:28:28.210 binoculars from the top deck. Oh, for sure. But 00:28:28.210 --> 00:28:31.509 the energy, the scale of it, unmatched. It showed 00:28:31.509 --> 00:28:33.869 that the NBA could command a Super Bowl -level 00:28:33.869 --> 00:28:36.390 audience for its premier event. But the choice 00:28:36.390 --> 00:28:38.410 of city isn't always just about who has the biggest, 00:28:38.470 --> 00:28:41.170 newest arena. Sometimes it gets political. It 00:28:41.170 --> 00:28:43.890 does. And the most prominent example of this 00:28:43.890 --> 00:28:47.549 was the entire saga of the 2017 All -Star Game. 00:28:47.960 --> 00:28:50.279 It was originally awarded to the city of Charlotte, 00:28:50.380 --> 00:28:52.339 North Carolina. I remember this very clearly. 00:28:52.380 --> 00:28:55.259 This is the HB2 controversy. Right. And this 00:28:55.259 --> 00:28:57.960 is a really crucial moment in the league's modern 00:28:57.960 --> 00:29:01.480 social history. The state of North Carolina passed 00:29:01.480 --> 00:29:05.079 a law called House Bill 2, which became widely 00:29:05.079 --> 00:29:07.700 known as the bathroom bill. Right. It limited 00:29:07.700 --> 00:29:11.900 legal protections for LGBTQ individuals and specifically 00:29:11.900 --> 00:29:14.819 targeted transgender persons regarding which 00:29:14.819 --> 00:29:17.299 public bathrooms they could use. It became a 00:29:17.299 --> 00:29:19.819 national cultural flashpoint. And the NBA took 00:29:19.819 --> 00:29:22.099 a very hard stance. They didn't just issue a 00:29:22.099 --> 00:29:24.259 vague press release and move on. Not at all. 00:29:24.400 --> 00:29:27.380 They viewed the bill as discriminatory and completely 00:29:27.380 --> 00:29:29.420 incompatible with the league's stated values 00:29:29.420 --> 00:29:32.619 of inclusion and diversity. Adam Silver publicly 00:29:32.619 --> 00:29:34.559 warned the state government that they would move 00:29:34.559 --> 00:29:37.000 the game if the bill wasn't repealed. And North 00:29:37.000 --> 00:29:39.339 Carolina didn't repeal it in time. They didn't. 00:29:39.339 --> 00:29:40.980 So the NBA pulled the trigger. They took the 00:29:40.980 --> 00:29:42.680 game away from Charlotte. They moved it to New 00:29:42.680 --> 00:29:45.640 Orleans. Yes. And we have to really understand 00:29:45.640 --> 00:29:48.579 the magnitude of that decision. The All -Star 00:29:48.579 --> 00:29:51.779 game brings in, conservatively, around $100 million 00:29:51.779 --> 00:29:55.519 in economic impact to a host city. Moving it 00:29:55.519 --> 00:29:58.279 was a massive economic blow to Charlotte and 00:29:58.279 --> 00:30:00.720 a very clear, very loud message from the league. 00:30:00.900 --> 00:30:04.299 And eventually the bill was partially repealed 00:30:04.299 --> 00:30:07.480 and the game did go back. Yes, it was. After 00:30:07.480 --> 00:30:09.619 a partial repeal of the bill, the game did return 00:30:09.619 --> 00:30:12.460 to Charlotte in 2019. But that whole sequence 00:30:12.460 --> 00:30:14.759 of events showed that the All -Star Game is a 00:30:14.759 --> 00:30:17.900 powerful piece of leverage. It's not just a game. 00:30:17.960 --> 00:30:20.299 It's an economic engine that cities fight over. 00:30:20.480 --> 00:30:22.940 And the NBA proved it was willing to weaponize 00:30:22.940 --> 00:30:25.400 that engine to support its values. It's so fascinating 00:30:25.400 --> 00:30:27.720 how a game that was invented to distract from 00:30:27.720 --> 00:30:29.880 a gambling scandal, a game born out of a desperate 00:30:29.880 --> 00:30:32.299 need for good PR, eventually became a tool for 00:30:32.299 --> 00:30:34.539 social and political leverage. It really highlights 00:30:34.539 --> 00:30:36.420 the league's evolution. and social responsibility. 00:30:36.720 --> 00:30:39.200 It shows the confidence of the modern NBA. In 00:30:39.200 --> 00:30:41.420 1951, they were practically begging for attention 00:30:41.420 --> 00:30:44.279 and legitimacy. In 2017, they were dictating 00:30:44.279 --> 00:30:47.339 terms to state governments. Incredible. Before 00:30:47.339 --> 00:30:49.559 we wrap this all up, we have to touch on some 00:30:49.559 --> 00:30:52.039 of the fun oddities and trivia. Because when 00:30:52.039 --> 00:30:54.440 you throw this much talent together for a weekend, 00:30:54.660 --> 00:30:57.240 weird little things are bound to happen. Oh yeah, 00:30:57.380 --> 00:31:01.099 always. One of my favorite statistical quirks 00:31:01.099 --> 00:31:04.700 is the Position swaps, we used to see. We talked 00:31:04.700 --> 00:31:06.920 about how the ballot is positionless now, but 00:31:06.920 --> 00:31:09.180 even before that, fans would just vote for the 00:31:09.180 --> 00:31:12.039 best players regardless of position. Right. In 00:31:12.039 --> 00:31:15.599 2007, for example, Kobe Bryant and Tracy McGrady 00:31:15.599 --> 00:31:18.700 were both voted in as starters in the West. Both 00:31:18.700 --> 00:31:20.660 are quintessential shooting guards. Naturally. 00:31:20.740 --> 00:31:23.200 Two of the best scorers of that generation. But 00:31:23.200 --> 00:31:25.920 you can't have two shooting guards start. Someone 00:31:25.920 --> 00:31:27.839 had to play point guard. So Kobe, being Kobe, 00:31:28.019 --> 00:31:30.079 just started the game at the one. It just shows 00:31:30.079 --> 00:31:32.599 that when you have that much talent, traditional 00:31:32.599 --> 00:31:34.460 positions kind of go out the window. You just 00:31:34.460 --> 00:31:36.619 put the five best guys out there and tell them 00:31:36.619 --> 00:31:38.359 to figure it out. And what about the uniforms? 00:31:38.480 --> 00:31:40.299 I feel like the all -star uniforms are always 00:31:40.299 --> 00:31:43.160 a huge topic of debate every single year. Always. 00:31:44.059 --> 00:31:46.420 Traditionally, it was simple. The West wore red 00:31:46.420 --> 00:31:49.019 and the East wore blue. It was clean. It was 00:31:49.019 --> 00:31:51.700 classic. But there was this wonderfully chaotic 00:31:51.700 --> 00:31:55.960 period from 1997 to 2002 where the players wore 00:31:55.960 --> 00:31:58.500 their own team uniforms. Oh, I remember that. 00:31:58.579 --> 00:32:01.019 It looked like a bag of Skittles just spilled 00:32:01.019 --> 00:32:04.190 out onto the court. You had the Bulls red next 00:32:04.190 --> 00:32:06.390 to the Celtics green next to the Lakers gold 00:32:06.390 --> 00:32:09.089 next to the bright teal of the Hornets. It was 00:32:09.089 --> 00:32:10.890 visual mass. It kind of hurt your eyes to watch. 00:32:11.190 --> 00:32:14.289 But some fans absolutely loved it because you 00:32:14.289 --> 00:32:16.710 could instantly identify which teams the players 00:32:16.710 --> 00:32:18.869 represented. It was a celebration of the individual 00:32:18.869 --> 00:32:22.470 franchises. Now, of course, we have special newly 00:32:22.470 --> 00:32:24.720 designed jerseys every year. Which is obviously 00:32:24.720 --> 00:32:26.599 a huge merchandising play. They need to sell 00:32:26.599 --> 00:32:28.460 those jerseys to the fans. Exactly. It's all 00:32:28.460 --> 00:32:29.900 about the revenue. And I heard that sometimes 00:32:29.900 --> 00:32:32.220 players have to switch their jersey numbers for 00:32:32.220 --> 00:32:34.960 the game. Yes. The best example is Patrick Ewing. 00:32:35.019 --> 00:32:37.779 He was famously number 33 for the New York Knicks 00:32:37.779 --> 00:32:41.079 his entire career. But one year, Larry Bird was 00:32:41.079 --> 00:32:43.500 also on the Eastern Conference team. Bird, of 00:32:43.500 --> 00:32:45.839 course, was also number 33. So who got the number? 00:32:46.160 --> 00:32:48.910 Ewing, either out of respect. Or maybe because 00:32:48.910 --> 00:32:53.109 Bird had seniority and three MVP trophies, switched 00:32:53.109 --> 00:32:55.130 his number to three for the game. That's a deep 00:32:55.130 --> 00:32:57.710 cut. I love that. It shows the unspoken hierarchy 00:32:57.710 --> 00:33:01.089 that exists even among the superstars. Even a 00:33:01.089 --> 00:33:03.470 Hall of Famer like Patrick Ewing has to bow to 00:33:03.470 --> 00:33:05.190 Larry Legend. And we can't forget the halftime 00:33:05.190 --> 00:33:08.009 shows. They really became a thing in the year 00:33:08.009 --> 00:33:11.819 2000. That was the first real... big budget halftime 00:33:11.819 --> 00:33:14.119 concert. Okay, who is the lineup? I'm curious 00:33:14.119 --> 00:33:15.720 to see how well it's aged. They're ready for 00:33:15.720 --> 00:33:18.200 this. It was Kenny Wayne Shepard, Mary J. Blige, 00:33:18.339 --> 00:33:21.460 98 Degrees, Montel Jordan, Martina McBride, and 00:33:21.460 --> 00:33:24.640 LL Cool J. That is the most year 2000 musical 00:33:24.640 --> 00:33:27.660 lineup I have ever heard in my entire life. You 00:33:27.660 --> 00:33:30.700 have a blues guitarist, R &B, a boy band, a country 00:33:30.700 --> 00:33:33.000 star, and a rapper. It's a perfect time capsule. 00:33:33.200 --> 00:33:35.319 It really captures the era. It was this attempt 00:33:35.319 --> 00:33:37.740 to appeal to every single demographic all at 00:33:37.740 --> 00:33:40.259 once. So let's zoom all the way out. We have 00:33:40.259 --> 00:33:44.380 gone from the 1951 Boston Garden with 10 ,000 00:33:44.380 --> 00:33:47.559 people and a nervous league president all the 00:33:47.559 --> 00:33:51.740 way to the 2026 Intuit Dome with a three -team 00:33:51.740 --> 00:33:54.559 global tournament, massive political leverage, 00:33:54.799 --> 00:33:58.559 worldwide TV audiences, and Anthony Edwards holding 00:33:58.559 --> 00:34:01.319 the MVP trophy. It has been quite a journey, 00:34:01.380 --> 00:34:05.259 a 75 -year evolution. If we look at the big picture 00:34:05.259 --> 00:34:08.239 here. What is the biggest takeaway from this 00:34:08.239 --> 00:34:10.380 whole history? I think the biggest takeaway is 00:34:10.380 --> 00:34:12.579 that the all -star game is and always has been 00:34:12.579 --> 00:34:15.380 the NBA's laboratory. It started as a desperate 00:34:15.380 --> 00:34:18.099 experiment to save the league's reputation. It 00:34:18.099 --> 00:34:20.340 evolved to showcase the East versus West rivalry. 00:34:20.829 --> 00:34:24.030 When that got stale and uncompetitive, they experimented 00:34:24.030 --> 00:34:26.170 with drafts and the ELIM ending to try and fix 00:34:26.170 --> 00:34:28.010 the competition level. And now with the tournament 00:34:28.010 --> 00:34:30.130 format. And now with the tournament format, they're 00:34:30.130 --> 00:34:32.849 experimenting with how to package the game for 00:34:32.849 --> 00:34:35.369 a modern, global, short attention stand audience. 00:34:35.630 --> 00:34:38.030 It's a living, breathing thing that adapts to 00:34:38.030 --> 00:34:40.389 whatever the NBA needs it to be at that specific 00:34:40.389 --> 00:34:42.630 moment in time. And it adapts to the players, 00:34:42.730 --> 00:34:45.570 too. The move to positionless voting, the move 00:34:45.570 --> 00:34:48.929 to officially include a world team, it's all 00:34:48.929 --> 00:34:51.289 a reflection of the reality that basketball isn't 00:34:51.289 --> 00:34:53.869 just an American game anymore, and it's not played 00:34:53.869 --> 00:34:56.349 in rigid positional boxes anymore. Exactly. It's 00:34:56.349 --> 00:34:58.929 a perfect mirror of the sports evolution. Well, 00:34:58.969 --> 00:35:02.550 this year we saw the USA Stars win the title. 00:35:02.670 --> 00:35:04.789 The Americans came out on top. But I do want 00:35:04.789 --> 00:35:06.750 to leave our listeners with one final thought. 00:35:07.309 --> 00:35:10.889 We just saw a USA versus world format where the 00:35:10.889 --> 00:35:13.610 USA had two teams and the world had one. The 00:35:13.610 --> 00:35:15.769 math, you could say, favored the home team. For 00:35:15.769 --> 00:35:18.090 sure. But look at the talent pipeline. Look at 00:35:18.090 --> 00:35:20.289 the best young players in the league. Wemby, 00:35:20.429 --> 00:35:24.789 Luka, Giannis, Jokic, Shai. The list just goes 00:35:24.789 --> 00:35:27.570 on and on. We are in the middle of a global explosion 00:35:27.570 --> 00:35:30.070 of elite basketball talent. There's no doubt 00:35:30.070 --> 00:35:32.880 about that. So my question is this. Are we approaching 00:35:32.880 --> 00:35:35.900 an era where the world team becomes the dominant 00:35:35.900 --> 00:35:37.920 dynasty in this event? Are we going to see a 00:35:37.920 --> 00:35:40.039 future, maybe in the next five or ten years, 00:35:40.179 --> 00:35:42.760 where the USA has to play the role of the underdog 00:35:42.760 --> 00:35:45.260 in their own league's all -star game? That is 00:35:45.260 --> 00:35:47.940 a very, very real possibility. And you know what? 00:35:48.019 --> 00:35:50.340 If the world team starts winning consistently, 00:35:50.679 --> 00:35:53.760 that might just be the next great rivalry that 00:35:53.760 --> 00:35:56.300 saves the game all over again. How so? Imagine 00:35:56.300 --> 00:35:58.880 an all -star game where Team USA is genuinely 00:35:58.880 --> 00:36:01.690 desperate to win, not for a bonus check. but 00:36:01.690 --> 00:36:04.949 for national pride to prove they still own the 00:36:04.949 --> 00:36:07.130 sport they invented. I would watch that. That 00:36:07.130 --> 00:36:09.610 sounds like real competition. A massive thank 00:36:09.610 --> 00:36:11.409 you to everyone for listening. This has been 00:36:11.409 --> 00:36:14.329 the deep dive into the evolution of the all -star 00:36:14.329 --> 00:36:16.849 game. We will catch you on the next one. Thanks 00:36:16.849 --> 00:36:17.469 for listening, everyone.