Should the NBA All-Star Roster be Expanded?

The fast- pace rhythm of the beautiful game of basketball naturally excites its fans. Only a few events in basketball can keep these spectators on the edge of their seats. The highlight of the season is at the midway point, where NBA All-Star weekend showcases the best of the league’s talent.

Reminiscing the fact that a legend like Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was selected to play in the NBA All-Star Game a record 19 times, and that LeBron James is set to take this record a nudge higher when he becomes the first player to start and play in the NBA All-Star game 20 consecutive times, when you remember Kyle Korver made the team in 2015, and scored 75 percent of his shots from behind the arc, you can’t just help but to drool over the beauty and magic that comes with NBA All-Star event.

It’s been all shades of amazing since the first NBA All-Star Game debuted in 1951. Basketball faithfuls have loved everything that comes with the NBA All-Stars event but one clamour that seems not to be going away until it is honoured remains the call to expand the NBA All-Star game roster. 

Quite justifiable is this cry when you consider the fact when the NBA All-Star Game was first played on March 2^nd 1951, then each roster consisted of 10 players. There were 11 teams in the league at the time, and while teams were allowed to start the season with 11 players on their roster, they were forced to trim down to 10 before the All-Star Game. Mathematically, this translates to 20 out of 110 players making it to the first All-Star Game, hence just 18% of the league was considered worthy to feature in this event when the idea was first conceived.

As the years passed, and the game of basketball evolved, steadily fewer players relative to the league’s size made the All-Star Game. Nowadays, on a purely mathematical basis, it’s almost four times as difficult to get there as it was when the game was founded. Hence giving fewer chances to newly drafted players.

*Stats courtesy CBS Sport

The purpose of the All-Star Game, on a broad level, has always been to celebrate the league’s best talent. And with the NBA expanding by the day, there just happens to be more talents on teams’ rosters now than ever. The competition to reach the All-Star game in 2023, with two-way players expanding rosters to 17, is now stiffer than ever. Yet the All-Star game hasn’t adjusted to compensate for this rise in talents the game has witnessed.

In comparison to the Pro Bowl, which is the NFL’s equivalent of the NBA All-Star Game, various adjustments and modifications have been made over the years to match modern NFL standards.

 It may just be time to correct this “injustice” and expanding the All-Star rosters from 12 players to 15 players may just be an adroit move. So also the idea of making the All-Star event featuring four different teams with 15 players on each roster, as this will give a fair chance to players who have unfairly missed out on the roster in previous times.  Though many still are of the opinion that the smaller number of selections available makes the honour even greater, considering the fact that the NBA could gain even more financially from the All-Star game, a four-team knockout All-Star fixture will definitely be an idea that will thrill the NBA universe.

It has to be said that the NBA has never drawn from a wider talent pool than it ever did today. All 20 All-Stars in 1951 were born in the United States. In fact, 75% of them were born in just six states: New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, California, Kentucky, and Illinois. The same cannot be said in 2023, as the draft also features players born outside of the United States. Also, nowadays players are developing much more quickly and lasting far longer, some even going beyond their projected year of retirement. The youngest All-Stars in 1951 were Dolph Schayes, Paul Arizin, Ed Macauley, and Bob Cousy at age 22. Zion Williamson (20) and Luka Doncic (21) both have them beat in 2021. Bob Davies was the oldest 1951 All-Star at 31. LeBron James is 38. There wasn’t even a 3-point line in 1951 for context.

The basketball game today bears almost no resemblance to the early days of 1951, and a tweak to the All-Star game would only buttress the adjustments needed to be made to the ever-changing world of basketball.

The argument that adding more All-Stars would water down the value of the event appears a facade as the moment you watch a few minutes of play, the vast majority of the game appears a glorified exhibition game. Expanding rosters wouldn’t water down the honour, either. If the league expanded to 15, still only 5.8% of NBA players would be named All-Stars. That’s still less than all but the past two decades or so of NBA history. In fact, one could argue that modern players are getting punished for the league’s growth. 

Players like Mike Conley in 2021 who were not named an NBA All-Star team would wish they had played in a different era in which a higher percentage of the league’s players make it to the event. 

Fast forward to 2023, and it appears names like James Harden (who is averaging 21 points and 11 assists in the 76ers- currently the 3rd best team in the Eastern Conference), Pascal Siakam (Toronto Raptors), Trae Young of the Atlanta Hawks, and Anthony Edwards of Minnesota Timberwolves are the biggest snubs of this year’s edition.

Fans bases across the globe are upset about their favorite players missing out and many are of the opinion that if the game is truly for the fans, as is often said, then allowing more of their favorite players to participate would probably be a smart way of engaging them. That it might drive extra television revenue is an added bonus.  As it appears currently the game’s idea of showcasing its best talent – the decision to invite less of it proportionally appears counterintuitive.

Basketball has more All-Star-caliber players than ever. Why fewer players are getting recognition for the All-Star game remains a mystery.