NBA All-Star Game: Inside the factors fueling league’s controversial decision

Adam Silver is still very good at his job.

He has not lost his fastball, so to speak. Or, more appropriately, his handle.

No, the NBA commissioner who has enjoyed such great approval ratings from the game’s biggest stars during his seven-year tenure didn’t suddenly forget how to govern his basketball world in a way that works well for all involved. But a global pandemic has a way of challenging even the best of leaders, and so it is that he finds himself facing significant blowback over the decision to hold an All-Star Game March 7 in Atlanta.

Optics matter — now more than ever — and the notion of gathering the game’s best players in this particular place at this particular time is incredibly uncomfortable because of what has come before. After all, this is the same city where the Lou Williams Magic City controversy unfolded back in July, Courtside Karen rose to maskless infamy earlier this month and where our dear friend and colleague who died of COVID-19 recently, Turner’s Sekou Smith, called home.

It’s like a Greatest Hits of the NBA’s worst COVID-19 moments — all in one city. And barring an unforeseen change in circumstances, all signs continue to point to this serving as the unwelcomed backdrop to this year’s All-Star affair.

Yet before we media types even had a chance to criticize, connecting all the obvious dots between the league’s surprising aspirations and its nine-year, $24 billion business partnership with Turner Sports and ESPN that is the driving force here, it was Silver’s most high-profile constituents doing that dirty work in addition to others around the league.

LeBron James: The All-Star Game is “a slap in the face.”

Giannis Antetokounmpo: “Zero energy, zero excitement,” for an All-Star Game.

In many ways, the dynamics in play now are the same ones that had everything to do with the league’s decision to build a bubble in Orlando last season. But instead of ESPN being the beneficiary in that instance, with its Disney partner reaping the benefits because it took place at Disney World, this is seen by the involved parties as a win-win for Turner and the NBA. Not only is the network based in Atlanta, but sources say the proximity to historically Black colleges and universities is viewed as a major positive and focal point of the programming for the event.

Still, why would Silver go against the superstar grain and forge ahead with these problematic plans? Because the NBA’s bottom line has been battered enough already, with losses from last season totaling approximately $1.5 billion and the revenue ripple effect felt by everyone from role players to regular staffers league-wide. Truth be told, the LeBrons and Giannises of the NBA world are the ones least affected when one considers the macro view.

It’s the league’s middle class — both the player variety and the everyday type who work for teams or the league office and have already seen significant cuts — that would pay the price if this massive moneymaker of an event was lost. For all the incredible influence that James certainly has within the league and beyond, this is one instance where he’s not a spokesman for the masses.

In an attempt to better understand the situation from all sides, here’s a look at the factors in play for the NBA, the network that will carry the controversial affair and the players who are being asked to take part. The involved parties are listed in order of perceived influence over the decision.

The NBA

League officials want this, in large part, because they believe the fans, the Turner folks and the players want it, too (contrary to popular belief). Of course, money is the primary motivating factor — no one is denying that. But safety, league sources say, is being prioritized in a way that should make it all possible without putting players in harm’s way.

Sources say league officials are very confident they can pull it off safely because the restrictions for players are expected to be extreme and the timeline will be drastically condensed. And any player who thinks this will be anything remotely resembling the annual All-Star gala, with nonstop appearances and parties throughout the weekend before the game finally arrives on Sunday, is in for a rude awakening.

As one person with knowledge of the situation put it, “It’s basically going to be a mini-bubble.” And therein lies the irony: For all the focus on the possible dangers that could come with holding an All-Star Game, the league’s belief is that the players who come will likely be better off than the many who are expected to squeeze in getaways during the short break. According to an ESPN report, player travel during the break is limited to the United States (including Hawaii), the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico.

Sources tell The Athletic that the medical protocol that still has to be agreed upon by the NBA and the NBPA is being finalized, but the following is expected to be part of the plan.

• A quick timeline: Players would come into Atlanta on Saturday afternoon and evening and be gone by Sunday night.
• Private transportation required: Flights, cars, all of the above.
• Players would only be permitted to be at the hotel or State Farm Arena, with no exceptions made for other locations.
• The notion of fans being at the game appears likely, especially considering the Hawks have already been permitting 1,000 people to their home games. Sources say it’s not expected to be many, but a number is not clear. Considering the contrast to the Orlando bubble, where there were no fans and any “Tier 2” attendees who hadn’t undergone quarantines and daily testing were seated far above the floor, this is where any comparison to that setup potentially falls flat.

There’s this significant factor, too: The numbers show that fans greatly enjoy the All-Star Game, both in terms of old-fashioned ratings (an average of 7.3 million viewers last year) and online. From the league’s perspective, there’s this reminder, too: While the Atlanta backdrop certainly isn’t ideal for all the reasons mentioned, the Orlando bubble experience last season showed their ability to succeed even in environments that are otherwise seen as unsafe (Florida, at the time, had long been one of the nation’s hotspots).

And to be fair, they are coming off an impressive round of testing in which zero players tested positive. While it was a brutal week on the PR front, with the anti-All-Star comments front and center alongside Kevin Durant’s frustration when he was pulled midway through a game against Toronto — they are still trending in the right direction.

TNT/Turner

In normal (non-COVID-19) times, All-Star weekend is extremely important for TNT — a tentpole event, if you will. There’s a corporate sponsorship component that will surely be lessened because of the COVID-19 concerns, but a source with knowledge of the network’s finances said Turner makes approximately $30 million in ad revenue alone during that weekend. That figure would be much higher when one considers the All-Star weekend in its totality, and others estimate that mark is much higher (as much as double). Either way, it’s a lot.

Yet even with All-Star weekend representing such a pivotal part of the network’s payoff for those enormous rights fees, sources say Turner executives were prepared to not have an All-Star Game until recently. This all came as somewhat of a surprise to the network, it seems, but the complications that would’ve resulted from not having an All-Star Game were clearly not preferred by the league.

The NBA likely would have had to add national games to the schedule to help lessen the financial blow, which would have created a whole new problem when the league’s deals with regional sports networks were affected as a result. There likely would have been talks regarding TNT’s rights fees being lessened, with the network surely within its rights (pun intended) to demand a renegotiation of sorts.

But in terms of how the agreement with Turner is structured, one source with knowledge of the arrangement said it’s “in totality” as opposed to being specific to any one event. Translation: It’s not a cut-and-dried breach-of-contract situation if there was no All-Star Game, but it would require all parties involved to revisit the terms and get creative in search of solutions. The losses would need to be accounted for — again.

The players

For the players’ part, the collective bargaining agreement makes it abundantly clear that they’re expected to take part in this event. To wit …

Article XXI, Section 1, pars.(a) & (c):

(a). Any player selected (by any method designated by the NBA) to play in an All-Star game shall be required to:

       (i) attend and participate in such Game;

       (iii) attend and participate in every other event conducted in association with All-Star Weekend, including, but not limited to, a reasonable number of media sessions, television appearances and promotional appearances.  

(c )  … a player will not be required to participate in a particular All-Star game … if he has been excused from participation in the particular event by the Commissioner … for such other reasons as the Commissioner may determine in his sole discretion.

As such, the union’s recent focus has been on ensuring that the protocol is in place to keep players and their families safe. And while James’ voice will matter more than any other player so long as he’s still on the court, NBPA president and Phoenix Suns point guard Chris Paul made it clear Friday that the players’ preferences aren’t the deciding factor here. And again, league officials are of the strong belief that the vast majority of players want the event to take place because of the impact on basketball-related income and, in turn, everyone’s salaries.

“Guys are entitled to their feelings, decisions and everything,” Paul told reporters. “I think the job for the union has been to try to make sure our players are healthy and safe. This is something that was a decision by the league, and we are definitely — day in and day out — trying to figure it out. But we’ve got 450 players that we’re always trying to get insight from, and it’s tough. So we’re all trying to figure it out right now.

“It’s tough. You try to overcommunicate as much as possible. I mean, I talked to ‘Bron (James) maybe a week or two ago. Talked to Steph (Curry). A few guys. Our (NBPA) executive committee, we get on calls and we try to figure it out. … It’s a lot of different things going on right now, but you just hope that guys understand that decisions that are being made — especially as far as the union — has always got the full body of players in mind. But emotions happen. Guys have feelings, and you’ve got to be able to express them, and I respect that.”

A source with knowledge of the NBPA’s handling of this situation said players were reminded of these provisions recently by way of individual phone calls and four Zoom meetings on the subject. Kings point guard De’Aaron Fox, quite clearly, was among those players who heard the message loud and clear. Even if he wasn’t happy about it.

“If I’m gonna be brutally honest, I think it’s stupid,” he said when asked about the All-Star Game. “If we have to wear masks and do all this for a regular game, what’s the point of bringing the All-Star Game back? But obviously, money makes the world go round, so it is what it is. I’m not really worried about it. If I’m voted so be it, if I’m not…”

But will he go, if he makes it?

“You know you get fined (if you don’t)? If you’re supposed to be in it and you’re not hurt and you decide not to play, that’s a hefty fine. So, hell yeah, I would play in it. Hope I don’t get fined for saying that.”

Bradey Beal, the Washington Wizards star who is leading the league in scoring and likely headed to his third All-Star Game (he ranks first among Eastern Conference guards in fan voting), added:

“Currently, I’m not excited about it, honestly,” Beal said. “Just with the protocols we have to go through now, I think no disrespect to the All-Star Game, but it’s a pandemic going on. All-Star weekend is about the experience for the fans and everybody, for families to be in the environment, and that’s not gonna be there.

“We’re not gonna be at appearances, we’re not gonna be doing the things we normally do. So I don’t think it’s worth the force. I don’t think there is any benefit for either side, whether it’s the (NBA Players Association) side, the league’s side. I don’t think there’s any benefit for anybody besides people watching guys hoop, which we’re doing on the daily anyways.”

If only it were that simple.

(Photo of Adam Silver: Streeter Lecka / Getty Images)