The NBA All-Star Game is highly anticipated every season, and the new format, which lets the Eastern and Western Conference hand-pick their team from the other starters, is causing quite a buzz. Because of this format, LeBron James put together maybe the greatest all-star team ever assembled, but some of his teammates have received injuries since being chosen.

His teammates, Demarcus Cousins, Kevin Love, Kristaps Porzingis and John Wall suffered various injuries, causing them to miss the upcoming game.

These injuries will hurt the all-star game. People were excited to see the chosen teams play, but now, they have to wait and hope they will be able to repeat as an all-star selection next season.

Stretching the season out seems to be the biggest culprit of these injuries. Celtics’ star, Gordon Hayward, had a gruesome ankle injury on opening night which proved to be just the beginning of the domino effect of this season’s injuries. The NBA has taken measures to reduce back-to-back games by starting the season two weeks earlier than normal.

Back-to-backs are not the problem. Commissioner Adam Silver should allow players to rest unless they are playing on the road. The home crowd gets more of a chance to see their players, so resting at home would be more fitting.

Kemba Walker, Andre Drummond, Goran Dragic and Bradley Beal are the respectable replacements for the four injured all-stars. In my opinion, Drummond had a case to be an all-star from the start and should have taken Al Horford’s spot in the game. These injuries should put the league on notice that the season should go back to starting around Halloween. I have never seen so many injuries in a season.

I am still excited to watch the all-star game, but I was really looking forward to a Boogie and the Brow connection in a flashy setting and Kyrie, LeBron and Kevin Love being reunited for the first time since Kyrie was traded to the Boston Celtics. Hopefully, the NBA will see this expanded season experiment as a problem. The all-star will begin on Feb. 18 at 8 p.m.

Written by Gerald Thomas III, Staff Writer. Photo Courtesy of MGN Online. 

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