The 2017 NBA All-Star Game was the highest-scoring affair in the contest’s history, with the Western and Eastern Conference squads combining for 374 points. That broke the previous record of 369 total points … set in 2016.

Which broke the record of 321 points … set in 2015. Which broke the record of 318 points … set in 2014.

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The NBA is in the midst of an unprecedented offensive explosion as teams like the Golden State Warriors and Houston Rockets push the boundaries of pace, space and bucket-generating efficiency. Nowhere has the shift toward layups, dunks and 3-point carpet-bombing been on clearer display than in the annual All-Star Game, where the combination of highlight-seeking and a general aversion to expending effort (especially on the defensive end) during an exhibition affair plunked two-thirds of the way through an 82-game season has led to skyrocketing point totals — and plummeting levels of competition.

For many fans, that has made the event more of a chore to sit through than a showcase to celebrate. After this year’s game, though, coaches and players alike also seemed more interested than usual in lamenting the uncompetitive nature of the proceedings.

“For me, I would love to play in a competitive game,” said Cleveland Cavaliers and East point guard Kyrie Irving. “I know we play in competitive games in the summer, pickup games, but I think going forward, the All-Star experience will probably get a little harder in terms of defense […] It’s all in good fun, but I definitely think that, if we want a competitive game, guys will probably have to talk about it before the game because some guys [are] trying to get ready for the second half of the season is far more important, which I totally get.”

“Hopefully, in the next few years when I’m in these All-Star Games, it gets a little more competitive,” added Boston Celtics and East point guard Isaiah Thomas. “It’s hard to just keep going up and down and taking the open shots.”

(Well, clearly not that hard: Thomas managed to get up 15 shots, including 10 3-pointers, in just under 19 minutes of floor time.)

Such complaints have a long, rich history, but this time around, the sentiments might prompt change in the near future. NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said Friday that Los Angeles Clippers point guard and National Basketball Players Association president Chris Paul reached out to him after this year’s All-Star Game to express interest in shaking things up, and the commish sounds interested in obliging.

From Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN.com:

“Chris said, ‘We need to fix this,'” Silver said while speaking on a panel with FiveThirtyEight’s Nate Silver at the MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference. “There is kind of a groupthink notion out there that when you have general managers and coaches in essence saying, ‘Go easy, don’t forget this is just for fun.’

“I just think this is one where we just have to reset,” Silver continued. “Chris’ suggestion was let’s get back with maybe the same group we negotiated the collective bargaining — Michael Jordan on the owners’ side, Jeanie Buss, Wyc Grousbeck, James Jones, Kyle Korver and LeBron [James] and others — let’s all get back together and figure out a way to do this.” […]

“It is an All-Star Game, and you are out there to have fun,” Silver said. “You hear people talking about 4-point shots, something that’s not about to happen in the NBA but maybe in an All-Star Game; maybe there’s a few spots on the floor where it is a 4-point shot, maybe there’s a half-court shot in the last minute that is 10 points. I don’t know. Maybe those are crazy ideas.

“I encourage people [to email] Adam@NBA.com,” Silver added. “We will change it by next year. It shouldn’t be playoff intensity, but the guys should be playing.”

FiveThirtyEight’s Chris Herring said it sounded to him like Silver was kidding around when he raised the notion of a 10-point shot. I, for one, find that incredibly offensive. If we besmirch the integrity of Rock ‘N Jock rules, we as a society are well and truly lost.

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While Silver and his cohorts consider prospective tweaks, Warriors coach Steve Kerr — who led the Western Conference squad this year — echoed his post-All-Star Game assertion that creating a more competitive game is “up to the players, really,” during a chat with ESPN’s Chris Haynes: