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By Dane Carbaugh



Kobe Bryant didn't deserve to be in the NBA All-Star game in 2014. Or in 2015. Or in 2016. Despite this fact, ol’ Bean was a Top 2 vote-getter in the Western Conference for his position in each of those three seasons.



Fans not draped in Forum blue and gold have continually expressed their disfavor with Bryant’s entry into the All-Star Game, fueled largely by what he represents: A missed roster spot for some of the league’s best players from darker corners of the NBA.



The fervor has reached a zenith, and it’s been suggested that fan voting be done away with altogether. But a far better solution that should be kicked around the league’s New York offices?



An NBA All-Star game with Legacy and Rising Stars roster spots.



It’s a rather simple and elegant solution, one that combines existing league initiatives with new ones that would benefit older players. Something the NBA Players Association would appreciate, to be sure.



A “Legacy” position would be for players aged 32 or older. Quick and to the point, the player with the most votes beyond the age requirement would simply occupy that spot for the Eastern and Western Conference teams.



Meanwhile, the “Rising Star” position would be taken by a player aged 24 or younger who either A) is selected for the Rising Stars Challenge at All-Star Weekend and has obtained All-Star votes or B) the next closest player with All-Star votes who meets the age requirements but did not make an All-Star roster.



As is with the rest of the All-Star team, blank spots either by injury or lack of available players could be filled by the league or by coach selection.



These newly created roles would provide relief for good players having great seasons but having a difficult time finding traction due to bigger, possibly fading stars in larger markets. There is a significant precedent to adapt some kind of rule to dull the edge of All-Star snubs. Just in the Western Conference alone since 2014, players of missed the All-Star game thanks to Bryant include Damian Lillard (twice), Mike Conley and Goran Dragic.



I recently suggested that All-Star fan voting should be kept, but adapted to match TV market size in terms of weight. This would likely be done by using a formula incorporating the ratio of total positional votes to TV market size as part of a larger, more complex formula to keep players in cities like Los Angeles, Dallas, New York and San Francisco from dominating fan vote totals by sheer size and market impression.



The benefit to the league and All-Star game would be two-fold. Fans would get to see the players beginning to age out of their prime years still interacting with top players in what is supposed to be a celebratory setting. Like it or not, having aging/bad/broken/retired players getting fan votes the way Bryant and Yao Ming did for years means it’s smart business sense to keep these players around the game. With the Legacy position, the NBA could do just that.



Second, it would allow teams — likely in smaller markets — to have more of their best and upcoming players featured in the All-Star Game, a benefit not only for the fanbase but for the brands of those teams as well. We would have a more complete All-Star Game, from generation to generation, by having Rising Stars, the normal 12-man All-Star roster, and the Legacy players.



While the monetary affairs of millionaires are nothing to lose any sleep over, it would be added benefit for more players to make the All-Star Game given so many have stipulations for bonuses in their contracts for appearances. And, I'm sure that fans would like to see their favorite guy guys get paid a little more when they're having a good season.



Nothing that's been suggested here would completely eliminate All-Star snubs. Even if you expanded the rosters to add the two suggested spots, you would end up with some players on the fringes of selection. That’s partially due to the of the size of an NBA basketball team. There are still too many good players in the NBA to squeeze them all into one game.



But the guys on the outskirts — the Lillards and the Kemba Walkers — are going to make it with continued good play over time. With stars both young and old moving into these additional suggested roster spots, guys rounding into form on their second contract would have a much better chance at making the squad.



While there’s been a hubbub about Bryant making the All-Star team in 2016, it’s not as though this is a perpetual issue for the NBA. Voting anomalies like Bryant and Ming come along every few years, and with this system in place, it would be easier to soften the impact the current voting system has on their selection.



If the Legacy and Rising Star positions were added to All-Star rosters, the NBA could safeguard itself from future issues with players of that nature, as well as include fading stars and provide continuity with the other events at All-Star Weekend without insulting fan input.



Fan voting is inherently weighted toward large market players, and that’s likely where the NBA needs to focus their efforts in upcoming seasons. Adam Silver has said they will take a look at fan voting over the offseason to see where the fans play into their plan for All-Star Weekend.



The NBA is an interactive league, with its demographic set squarely with millennials. It's unlikely they get rid of fan voting altogether, but relaxing the rules on something like roster size may help with the inherent flaws of the fan voting system.