Between the Canadian tuxedoes, the dope-ass parties, and even the sheer absurdity of the extremely generously-titled Celebrity Game, NBA All-Star Week is one of the year's most dependably cool events. By the end of it, though, the actual game—a defense-free, 400-point circus in which dudes who might be a little, um, tired from the night before spend a lot of time furtively glancing at the game clock and willing the seconds to tick by faster—is kind of a letdown. Well, NO MORE, my friends, because the NBA has announced that it will replace its tired, staid, conference-based system of divvying up teams with CAPTAINS AND A DRAFT AND HELL YEAH LET'S DO THIS THING RIGHT NOW.

Although details are still forthcoming, the process will basically work like this: Fans, players, and media members still vote for the 10 players who will start the game, and the league's coaches select 14 players who qualify as reserves. The top vote-getters in each conference then act as captains, and they choose from among the remaining starting players—a first round, if you will. In 2017, this would have meant LeBron and Durant taking turns picking from Steph, Kawhi, Harden, Anthony Davis, Kyrie, DeMar DeRozan, Giannis, and Jimmy Butler. From there, it seems, the captains move on to a second round, filling out their benches with players in that preselected 14-player reserve pool.

Because the process doesn't entirely do away with the importance of one's conference, the methodology is a bit convoluted, but still, this is going to be fun as hell, especially if the NBA elects to televise the selection process live. (Note: If they do not do this for some godforsaken reason, we riot.) Imagine the potential for hilarious displays of unvarnished pettiness, simmering resentment, and open disdain. Last year, the best available reserve player was almost certainly league MVP-to-be Russell Westbrook. It's not clear how draft order will be determined, but even if LeBron had had the first pick, I like to think he would have grinned slyly and selected, say, Gordon Hayward, just to watch Durant sweat while trying to make a decision with his mortal frenemy Westbrook's name still on the board.

The possibilities are endless! Maybe LeBron decides to test out a hypothetical L.A. jump, snagging George and Chris Paul and briefly sending the entire Cleveland metro area into a state of terrified, panicked paralysis. Maybe LeBron pointedly picks all guards so that Kyrie gets as little burn as possible. Maybe Durant grabs Westbrook and Harden, just to troll basketball Twitter. (Or maybe he goes with four Warriors—Nick Young will be at least a reserve, I'm sure—also to troll basketball Twitter.) Maybe Draymond, mad about tumbling in another draft's second round, politely reciprocates Durant's high-five and then, just as quickly, punches him in the dick. Maybe Westbrook, after three-plus months of watching Carmelo clang contested 20-foot jumpers for four quarters every night, picks Paul George but studiously avoids selecting Anthony, setting off a dizzying flurry of disgruntled-Carmelo-to-Cleveland rumors that somehow trigger even stronger feelings of panic than the thought of LeBron bolting for California next summer.

Any given selection pattern probably won't mean anything, but that won't stop me from gleefully psychoanalyzing every single pick. Is Curry mad that Durant didn't take him first? Why do DeMar DeRozan and Kyle Lowry look so thrilled to not be on the same team? Is Kevin Love just zoning out, or staring wistfully at the Warriors like the tragic hero of a Nicholas Sparks novel? And so on and so forth. It's not the giant school yard free-for-all pick-'em I crave, but this development promises to make an otherwise-unwatchable event, at the very least, mildly interesting. Let the pettiness begin!

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