NBA Reportedly Considering Expansion of All-Star Break

Could NBA All-Star weekend be expanded to NBA All-Star week in the near future?

New NBA Commissioner Adam Silver is reportedly open to the idea of expanding the All-Star break, which would allow the league’s All-Stars to enjoy time off with family in addition to competing in the weekend’s slate of events.

According to NBA.com's Steve Aschburner, National Basketball Players Association president and Los Angeles Clippers point guard Chris Paul brought the idea to light:

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“I definitely think it’s something that should happen,” Paul told NBA.com while attending a pep rally and press conference at a New Orleans grade school, where he was inducted into the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation ambassador program.

Paul said he spoke with Silver about the possibility of a longer All-Star break.

“Obviously All-Star weekend is all about the fans and showcasing our game to the entire world, but it would be nice to get a little break,” the Clippers guard said. “Not saying the All-Stars are unhappy or ungrateful for being All-Stars, but to enjoy your family for a couple days would be nice.”

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Former NBA Commissioner David Stern—who held office for 30 years—was less inclined to discuss new ideas, according to Kurt Helin of Pro Basketball Talk.

Silver, however, addressed the inquiry from CP3 as follows, per Aschburner:

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We’d be happy to look into it. The notion is that, in addition to the All-Star Game and the events itself, there should be a break built into the schedule. Maybe we could resume play on Thursday night, later in the week, to ensure that the All-Stars got time off as well.

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The key takeaway from expanding the All-Star break would be to reward the league’s best players with a bit of a midseason vacation that expands beyond the actual festivities. It doesn't sound like adding more events to the schedule is something being discussed at this time.

Since All-Stars take the time to reward fans by putting on a show during All-Star weekend, there’s no reason why they shouldn’t get to spend some time with friends and family during the break as well.

It would probably be best to add time off after the All-Star Game, as Silver alludes to, because players would be able to unwind after an action-packed series of events (on-court and otherwise).

Silver is willing to negotiate, so we’ll just have to wait and see if these changes are applied sooner rather than later.