When the NBA season began, many assumed that there would be no All-Star Game this year due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, but ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported that the NBA and players’ union are working towards a deal for the All-Star Game to be played on March 7 in Atlanta.
According to Woj, the event would be a scaled-down version of the typical All-Star weekend, as the current plan is to have “a single-night event that encompasses a game between the Eastern and Western Conferences and skills competitions.” And the current discussions are around the logistics of transporting players in and out of Atlanta quickly and safely so that there is no risk of an outbreak.
“Safety protocols are among the details still being ironed out,” Woj wrote.
The NBA currently has a mid-season break scheduled for March 5-10, allowing the All-Star Game to be scheduled during that small window without disrupting the season. The second half of the shortened 72-game season has not yet been scheduled due to the understanding that some teams have played several fewer games than the rest of the league due to COVID-19 protocols.
Sources have indicated that the willingness of players to participate in the event has been the biggest force of positive momentum for the All-Star Game, as the game almost certainly would have been canceled if star players had felt it was too unsafe to play. But that does not mean that everyone is on board, as many players and executives reportedly see the All-Star Game as “an unnecessary risk for the league.”