Curry: 'Would be messed up' if I didn't take Dubs player with 1st All-Star pick
"With my first pick for the 2018 NBA All-Star Game, I, Stephen Curry, select ... anyone not from the Golden State Warriors."
Don't push your luck, fans, because if Curry is named one of the captains for the midseason exhibition, there's little chance he won't select someone from the reigning champions.
"Probably one of my teammates," he said about the pick, according to ESPN's Nick Friedell. "It would be messed up if it wasn't. That's kind of the cool thing about it, following whoever the two guys who are picking, how their rosters kind of take shape. It will probably be some tough decisions in there which I think would be good for the game."
Of course, Curry would have to finish as the top vote-getter in the Western Conference to be a captain. Had the new format been in effect in 2017, that would have certainly been the case, with the two-time MVP finishing first in fan votes for the Western Conference backcourt, albeit third in the media and player vote.
The question then becomes which Warrior he would choose first. The 2016-17 Warriors became the eighth team in history to have four players participate in the All-Star Game, with Kevin Durant, Draymond Green, and Klay Thompson joining Curry.
Moving away from the traditional East versus West matchup has intrigued Curry. The game itself has left a lot to be desired, with defense being non-existent until the very end when the participants care enough to put up a fight.
While these modifications - which include donations being made to local charities based on the final result - may or may not provide more incentive for the players to make an effort, Curry is glad the league is at least trying something different.
Related: Kerr would have preferred 24 best NBA All-Stars, not 12 from each conference
"It's a hard balance, right?" he said. "Because obviously you play so many games and it's hard to kind of get the intensity up of where it's like a regular-season game. I don't know if that will ever happen but there is ways to try to spice it up and create that interest.
"I think the NBA and the players have tried to come together and figure out certain ideas that could work. We'll see how it affects the game on the court but maybe adding that element of combining the East and the West will handle that."
