The NBA playoffs are going to be so much fun

All-Star Games serve many purposes: respite for weary players, a central location for everyone involved with a league to gather in one location over a long weekend, the opportunity to find a nightclub, any Nightclub, in Indianapolis or Salt Lake City. But the primary mission of these games is to showcase professional sports leagues and their biggest stars in the absolute best light.

That's why it was absolutely hilarious when NBA Commissioner Adam Silver presented a trophy to the winning team at the end of this year's NBA All-Star Game in February – while openly mocking his league's signature event. “To the Eastern Conference All-Stars,” Silver said, disgust and contempt oozing from every pore, “Congratulations? You scored the most points?”

His distaste was understandable, as the game had been an absolutely miserable sight. The Eastern Conference scored an impressive 211 points in the most boring and monotonous way possible, with both teams displaying the defensive efforts of a sieve of smoke. (Seriously, Check out this shot from Luke Dončić.) Silver later told CNN that “we're past the point where we're going to play a really competitive game,” but more interesting than that comment were his actions just a few weeks later. The ASG debacle increased complaints that regular season games were scoring too many points, and so the NBA sent out an advisory to its reporters to stop committing so many fouls (which they had denied before simply doing so interpreted as a request to call up the existing set of rules). (more specifically) to both reduce scoring and speed up games. The results were immediate and obvious, and last week Silver finally admitted that “an adjustment” had been made.

Two things are particularly noteworthy. First, there is the notion that a league would dramatically change the structure and pace of its games midway through the season, which is essentially unprecedented. The only situation even remotely comparable is that Major League Baseball reduced doubleheader games to seven innings during the 2020 COVID-19 shortened season, which was done as a (successful) last resort to prevent that the season is falling apart. The second reason is that it worked: the games became faster, the score decreased and the pace of play immediately became more visible and exciting. Silver pushed a button to make the game better, and no one cared. There was no doubt about the timing of his move, its impact on the integrity of the game, or anything of the sort. It was just about improving the product.

As the NBA enters its very long playoff season (Game 7 of the NBA Finals is currently scheduled for June 23, nine weeks away), it's remarkable how healthy the sport is right now. There are certainly long-term concerns, most notably how the league will ultimately replace LeBron James and Stephen Curry (still its two biggest stars, who are 39 and 36, respectively). But the short team is where everything gets out of hand for the NBA. Consider what's going right if we make the playoffs:

• Extreme buy-in from the biggest markets, including Los Angeles and especially New York, who have fallen in love with the best team in decades.

• Electric, rising stars at the center of their powers, from Dončić to New York's Jalen Brunson, Boston's Jayson Tatum, Oklahoma City's Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Minnesota's Anthony Edwards, alongside veteran stars like Kevin Durant, Chris Paul, Kawhi Leonard and Jimmy Butler and Giannis Antetokounmpo. The NBA gets to showcase every single one of its big stars this postseason, with the exception of Victor Wembanyama, the crazy rookie from San Antonio (and this will likely be the last time he misses the playoffs for the next decade).

• James and Curry, whose teams appeared in the tournament's play-in games (another innovation that immediately improved the sport), which generated huge television ratings from the start.

• A defending champion on Nikola Jokić's Denver Nuggets, who serves as a formidable counterpoint to the more outgoing and telegenic stars, even if he and his team are quite likable.

• Television partners at ESPN and Turner, who, out of their own desperation, will provide relentless, 24/7 coverage and hype for every storyline, real or not, for two months in a row.

And for all the talk about the shakiness of NBA ratings, they are higher than last year and are widely expected to be significantly higher than last year's postseason. Silver has weathered a number of controversies this season; Remember, it all started when Ja Morant, one of the league's most marketed players, was suspended for 25 games for multiple infractions and ended up playing just nine games before suffering an injury. But that hasn't hurt the NBA's momentum, and there may be a far bigger problem for both. As Major League Baseball grapples with a high-profile pseudo-gambling scandal involving Shohei Ohtani (who now appears to be a completely innocent man), the NBA is facing a similar nightmare scenario, but one that looks far more disturbing. It appears Toronto forward Jontay Porter, a minor player and the brother of better-known Nuggets forward Michael Porter Jr., may have bet on himself. He hasn't been accused of anything yet, but an inordinate number of players were betting that Porter wouldn't hit certain statistical milestones in certain games, such as two assists or six points. Then, after entering the game, Porter suffered some sort of phantom injury, guaranteeing the bet would pay off. Some of us have been screaming for some time about how sports leagues are putting themselves in extremely vulnerable situations by focusing entirely on sports gambling. Now the Porter affair could become an existential scandal on a par with the infamous Tim Donaghy episode of nearly two decades ago. A player who fails on purpose! What could be worse than that?

But the average fan knows next to nothing about this scandal; Silver immediately labeled it a “cardinal sin” of the sport and said he had the authority to ban Porter from the sport for life. Then he went straight to the Minnesota Timberwolves. I would argue that his successful attempt so far to sweep this under the rug has worked because the sport itself is so much fun at the moment. No one wants to think about a gambling scandal (or how the league's relationship with sports betting continues to jeopardize it and lead to more opportunities for this “cardinal sin”). They want to talk about Luka, Steph, LeBron and the Knicks. Silver recognizes that his league is all about products and will adjust accordingly. Years ago, the league was known for ugliness, fouls and brawls; Then Curry came along, opened the scoring and made every kid want to shoot 35-footers in their backyard. This resulted in to a lot of points, so Silver made another adjustment. He and the league don't bother with the old baseball conversations about “purists” and “tradition.” They simply do whatever they need to do to ensure that the best players in the world can shine. In contrast to his predecessor David Stern, Silver is neither dogmatic, stubborn or unyielding. His pragmatism worked great and will continue to do so every night for the next two months. The result is the most compelling NBA playoff situation since the days of Shaq and Kobe, or maybe even Jordan.