Adam Silver said the NBA All-Star Game format could be going back East vs. West

Welcome to Layup Lines, For the Win’s basketball newsletter. Have feedback for the Layup Lines Crew? Leave your questions, comments and concerns through this brief reader survey. Now, here's Prince J. Grimes.

One thing you can never say about the NBA under the stewardship of commissioner Adam Silver is that it's been scared to try new things.

We've seen the league implement several significant changes since his tenure began in 2014, and perhaps none have been more drastic than the ones we're seeing this season between the tightening of rest rules for stars and the addition of an in-season tournament.

However, one thing the league hasn't been able to get right under Silver is the All-Star Game.

Now, to be clear, this isn't exactly the fault of the commissioner. The players are simply richer than they've ever been, so they're understandably less motivated to go 100 percent for what's essentially a meaningless exhibition game. But there's no arguing that it's watered down the experience for fans.

In an attempt to improve the game, we've seen the league drop the conference format to mix up the rosters, add captains to select the teams like a pick-up game and even change the scoring system to an Elam ending. Nonetheless, the games just seem to get worse each year.

So, what does the league plan to do next? Silver hinted at some potential changes to the format at this year's game in Indianapolis in an interview Wednesday with Stephen A. Smith on ESPN's First Take, and it sounds like the NBA could be going back to its roots.

"Maybe a return to something more traditional in terms of how the teams are presented," Silver said when pushed on those changes by Smith. "We went to sort of this captain, draft notion. But clearly, historically, it was East versus West. So that's something we're looking at."

This was so refreshing to hear. While the player draft was fun in theory -- and it certainly generated some funny moments over the years -- the product on the court never really lived up to what we were hoping to get.

Going back to an Eastern Conference versus Western Conference format won't necessarily fix that, but it would at least bring back some of the nostalgia of past All-Stars, and also produce jerseys people might actually be interested in buying. No more of this "Team LeBron" versus "Team Giannis" nonsense. I'm down for innovation and trying new things, but the NBA needs to keep some traditions in order to feel familiar, and this is a good one to me.

Silver also said it's on the league to reinforce to players how important the game is, something he admitted the NBA might have lost sight of in the midst of everything else that takes place during All-Star Weekend. The actual game still matters to fans.

"But also, a lot of it comes down to, I think, reinforcing with our players and our teams how important this is for the fans," Silver said. "One thing I've learned is that, particularly with our players, they're very coachable and that you can't take for granted, particularly young players coming into the league, that they understand the generations and traditions that came before them. And I think this is where the league has to reinforce: we don't expect playoff intensity but we expect a competitive game for our fans. And that's what All-Star is."

Hopefully, the NBA can figure out a way to get this right.