A new set of rules! Yes, Adam Silver has finally cracked it. There was no way he was going to let players take this season’s All-Star weekend lightly anymore. To make the glamorous weekend competitive, the league officials have revamped the format. However, many athletes like Kevin Durant and Anthony Davis have expressed that they aren’t exactly thrilled about the change. Now, a former NBA star believes that it’s up to LeBron James to step up and lead his contemporaries in taking the event more seriously.

The topic was widely discussed in FanDuel’s Run It Back, where Lou Williams shared his thoughts on how the 39-year-old’s leadership would shine in moments like these. “You know what you can do if you’re LeBron,” the ex-guard suggested, reflecting on what LeBron should tell his peers, “Hey, fellas, listen. I know this: it’s a long season. We’re going through a lot. We’re having a good time this weekend. Hey, 4th quarter, we scrapping up. We’re gonna put on for these fans. We’re gonna get up out of here. Everybody be safe, but we’re gonna hoop. Simple and plain.”

Is it really that simple? Of course not. With load management and injuries being a big concern during All-Star weekend, most players hold back and don’t play with the same passion. They don’t want to risk getting hurt since the regular season is a far more important priority. But Silver gave his words earlier to intensify the tournament and so he did.

What used to be a battle between two teams, the East and the West, will now involve four teams with no East-West concept. There will be a total of three games: two semifinal matchups and a final. Any team that scores 40 points first will be declared the winner of that round. This way, the games will be faster and less tiring for the athletes. Meanwhile, fans will be thoroughly entertained, which could boost the NBA’s ratings, which have dipped in recent years due to the tournament becoming less challenging. Players who took the tournament lightly before won’t be able to do so now. That’s why many are hesitant about the new format. So, the responsibility likely falls on LeBron James to showcase his leadership skills.

Williams feels that King James, being the eldest in the league with the most experience (20 appearances) in the All-Star tournament is qualified enough to lead the group, especially when his friends don’t seem on board with the new format.

LeBron James’ peers share strong opinions on the new All-Star format

Following the changes, the media were eager to hear from players participating in the All-Star weekend about their thoughts on the matter. Anthony Davis wasn’t completely opposed to the changes, but he knew many would prefer the traditional format. “They go back to, like, East-West,” LeBron’s teammate said. “Four team and most of the games and all that stuff I don’t think a lot of players will like it. But we’ll see how it goes.”

On the other hand, Kevin Durant made it clear that he doesn’t like the new format. In fact, the Phoenix star said, “I hate it. Absolutely hate it.” Not only that, but he also went on to say, “It’s been terrible. All-Star game, formats changes, all the formats terrible in my opinion. And we should just go back to East-West.”

Despite understanding that the purpose behind the change is to boost the league’s rating, KD believes keeping things as it was would have been the better approach. “I think we’ve been trying to, you know, bring that flare back somehow with the All-Star weekend, but I think we just keep it traditional,” the 36-year-old said.

Then he quickly added that he could be wrong and this new format might work well. Well, KD, no one really knows how this will turn out. But what we do know is that it’ll be interesting to see how LeBron James handles the situation and whether he steps up as a true leader.