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The NBA All-Star Game has never been confused for a defensive showcase, but the lack of effort on that end has decreased considerably in recent years, culminating in near 200-point performances by the Western Conference squad in each of the last two games. 

While there are still all sorts of cool dunks and feats of athleticism, the lack of competitiveness has annoyed everyone from fans, to the media, to even the players themselves. The good news, though, is that according to NBA commissioner Adam Silver, things will be different in 2018, when All-Star Weekend heads to Los Angeles. 

Silver spoke with ESPN's Rachel Nichols prior to Game 2 of the NBA Finals on Sunday, and in response to a question about possible adjustments to the All-Star Game, promised that there will be changes. 

Silver's full response below: 

I promise this time that next year's will be different. I think we all recognize, and we talked about it at last year's All-Star, we've gotten to the point where everyone seemed to agree it needed to be more competitive. And by everyone, I mean including the players. Chris Paul, who's president of the union, he was the first to say to me the day after the game -- and he wasn't playing in that game -- let's get together and do something about this. 

And we recognize we don't want our players to be playing at a Finals pace where they could risk injury, or anything else. But there's somewhere on the spectrum from where we are now and the Finals. So we're tossing around all kinds of ideas. Having players play for particular charities, picking team captains, picking teams, maybe not making it just East vs. West, there's a lot of great ideas out there. 

By the way, for our fans on Twitter and Facebook, send them in. We're open to new ideas. We're gonna make a change. I can't promise it will be better, but it will be different. 

As Silver noted, there is a needle you have to thread in trying to make the game competitive and entertaining, while also trying to ensure that no one gets hurt. So we'll see what happens, but it's good to hear they're already planning on trying something new. 

Since they're looking for ideas, might I suggest adding a four-point shot? Or maybe even a few different areas on the floor worth different point totals. Of course, if they do that, they'll have to let Antoine Walker get in for a few minutes.