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NBA all-star draft adds up

NBA Live Mobileis the most popular basketball simulation video game, developed and published by EA Sports for mobile phones. Franchised by National Basketball Association, the game features all authentic gameplay and roster and match schedule. Every player in the game exists in tradable form in the game. There’s Live Events, Head-to-Head competitions, Seasons, Leagues matches, Team Management, Set Collection, and Auction House. In order to upgrade your squad overall rating, you need to bid for elite players in Auction House by NBA Live Mobile Coins.The NBA has revamped the way it will choose teams for the all-star game in Los Angeles in February, in an attempt to add some level of intensity to what has become a defence-free exhibition of individual skills rather than any kind of competitive affair.

But there is already just a touch of controversy about the process, which will have the top two vote-getters — online balloting started Thursday — act as captains and draft teams from the pool of players.

Fans, media and league officials will still choose five nominal starters from each conference, and coaches will vote to fill out the rosters, but conference affiliation will have nothing to do with the final teams.

How those teams get chosen is the issue.

A report suggested the league was planning to conduct the draft away from the prying eyes of the media, making it a private affair before simply announcing the teams. That would avoid any potential embarrassment for, say, the final player selected, and wouldn’t hold the captains up to scrutiny for who they chose when and who they blew off.

Would LeBron James take, for instance, Kyrie Irving? Would Stephen Curry take Kevin Durant over Klay Thompson? Which all-star would go last?

But while the league might have an issue in the regard, a couple of high-profile players wouldn’t mind the draft being televised, or at least done in some public forum.

Washington’s John Wall seemed to relish the possibility of a very public draft.

Whether the new format will change much is unlikely, but at least having a different look — and the winning team choosing a charity that will benefit financially — might give it a chance to be better. If that means captains choose their buddies, so be it.

HALL FAST TRACK: The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame has modified its election criteria to hasten the induction of players and coaches. The waiting period for selection has been shortened to three years after a player retires; there was a five-year wait before the change was made earlier this week. Next year’s cast of contenders features Steve Nash and Jason Kidd.

TRUTH TO POWER: Enes Kanter of the Knicks is a constant and harsh critic of Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, so much so that the government rescinded Kanter’s passport in the summer. This week, media reports from Turkey said prosecutors are seeking a four-year jail term for Kanter, for insulting Erdogan on the player’s Twitter feed. It doesn’t seem to bother Kanter one bit. “Four years? That’s it?” he told reporters. “For all of the trash I’ve been talking? I promise you guys, it doesn’t really bother me, even . . . a little bit, because my thing is just going out there and playing basketball.”

CLEANING THE GLASS: Zach Randolph of the Sacramento Kings isn’t the biggest guy around, nor he is the quickest, but he’s got a knack for rebounding that sets him apart. The six-foot-nine, 250-pounder went over the career 10,000-rebound mark this week when the Kings beat the Brooklyn Nets. In his 17th season, he’s the 20th player in NBA history with more than 18,000 points and 10,000 rebounds. “I tell the young guys, it’s not about who jumps the highest and how strong you are,” Randolph said. “Rebounding’s about positioning and having a knack for the ball and reading where the ball will come off, having a sense where the ball is going to bounce to. It’s about a combination of things. It ain’t just about athletic ability or just jumping up and down.”