Late starts part of NBA's All-Star problem

The NBA revamped the format of the All-Star Game to make it more competitive than in previous years. But it continued a problem that's been around for years: starting the game half an hour late.

Officially, the game between Team Chuck and Team Kenny was supposed to tip off at 8:20 p.m. ET. At 8:30 p.m., Kevin Hart was still riffing with Charles Barkley and Kenny Smith at center court. Fans who tuned in at the announced start time got to see Hart doing a tedious skit with TNT's Ernie Johnson.

The musical part of the All-Star introductions was fine, with Raphael Saadiq leading a band through a medley of Bay Area musical hits as the players were introduced. But with the new format separating the 24 All-Stars into three teams, and playing a team of Rising Stars, that's 32 player introductions. 

Add in the honorary coaches, the TNT panelists who drafted the teams and Shaquille O'Neal's inexplicable robot dog, and the pre-game business simply dragged on.