Bob Dylan once wrote: "The times, they are a changin'."

As it turns out, the NBA has officially caught on.

Following an offseason during which the Western Conference grew stronger—and the disparity between the league's two halves did the same—not to mention years upon years of the league's midseason exhibition losing its luster—the Association has taken a step in the right direction.

In a joint release from the NBA and the National Basketball Players Association on Tuesday, the league announced it will ditch the traditional East-West format in 2017-18. Here's what we know:

• The leading vote-getters in each conference will be team captains
• Team captains will choose their own rosters, one-by-one, starting with the remaining eight players voted in as starters
• Team captains will then draft the rest of the players, all of whom were voted in as reserves
• There will be 12 total players voted in from each conference
• The two teams will be playing for charity

Basically, this is a throwback to seventh-grade gym class but with the best players on the planet—and it's awesome.

But along with what we know comes a number of questions. Will this improve the competitive aspect of the game? What pressures will the captains face?

Did the league get it right by still allowing 12 players from each conference to participate?

The answers to most of these queries won't come to light until February. But in the meantime, Bleacher Report has rallied some of its top hoops scribes to answer those questions and more:

Why Did the NBA View This as a Problem?

Players and league officials saw the same thing we all did in February: The All-Star Game was a dud. And it had been trending that way for years.

Chris Paul, the president of the players union, called NBA Commissioner Adam Silver that same week to suggest it was time for creative changes. Indeed, Silver mentioned that conversation a few weeks later at the Sloan Conference, vowing, "We will change it by next year. It shouldn't be playoff intensity, but the guys should be playing."

That conversation eventually led to the changes announced Tuesday. Playing for charity will give the All-Stars a new motivation to try to win—as opposed to staging an extended alley-oop contest. Having players choose their own teams, playground style, will inject a little entertainment into the process.

Let's be clear here: This isn't about the talent gap between the conferences. It's about the All-Star Game itself growing stale. The only way that changes is if the players, whether on their own or through other inducements, decide to play as though it matters. The new wrinkles should help.

—Howard Beck

Assuming LeBron James and Kevin Durant Are Captains, What Questions Do They Face?

For Kevin Durant: Does he burn his first pick on one of his Golden State Warriors teammates? And if so, who does he choose, since Stephen Curry, Draymond Green and Klay Thompson all have a legitimate shot at making the cut? Will LeBron James poach one of them to help KD out? Should he just roll with a rival player to ensure clickbaity think pieces aren't written about how he likes Steph a zillion times more than Draymond, or vice versa?

LeBron, meanwhile, must carefully think through his picks. Kevin Love is probably the only teammate he has to worry about selecting, but anyone he chooses who isn't a member of the Cleveland Cavaliers will set the free-agency rumor mill ablaze.

I can see the headlines now: LeBron James Formally Commits to Retire as a Member of the Los Angeles Lakers After Dubbing Paul George His All-Star Teammate.

LeBron also needs to take stock of whether he can, or should, assemble the banana boat foursome. This may be the only opportunity they get to play with more than two of one another. Is that experience worth the loss they'd inevitably suffer to Durant's squad? Then again, he doesn't have to worry about this too much. Paul will certainly be part of the All-Star conversation, but Carmelo Anthony's chances collapsed with his westward relocation, and Dwyane Wade shouldn't play nearly enough minutes to get tabbed as an Eastern Conference rep.

Finally, both LeBron and KD must dig deep within themselves to answer the toughest question of all: Will they avoid playing with their former teammates at all costs? Should LeBron select Khris Middleton or Kristaps Porzingis over Kyrie Irving while Durant does the same to Russell Westbrook?

The potential pettiness here zooms off the charts, and we should all be glad it does. Thank you, NBA.

—Dan Favale

Will the Charity Aspect Make the Players Try Harder?

I'm probably the only NBA fan not bubbling over with excitement about this format change. The East-West thing is tradition, and I'm an old grump. Plus, we'll probably never see a team score 200 points in an All-Star Game now.

I'm all for the charity bit, though. This is a great public-relations move by the league, especially at a time when athletes are being challenged to get more involved in social causes.

That said, "playing for a charity" is a time-honored tradition on such illustrious programs as Celebrity Jeopardy! or Battle of the Network Stars. I wouldn't say Danny Bonaduce or Taye Diggs is any more competitive on those shows than normal, though maybe inside Taye Diggs secretly beats the heart of a warrior and I just don't know it.

This is still an exhibition played strictly for entertainment purposes. I highly doubt anyone is going to throw an elbow on behalf of a charity, but if anyone does, it'll be Green.

—Dave Schilling

How Should They Design the Jersey?

They should make sure to pick the captains early and let them collaborate with Nike to create a uniform which fits that person's character. Given that they're both Nike dudes, I'm sure LeBron and KD could both come up with some interesting ideas that reflect their personalities and what they want out of their All-Star squad.

We saw KD put all of his pettiness onto the insole of his latest signature sneaker. Let's see all of the gripes he has on the All-Star uniforms.

—Joon Lee

Should the NBA Have Done Away With Conference Equality Altogether?

Breaking the confines of tradition is hard, so it's no surprise the NBA is hesitant to get rid of the conference structure entirely when it has featured a symmetrical group of players since the game's inception in 1951. But this imbalance is growing particularly noteworthy after last year's five-man core of Western snubs (Mike Conley, Chris Paul, Karl-Anthony Towns, Rudy Gobert and Nikola Jokic) would've trounced—from a talent standpoint, at least—the actual Eastern Conference reserves.

The disparity will only be worse in 2018 when the West features even more noteworthy stars left out to dry. According to Sports Illustrated's rankings of the top 100 players, No. 12 out West is Gobert (No. 15 overall). No. 12 in the East is Hassan Whiteside (No. 34 overall), which means he lags behind roughly 10 non-All-Stars from the NBA's opposing half.

This change was the first step toward perfecting the All-Star festivities. Next is eliminating conferences entirely. After that comes expanding the rosters, since 24 selected players in 2016-17 was 2.5 percent of all those who logged minutes, as opposed to the 10.8 percent who earned inclusion when conferences each settled on sending 12 players apiece in 1973-74.

—Adam Fromal

If This Doesn't Revive the All-Star Game, What Will?

The last few All-Star Games have mostly devolved into a noncompetitive layup line with the exception of one participant: Russell Westbrook. He treats All-Star Games like he does playoff games, regular-season games or any game, really. In an exhibition meant mostly for reunions and fraternizing among the game's elite, Westbrook warmed up by himself, opposite the rest of his teammates, at last year's All-Star Game.

The league could revive the game by pitting its only willing competitive participant against himself. Have Westbrook play for one side in the first half and then have him switch teams at halftime to see whether he can outdo his prior self.

That, by itself, would make the game uniquely watchable.

—Jonathan Abrams

Roundtable: Are You More Likely to Watch?

Abrams: It's hopefully a step toward more parity and by definition, a more watchable game. I don't think many people gave the Eastern Conference much of a chance after the moves made this offseason. The Western Conference even took Paul Millsap out of the East. Millsap made the All-Star team each of the past four seasons with the Atlanta Hawks. In the Western Conference, he is unlikely ever to sniff the team again.

Fromal: I've admittedly tuned out of the All-Star Game itself for the last few years—the Skills Challenge, Three-Point Contest and other secondary events notwithstanding—because exhibition basketball isn't nearly as much fun without something on the line. That changes now.

Pride matters. We've all experienced the pangs of inadequacy when overlooked in playground games, so just imagine what these professional athletes will feel when they're chosen after fellow All-Stars. Think about the motivation with which they'll play in this free-flowing format while trying to embarrass their fellow competitors.

This is personal now, and that's so much better than any artificial incentives that existed under the previous structure.

Lee: I probably would've watched regardless, but at least for the first year, it definitely adds more intrigue to the mix. The NBA is the sports soap opera, and the schoolyard draft for these teams will only create more drama.

I'm excited to see the pettiness between players manifest itself like they're still middle schoolers who hold irrational feelings toward one another. In reality, the league needed to change the format given the talent disparity between the two conferences.

Who actually wants to see Kyrie, John Wall, LeBron, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Joel Embiid (injury pending?) allow 200 points against Russ, Steph, KD, Kawhi Leonard and Anthony Davis?