Why is the format of the NBA All-Star Game changing again? To stimulate competition – and intrigue

LAS VEGAS – As expected, the upcoming NBA All-Star Game in San Francisco can be a three-team mini-tournament consisting of the league's top 24 players and the team that wins the Rising Stars Challenge.

Yes, the concept behind the change — this can be the league's third different All-Star format since 2020 — is to make the sport more competitive. But also, or as a substitute, or a minimum of to make watching it on TV more interesting.

“I think we've come to terms with the fact that modern All-Stars are partly about competition, but ultimately they're about entertaining fans and giving them a strong experience,” NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said on Tuesday in an interview with and other national media.

“As you know, I was wrong last year,” Silver said. “I thought that the guys in Indiana, given that it was considered the heartland of basketball, so to speak, and had a strong presence of some legends there, that the guys in Indiana would go back in time a little bit and play a traditional game, but that wasn't supposed to be the case .

“And so we went back to the drawing board with the players' association, spoke directly to the players and said, 'Let's come up with a format that we think has a better chance of making a game, or in this case a series. ' of competitions that will be of interest to fans.'”

The recent format, announced jointly by the NBA and the National Basketball Players Association on Tuesday, includes three games – two semifinals and the championship – during which the primary team to attain 40 or more points wins. There is a prize pool of $1.8 million, with the champion team receiving $125,000 per player.

Nothing changes within the number of the league's top stars. Twelve players from each conference are named All-Stars, with fans, media and players voting on each conference's five “starters” and 7 reserves, as determined by the coaches.

These players are then placed right into a pool where they’re chosen by TNT's three analysts – Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith and Shaquille O'Neal – who function honorary general managers for the three All-Star teams. They will split the teams into three groups of eight All-Stars on February 6 before TNT's weekly doubleheader.

Honorary Executive Director of the Rising Stars team is one other Turner Sports analyst, Candace Parker. The Rising Stars Challenge takes place on the Friday of All-Star Weekend; The All-Star Tournament will happen on February sixteenth on the Chase Center.

The coaches for the All-Star Game will consist of the staff of the first-place team in each conference starting February 2nd. The head coach of every first-place team will coach an All-Star team, an assistant on certainly one of their staffs will coach the Rising Stars champion, and one other assistant will coach the remaining All-Star team.

In November, it was reported that Silver's office was consulting with players, including Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry, about changing the All-Star Game again to make the event much more competitive. Silver thanked Andre Iguodala, executive director of the players' association, for leading the player-side discussion with Silver's office.

As Silver mentioned, last yr's All-Star Game in Indianapolis set a brand new scoring record – and that wasn't good, as players from each teams simply didn't show the slightest effort on defense.

“Since we're the elephant in the room in the competition, it's expected and sensible for them to try to shake things up,” said Oklahoma City star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, a two-time All-Star. “But in the end it comes down to whether the players want to take part and I would like to see that. I definitely love being a part of it and hopefully it happens.”

Fan voting for the All-Stars begins December nineteenth. No changes were announced to Saturday's All-Star program, but Curry and WNBA star Sabrina Ionescu, a Bay Area native, are expected to participate in a shooting competition for the second All-Star Saturday in a row.

Silver said the league worked with the players' association to cut back pre-All-Star Game introductions and national anthem production in order that players could complete a more normal warm-up routine before the sport.

go deeper

Go deeper

Steph Curry is consulting with the NBA about changing the All-Star format for the sport in San Francisco

“Growing up and watching All Stars as a kid, it was one of the few opportunities you had as a fan to see a lot of those players,” Silver said. “It was one of the few times these players came together. It's just a completely different world now. They are together all the time. They are together in the summer. They are on national teams together.

“For us, it’s a recognition that it’s a different time,” Silver continued. “And you know, we’ll see. I feel encouraged by this new format that we can create real excitement there.”

Required reading



image credit : www.nytimes.com