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In the NBA’s latest and perhaps most drastic effort to revive the league’s beleaguered All-Star weekend, announced on Tuesday which is replacing the traditional All-Star Game with an informal tournament.
TNT analysts and NBA veterans Charles Barkley, Shaquille O’Neal and Kenny Smith will serve as team captains.
The announcement confirms multiple reports that the league was considering adopting a tournament format. The new format will debut on February 16 when the Golden State Warriors host the league’s annual All-Star festivities. Instead of a single All-Star Game traditionally played on Sunday, the league will host a one-day tournament featuring four teams consisting of eight players each.
An eternal All-Star has already participated in the format. In his words, “it’s terrible.” But we’ll talk about that later. This is what the All-Star tournament will be like:
How the All-Star tournament works
Three teams will be made up of the 24 players selected as All-Stars. Barkley, O’Neal and Smith will select the teams that will be known as Team Chuck, Team Shaq and Team Kenny. The draft will take place on TNT on February 6, similar to previous All-Star drafts that consisted of two player captains choosing teams.
The fourth team will be the winner of the Rising Stars Challenge which will take place on Friday, February 14. Four teams made up of first- and second-year NBA players and G League standouts will play in a three-team tournament to crown a champion. The Rising Stars format that has been used in previous years serves as the model for the new All-Star Sunday tournament.
WNBA legend and TNT analyst Candace Parker will serve as honorary general manager of the Rising Stars team advancing to Sunday’s tournament. The team will be known as Team Candace.
The All-Star team coaches will come from the NBA teams with the best records in the Eastern and Western conferences starting February 2. The head coaches of each team will serve as coaches for two of the All-Star teams. Assistant coaches from each team will serve as coaches for the Rising Stars team and the third All-Star team.
The tournament will consist of two semifinals and one championship match, each of which will be played to 40 points. The league’s announcement did not address how teams will be ranked.
Kevin Durant on the new format: “I hate it”
Kevin Durant has already given his opinion on the new format. He doesn’t approve. Durant was asked about the format at the Suns’ practice on Tuesday. This is what he had to say:
I asked Kevin Durant what he thought about the new NBA All-Star Game format: “I hate it. I absolutely hate it. Terrible… We should return to the East-West.” pic.twitter.com/T7owR5aJY7
-Gerald Bourguet (@GeraldBourguet) December 17, 2024
“I hate it,” Durant said. “I absolutely hate it. It’s terrible. All-Star formats change; in my opinion, all formats are terrible. We should go back to East-West, just play a game.
“I think we’ve been trying to bring that style back in some ways with All-Star weekend. But I think we’re just keeping it traditional. But we’ll see how this goes. You never know. I might be wrong. I’m just another guy. with another opinion.”
Durant may or may not be aware here that he played in an East vs. West that was revived last season and resulted in a final score of 211-186 in a game that featured little competition and even less defense.
Will the cash prize motivate the players?
There will be cash up for grabs with a total prize pool of $1.8 million. Players from teams that lose in the semifinals will win $25,000 each. The losers of the championship game will receive $50,000 each. Players on the champion team will receive $125,000 each.
The league is changing the format in an effort to produce a competitive product during its All-Star showcase. All-Star Games in recent years have featured little to no defense or competitive effort and provided little reason for fans to tune in.
The league has made multiple changes to the All-Star Game over the years in an effort to produce a more attractive product. The traditional East vs. format was eliminated. West for a playground-style game of teams selected by All-Star captains only to return to the East vs. West in 2024.
Scoring was modified, including an Elam finals format that was implemented in 2020. Charity prize pools were added with larger prizes awarded to the winning team’s chosen charity.
None of the above changes have resulted in compelling or competitive basketball. Is the new pickup style tournament the answer?