LAS VEGAS – As expected, the upcoming NBA All-Star Game in San Francisco will be a mini-tournament between three teams consisting of the league’s top 24 players and the team that won the Rising Stars Challenge.
Yes, the idea behind the change – which will be the league’s third different All-Star format since 2020 – is to make the game more competitive. And, or the opposite, or at least, makes it more fun to watch on TV.
“I think we’ve recognized that the modern All-Star Games are partly about competition, but at the end of the day, they’re about entertaining fans and creating a strong experience for them,” NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said in an interview on Tuesday. Competitor and other national media.
“As you know, I was wrong last year,” Silver said. “I thought in Indiana, given that it’s considered the heartland of basketball and the strong presence of some legends there, these guys would kind of back off a little bit and play a traditional game, but that’s not the intention.
“So we started again with the Players Association, talking directly to the players and saying, ‘Let’s come up with a format that we think has a better chance of creating a game, or in this case, creating a series that fans will be interested in. .
The new format, announced jointly by the NBA and the National Basketball Players Association on Tuesday, will include three games — two semifinals and one finals — in which the first team to score 40 or more points wins. The prize pool is $1.8 million, with each player on the championship team receiving $125,000.
The NBA and NBPA today announced new formats for the 2025 NBA All-Star Game in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Additionally, NBA All-Star voting, presented by AT&T, will begin on Thursday, December 19 at 10 a.m. ET.
Full details ➡️ https://t.co/KntyklRIe7 pic.twitter.com/3jIbW1tZWZ
— NBA Communications (@NBAPR) December 17, 2024
The selection of the league’s top stars will not change. Twelve players from each conference will be named All-Stars, with fans, media and players voting to select five “starters” for each conference and seven bench players determined by coaches.
Those players will then go on to a roster selected by TNT’s three analysts – Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith and Shaquille O’Neal – who will serve as honorary general managers for the three All-Star teams. They will divide the team into three groups of eight All-Star players before the weekly doubleheader on TNT on February 6.
The Rising Stars’ general manager emeritus is fellow Turner Sports analyst Candace Parker. The Rising Stars Challenge takes place on the Friday of All-Star Weekend; the All-Star Game will be held on February 16 at Chase Center.
As of February 2, coaches for the All-Star Game will be from the staff of the first-place team in each conference. Serve as assistant coach.
November, Competitor Silver’s office is reportedly negotiating with players, including Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry, to once again change the schedule for the All-Star Game to make the event more competitive. Silver praised Players Association executive director Andre Iguodala for leading player discussions with Silver’s office.
As Silver mentioned, last year’s All-Star Game in Indianapolis set a new scoring record, which wasn’t a good thing because neither team’s players made any effort on defense.
“The big picture in the room is that we’re competing, and it’s expected and reasonable that they’re trying to shake things up,” said two-time All-Star Oklahoma City star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. “But at the end of the day, it’s going to be up to the players if they want to do it and I’d love to see that. I’d definitely love to be a part of it and hope it happens.
All-Star fan voting will begin on December 19th. Shooting contest for the second consecutive All-Star Saturday.
Silver said the league has worked with the Players Association to reduce the introduction and national anthem before the All-Star Game so that players can have a more normal warm-up before the game.
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“When I was a kid growing up watching the All-Star Game, it was one of the only opportunities as a fan to see these players,” Silver said. “This is the only time these players have been together. The world is completely different now. They have always been together. They were together in the summer. They are in the national team together.
“For us, it’s a recognition that this is a different time,” Silver continued. “And, you know, we’ll see. I’m encouraged by this new format because we can create some really exciting things there.
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(Photo: Kyle Terrada/USA Today)
