In the NBA’s latest and perhaps most drastic effort to revive the league’s beleaguered All-Star weekend, it announced Tuesday that it is replacing the traditional All-Star game with a pickup-style 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 Feb. 16 as the Golden State Warriors host the league’s annual All-Star festivities. Instead of a single All-Star game that’s traditionally played on Sunday, the league will host a one-day tournament featuring four teams made up of eight players each.
One perennial All-Star has already weighed in on the format. In his words, “it’s terrible.” But more on that later. Here’s what the All-Star tournament will look like:
How the All-Star tournament works
Three teams will consist of the 24 players selected as All-Stars. Barkley, O’Neal and Smith will draft the teams that will be known as Team Chuck, Team Shaq and Team Kenny. The draft will be conducted on TNT on Feb. 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 that will be held on Friday, Feb. 14. Four teams made up of first- and second-year NBA players and G League standouts will play a three-game tournament to crown a champion. The Rising Stars format that’s been used in previous years serves as a model for the new All-Star Sunday tournament.
WNBA legend and TNT analyst Candace Parker will serve as the honorary general manager of Rising Stars team that advances 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 record in the Eastern and Western conference as of Feb. 2. The head coaches of each team will serve as coaches of two of the All-Star teams. Assistant coaches from each team will serve as the the coaches for the Rising Stars team and the third All-Star team.
The tournament will consist of two semifinals and a championship game, each of which will be played to 40 points. The league’s announcement did not address how the teams will be seeded.
Kevin Durant on new format: ‘I hate it’
Kevin Durant has already weighed in on the new format. He does not approve. Durant was asked about the format at Suns practice on Tuesday. Here’s what he had to say:
I asked Kevin Durant what he thought about the new format for the NBA All-Star Game: “I hate it. Absolutely hate it. Terrible….We should just go back to East-West.” pic.twitter.com/T7owR5aJY7
— Gerald Bourguet (@GeraldBourguet) December 17, 2024
“I hate it,” Durant said. “Absolutely hate it. It’s terrible. All-Star games formats changing — all the formats are terrible in my opinion. We should just go back to East-West, just play a game.
“I think we’ve been trying to bring that flair back somehow with the All-Star weekend. But I think we just keep it traditional. But we’ll see how this one works. You never know. I might be wrong. I’m just another guy with another opinion.”
Durant may or not be aware here that he played in an East vs. West format that was revived last season and resulted in a 211-186 final score from a game that featured little competition and even less defense.
Will cash prize motivate players?
There will be cash at stake with a total prize pool of $1.8 million. Players on the teams that lose in the semifinals will earn $25,000 each. The championship game losers will receive $50,000 each. Players on the championship team will be awarded $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 have provided little reason for fans to tune in.
The league has made multiple changes to the All-Star game throughout the years in an effort to produce a more compelling product. It’s scrapped the traditional East vs. West format for a playground-style game of teams selected by All-Star captains only to return to the East vs. West format in 2024.
It’s tinkered with the scoring including an Elam Ending format that was implemented in 2020. It’s added charity prize pools with bigger prizes awarded to the chosen charity of the winning team.
None of the previous changes has resulted in compelling or competitive basketball. Is the new pickup-style tournament the answer?