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LAS VEGAS – As expected, the upcoming NBA All-Star Game in San Francisco will be a mini-tournament of three teams composed of the top 24 players in the league and the team who wins the Rising Stars Challenge.
The new format, announced jointly on Tuesday by the NBA and National Basketball Players Association, will include three games — two semifinals and the championship — in which the winner is the team to reach 40 or more points first. There is a prize money pool of $1.8 million, with the champion team earning $125,000 per player.
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 on the five “starters” and the seven reserves from each conference decided by coaches.
Phoenix Suns superstar Kevin Durant didn’t hold back on Wednesday when reporters asked him about the new format. “I hate it, I absolutely hate it, it’s terrible,” said Durant. “All the formats have been terrible in my opinion. We should just go back to East-West and just play a game. I think we’ve been trying to bring that flare back somehow with the All-Star weekend but I think we should keep it traditional. But we’ll see how this one works. You never know, I’m just another guy with an opinion but we’ll see how it works.”
In November, The Athletic reported that commissioner Adam Silver’s office was consulting with players, including the Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry, on changing the All-Star Game again in another attempt to make the event more competitive. Last year’s All-Star Game in Indianapolis set a new record for points scored — and that wasn’t a good thing, as players on both teams simply didn’t play with any effort whatsoever on defense.
Fan voting for All-Stars will begin on Dec. 19.
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