NBA announces new All-Star game format
Interest around the NBA All-Star game has waned for years. Defense has become non-existent except for the occasional year where players have tried in the last five minutes of the game. Fans have been forced to endure 40-plus minutes of open dunks and guys chucking from behind the arc, things that are not nearly as fun as they sound. The intensity is usually somewhere around that of open gym shootaround.
The league has tried different formats over the years, such as switching from East vs. West to USA vs. The World, having player captains select the teams, or adopting some version of the Elam Ending for each quarter. Now, they’ve announ
Basically, the league has adopted the mini-tournament format that the Rising Stars challenge has used the last few years. Here are a few of the pros as I see it:
- The shorter game might mean guys are more inclined to ramp up the intensity. They’re only playing to 40; it won’t be a 211-186 final like last year where every possession is largely irrelevant in the grand scheme of things.
- The smaller roster size means less worrying about everyone having to see some degree of court time, which I’m sure is a pain with a 12-man squad of All-Stars. There are only three subs so guys will play with that distraction removed.
- My favorite wrinkle: the Rising Stars winner playing against the All-Stars. Will the Rising Stars try to stake a claim by coming hard at the OGs and could that make the vets mad enough to raise their intensity of play? I don’t know, but I’m excited to find out.
Now, this certainly might not work and it might wind up just being three shorter games of low-ced a new format for the 2025 game set to take place in the Golden State Warriors’ home arena:
Basically, the league has adopted the mini-tournament format that the Rising Stars challenge has used the last few years. Here are a few of the pros as I see it:
- The shorter game might mean guys are more inclined to ramp up the intensity. They’re only playing to 40; it won’t be a 211-186 final like last year where every possession is largely irrelevant in the grand scheme of things.
- The smaller roster size means less worrying about everyone having to see some degree of court time, which I’m sure is a pain with a 12-man squad of All-Stars. There are only three subs so guys will play with that distraction removed.
- My favorite wrinkle: the Rising Stars winner playing against the All-Stars. Will the Rising Stars try to stake a claim by coming hard at the OGs and could that make the vets mad enough to raise their intensity of play? I don’t know, but I’m excited to find out.
Now, this certainly might not work and it might wind up just being three shorter games of low-intensity, low quality of play. But the league had to try something new and this format seems worth a shot.
What do you think? Do you like the new format? Do you even still pay any attention to the All-Star game? Let us know in the comments.
