Wait-and-see approach by stars to new NBA All-Star format

LAS VEGAS (AP):

Milwaukee Bucks guard Damian Lillard is the reigning NBA All-Star Game MVP, after scoring 39 points last February in the highest-scoring game the league has ever seen.

East 211, West 186.

It rewrote the record book. It did not make the league happy.

So, the NBA is changing the how the midseason showcase works once again. The league has announced the finalised changes for the reimagined All-Star Game, turning it into a one-night tournament — the Sunday night of All-Star weekend — and following the format that the Rising Stars Challenge for rookies and second-year players has used in recent years.

The NBA’s hope is simply this: By getting players to compete even a little bit more, the product will be more compelling, and more people will watch. Ratings have plummeted in recent years, viewers evidently not loving the constant stream of lobs, 3-pointers, dunks and zero defence.

“I understand what’s being attempted,” Lillard said. “You want to create some type of competitiveness in that game on Sunday. You want to try to mix it up to try to find a way to make it more entertaining. We’ll see.”

The new format largely mirrors the one used for the Rising Stars games since 2022. For Rising Stars, the NBA brings the best rookies and sophomores to All-Star weekend and splits them into four teams. There are two semifinal games — the first team to 50 points were the winners in Year 1, the first team to 40 points have been the winners of the semifinals in 2023 and 2024. And the semifinal winners meet in a championship game that same night, first to 25 points winning.

The All-Star format this year will see 24 players being selected — 10 will be designated as starters, 14 as reserves, even though that’s not how it will work on game night. The 24 players will be drafted into three teams of eight, and the Rising Stars winning team will remain to compete as the fourth team in the All-Star tournament. There will be two semifinal games to 40 points, and then a final to 40 points.

“If I get a chance to go, obviously it’s a blessing,” Oklahoma City star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander said. “I support whatever they do because it’s an honour to be there.”

Improving the All-Star product has been a priority of Commissioner Adam Silver and the league office for some time. Nobody is expecting a Game 7, playoff-type level of competitiveness. Nobody is hoping to see something akin of Pete Rose running over Ray Fosse at home plate in the 1970 Major League Baseball All-Star Game.

What the league wants, yet again, is just a little more competition. The league tried it with a target-score ending for a few years, tried it with captains picking their own teams, and now will try the tournament.

“We’re looking at other formats,” Silver said on November 2, which was his way of announcing that changes were coming without formally announcing that changes were coming. “I think there’s no doubt that the players were disappointed as well in last year’s All-Star Game. We all want to do a better job providing competition and entertainment for our fans.”

This year’s All-Star weekend is February 14-16 in San Francisco.