The 2024 All-Star event will feature four teams competing in a single-night, three-game tournament. Each game will end when one team reaches 40 points, a stark contrast to the high-scoring affair of previous years.
📰 Table Of Contents
How the teams will break down:
- Three teams of eight players drafted from the pool of All-Star selections.
- The fourth team will be the winner of the Rising Stars Challenge, which features standout first and second-year players.
The tournament will take place on February 16 at the Golden State Warriors’ home arena in San Francisco. The Rising Stars event will kick things off on February 14.
NBA has announced a new format for the 2025 All-Star Game ⭐️👀 pic.twitter.com/ezqhP4PLjN
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) December 17, 2024
Why the Change?
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver has long sought to increase the competitiveness of the All-Star Game.
This decision comes after last season’s matchup in Indianapolis, which set a record for combined scoring, with 397 points in total. The final score was 211-186, and players attempted 289 shots.
“Obviously, with the elephant in the room being us competing, them trying to shake things up is expected and makes sense,” said Shai Gilgeous-Alexander of the Oklahoma City Thunder.
“At the end of the day, it’s going to come down to whether the players want to go at it and I would love to see that.”
Recent Format Changes
The NBA has experimented with multiple All-Star formats in recent years:
- For decades, it was East vs. West, with traditional four-quarter, 12-minute games.
- The league later switched to a captain’s draft format, where the top vote-getters from each conference picked their teams. Notable captains included LeBron James, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Kevin Durant, and Stephen Curry.
- During the draft era, a target score was introduced for the fourth quarter. The winning team needed to surpass the leading team’s score after three quarters, plus 24 points – a tribute to Kobe Bryant.
However, the All-Star Game returned to the East vs. West structure last season, which resulted in sky-high scoring and a lack of defensive effort.
Kevin Durant says he hates the new NBA All-Star format
“I hate it. Absolutely hate it. Terrible….We should just go back to East-West.” 😳
(🎥 @GeraldBourguet )
— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) December 17, 2024
All-Star Voting Process
The voting process remains unchanged and fans can vote daily until January 20 for three frontcourt players and two backcourt players from each conference.
The final results are determined through a weighted system:
- 50% fan vote
- 25% media vote
- 25% player vote
The top 10 vote-getters will be named “starters,” while NBA head coaches will select 14 reserves.
Team Selection
The All-Star rosters will be drafted live on February 6 by:
- Shaquille O’Neal (Team Shaq)
- Charles Barkley (Team Charles)
- Kenny Smith (Team Kenny)
The fourth team, made up of Rising Stars winners, will be called Team Candace, in honour of retired WNBA star Candace Parker.
Coaching Staffs
The coaching staff for the Eastern and Western teams with the best records (excluding last year’s coaches from Milwaukee and Minnesota) will oversee the tournament.
- The head coaches from each conference will coach one All-Star team.
- Assistant coaches will serve as head coaches for the other two teams in the tournament.
Prize Pool
A total of $1.8 million in prize money is up for grabs:
- Players on the winning team will receive $125,000 each.
- The runner-up team will earn $50,000 per player.
- Players on the two teams eliminated in the semifinals will still take home $25,000.
