Over the course of February Break, the NBA has hosted many games for its different teams. While most of these games were standard, the weekend of February 15th saw the return of the All-Star Game for the 2024-25 season.
The All-Star Game has followed the same format for a while now. Typically, fans vote on 24 players to play in this game. Then, the All-Star elects were typically sorted onto two different teams: the Eastern and the Western conferences, which divide the NBA today. They then play in a game to top off the rest of the events during All-Star Weekend, such as the Slam Dunk Contest, Three Point Contest, and Rising Stars game. However, during this All-Star game, the format was changed from the status quo.
The All-Star game has been plagued with an issue for a while now; there is minimal defense during the game. This was boring to watch for many fans, as the game essentially turned into a three point shoot around that had no real weight to it. So, Adam Silver, the Commissioner of the NBA, changed the format of the All-Star game. Instead of there being two teams, there would be four, and would play against each other in a single elimination tournament to reach a target score of forty to win the game. Whichever team won the All-Star “championship” would be rewarded with a cash prize of $1.8 million, which would be divided amongst members of the team. The teams that competed in the game included Candace’s Rising Stars (from the winners of the Rising Stars game prior to the event), Chuck’s World Stars (international basketball players in the NBA), Kenny’s Young Stars, and Shaq’s OG’s.
However, this new format did little to solve the NBA’s troubles with the All-Star Game. The game was hosted by Kevin Hart, and felt like Hart was more in the spotlight than the actual game itself. Additionally, while there was some defense being played, it took a while for it to stop being a shootaround. Many players did not take the game seriously, and due to that, the game lacked many of the aspects that make watching basketball fun. However, the tournament format worked well, and should be incorporated by future All-Star games, as it was enjoyable watching the different teams of players you typically don’t see play together (such as stars Jayson Tatum and Stephen Curry) face off in a single elimination tournament. If the prize had more of an incentive however, the All-Star game could return to its former glory, as a cash prize of $125,000 per player who won doesn’t mean much to people who earn millions of dollars a year on maximum contracts.
Overall, the NBA All-Star game was alright. While it was enjoyable watching stars face each other in a tournament style game, the issue of minimal defense was still prominent in this year’s All-Star game. Hopefully this new format is more refined for next year, as to restore the All-Star game back to its former glory.
