4 groups, three video games, one evening. That’s the plan for the 2025 NBA All-Star Recreation in San Francisco, confirmed after months of debate across the lack of competitiveness and – properly, protection – within the 2024 occasion.
The NBA adopted a brand new one-night event with three groups comprised of eight All-Stars drafted to groups by former NBA gamers Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith and Shaquille O’Neal of Contained in the NBA.
“I hate it. Completely hate it,” Suns ahead Kevin Durant mentioned Tuesday of the brand new format. “It’s horrible. … We must always simply return to the East-West, simply play a recreation.“
Final 12 months’s All-Star Recreation was broadly ridiculed regardless of reverting again to the normal East-West matchup from a “captain’s draft,” with the fan-vote leaders from every convention drafting two groups.
In 2025, the winner of the Rising Stars problem competitors between first- and second-year gamers would be the fourth workforce within the All-Star Recreation event.
Event video games might be determined by the primary workforce to achieve 40 factors.
Commissioner Adam Silver reiterated on opening evening of the 2024-25 season the NBA was dedicated to making a aggressive environment for the All-Star Recreation on the heels of an occasion document 397 factors within the 2024 occasion in Indianapolis.
The prize pool of $1.8m is break up based mostly on outcomes of the event in 2025. Gamers on the event winner obtain $125,000 with runners-up to obtain $50,000 apiece. The 2 groups eradicated with losses of their first recreation might be paid $25,000 per participant.
Damian Lillard of the Bucks was voted All-Star Recreation MVP with 39 factors in 2024 and launched a number of pictures nearer to halfcourt than the three-point line.
He mentioned final month the difficulty with the All-Star Recreation is an “effort drawback”.
“The NBA has an effort drawback with all-star video games, so what do they do? They construct a format the place non-all stars get to play towards all stars, and shortens the precise recreation right into a event the place they solely have to attain 65 factors to win,” Lillard mentioned in a submit to X on 21 November. “These guys are professionals. Let’s cease this BS.“
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