The NBA is receiving mixed reviews after the recent announcement about next year's All-Star weekend.
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NBA Announces Tournament-Style Format for All-Star Game
On Tuesday the league revealed a new format for the 2025 All-Star Game in San Francisco. The exhibition will feature four teams of eight players competing in a knockout-style competition. The winners of each first-to-forty semifinal will advance to the championship game.
The NBA and NBPA announced today a new format for the 2025 NBA All-Star Game in the San Francisco Bay Area.
In addition, NBA All-Star Voting presented by AT&T will tip off on Thursday, Dec. 19 at 10 a.m. ET.
Full details ➡️ https://t.co/KntyklRIe7 pic.twitter.com/3jIbW1tZWZ
— NBA Communications (@NBAPR) December 17, 2024
This year's 24 All-Stars will be drafted into three teams by TNT's Charles Barkley, Shaquille O'Neal and Kenny Smith on Feb. 6, and will play a four-team tournament, with the winner of the Castrol Rising Stars game filling out the bracket. Players on the winning team will receive $125,000.
Kevin Durant on New All-Star Game Format: 'I Hate It'
In 2018, the NBA traded the traditional East vs. West game for a draft format with teams captained by the league's biggest stars. They've since continued to rework the format, even briefly returning to the original conference face-off last year. Phoenix Suns forward Kevin Durant, who served as captain for the 2021 and '22 editions of the game, admittedly wasn't a fan of the format and doesn't like what the NBA is doing with this year's game either.
I asked Kevin Durant what he thought about the new format for the NBA All-Star Game: “I hate it. Absolutely hate it. Terrible….We should just go back to East-West.” pic.twitter.com/T7owR5aJY7
— Gerald Bourguet (@GeraldBourguet) December 17, 2024
"I hate it. I absolutely hate it. Terrible," Durant told reporters Tuesday afternoon. "All-Star Game formats changing. All the formats have been terrible in my opinion. We should go back to East-West, just play a game. i think we've been trying to bring that flair back somehow with the All-Star Weekend, but I think we [should] just keep it traditional.
"We'll see how this one works. you never know, I might be wrong. I'm just another guy with another opinion. We'll see how it works."
