This season, the NBA All-Star Game has yet another new format as the league tries to draw more eyes after a down season of ratings. All-Star Weekend has often drawn criticism for its lack of competitive play, which led Adam Silver and the NBA brass to make changes to the setup.
This year’s format will feature a four-team tournament, with three of these teams being made up of eight NBA All-Stars each. The fourth team will be the winner of the Rising Stars challenge, which will take place the night before.
The games will be decided by the first team to reach 40 points, but the overall format has drawn the ire of players like Kevin Durant, who said the following about the revamped All-Star weekend: “Terrible – All-Star Game format changing, all the formats – terrible in my opinion,” he said. “We should just go back to East-West. Just play a game. I think we’ve been trying to bring that flare back somehow with the All-Star Weekend, but I think we just keep it traditional.”…