LAS VEGAS – As expected, the next NBA All-Star Game in San Francisco will be a three-team mini-tournament made up of the top 24 players in the league and the team that won the Rising Stars Challenge.
The new format, jointly announced by the NBA and National Basketball Players Association on Tuesday, includes two semifinal games and three championship games, with the first team to reach 40 or more points the winner. The prize pool is $1.8 million, with the champion team earning $125,000 per player.
The NBA and NBPA today announced a new format for the 2025 NBA All-Star Game to be held in the San Francisco Bay Area.
In addition, the NBA All-Star Poll presented by AT&T will be announced on Thursday, December 19th at 10 a.m. ET.
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The selection of the league's top stars remains unchanged. Twelve players from each conference will be named All-Stars, with fans, media and players voting to select five “starters” from each conference and seven reserve players to be determined by coaches.
These players will be part of a pool selected by TNT's three analysts: Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith, and Shaquille O'Neal. They serve as general managers for three All-Star teams. They will divide the team into three groups of eight All-Stars on February 6th before TNT's weekly doubleheader.
The honorary general manager of the Rising Stars team is Candace Parker, another Turner Sports analyst. The Rising Stars Challenge takes place on the Friday of All-Star weekend. The All-Star Tournament will be held on Sunday, February 16th at Chase Center.
All-Star Game coaches will be selected from the staffs of the first-place teams in each conference as of February 2nd. The head coach of each first-place team will coach the All-Star team, and an assistant from one of the teams will serve as the coach. The staff will coach the Rising Stars champions, and another assistant will coach the rest of the All-Star team.
Phoenix Suns superstar Kevin Durant didn't hesitate Wednesday when asked about the new format by reporters.
“I hate it, I absolutely hate it, it's the worst,” Durant said. “In my opinion, all the formats have been terrible. We should just go back and play games East and West. I think we've tried to get some of that excitement back with All-Star weekend, but we've kept it traditional. I think it should. But let's see how this works. You'll never know, I'm just one guy with an opinion, but let's see how it works. Let’s see.”
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Stephen Curry talks with NBA about changing All-Star format for game against San Francisco
In November, The Athletic Commissioner Adam Silver's office has talked about changing the All-Star Game again, including Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry, in another attempt to make the tournament more competitive. It is reported that they are in talks with the players. Last year's All-Star Game in Indianapolis set a new scoring record, but it wasn't a good thing because players on both teams didn't put in any effort defensively.
“Given the competition we have in the room, it's to be expected that they would try to change things up,” said Oklahoma City star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, a two-time All-Star. Yes, it makes sense,” he said. “But at the end of the day it's going to come down to whether the players want to do it or not and I'd like to see that. Of course I'd like to be a part of it and I hope that happens. Masu.”
Fan voting for the All-Stars begins December 19th. No changes were announced for Saturday's All-Star show, but Curry and Bay Area WNBA star Sabrina Ionescu are expected to participate in the shooting competition. All-Star Saturday for the second year in a row.
This story will be updated.
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(Photo: Kyle Terada/USA Today)
