All-Star Format Changes

Written and media by Barry Nixon.


Image result for nba all star weekend
CBS photographer during the All-Star Dunk Contest. Media by Bleacher Report

The National Basketball Association (NBA) is one of the top professional sports organizations in the United States. In the regular season, the NBA is divided into two different conferences, and they are known as the Eastern and Western conference. The NBA is made up of thirty-two teams, and there are sixteen teams in each conference. The teams all play a regular season game of eighty-two games to determine which team makes the playoffs at the end of the season.

Tip-off of All-Star game. Media by ESPN.

 During the month of February, there is a special weekend in the NBA that is known to attract fans from all over the world to watch all of the NBA All-Stars compete in different contests.   This special weekend is called All-Star Weekend. Every year this weekend is hosted in different states to allow people to see other cities around the world. Each day of the weekend is made up of a different activity. Friday consists of the rookies and sophomore game followed by the Celebrity Game. Saturday is the most interesting day of the weekend. You see the best of the best NBA players compete in the NBA Skills Challenge, Three-Point Contest, and Dunk Contest, which always gets the fans pumped. Sunday is the day where all of the All-Stars that you vote for make the gameplay. This usually provides a good time of humor, action, and excitement.

As of October 3rd, the NBA has decided to no longer go by its old format. The NBA will now select two team captains, one from each conference, and they will be selected off fan votes. The captains will then choose twelve players to represent them and battle in the East vs West All-Star game. Five players from each conference will be selected as starters, with the fan vote being worth 50 percent, the player vote worth 25 percent, and the media vote worth 25 percent as well. Seven reserves for each team will be picked by each conference’s head coaches. Chris Paul, the union president, says that “I’m thrilled with what the players and the league have done to improve the All-Star Game, which has been a priority for all of us. We’re looking forward to putting on an entertaining show in L.A. (ESPN).”

Steph Curry, the point guard for the Golden State Warriors states that,

I think it’s great for the game to kind of spice it up a little bit. Give the fans a little bit more interest in how the teams are going to unfold. It’s great to follow how the 24-man rosters are voted on by the fans and the coaches but now there’s another element of mixing the East and the West and giving different combinations of guys out there on the floor.”

Cleveland power forward Kevin Love agrees with Curry.  Love stated, “I think it mixes things up. I think in some way it will make it more competitive, and also it will be interesting to see who picks who.” Do you believe that the NBA will attract the same amount of fans during All-Star weekend?

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