NBA adopts pickup style tournament to replace All-Star game: Will it revive the league’s beleagured All-Star weekend?

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Kevin Durant does not approve of the new All-Star format. (Trevor Ruszkowski/Reuters)

In the NBA’s latest and perhaps most drastic effort to revive the league’s beleaguered All-Star weekend, it announced Tuesday that it is replacing the traditional All-Star game with a pickup-style tournament.

TNT analysts and NBA veterans Charles Barkley, Shaquille O’Neal and Kenny Smith will serve as team captains.

The announcement confirms multiple reports that the league was considering adopting a tournament format. The new format will debut on Feb. 16 as the Golden State Warriors host the league’s annual All-Star festivities. Instead of a single All-Star game that’s traditionally played on Sunday, the league will host a one-day tournament featuring four teams made up of eight players each.

One perennial All-Star has already weighed in on the format. In his words, “it’s terrible.” But more on that later. Here’s what the All-Star tournament will look like:

How the All-Star tournament works

Three teams will consist of the 24 players selected as All-Stars. Barkley, O’Neal and Smith will draft the teams that will be known as Team Chuck, Team Shaq and Team Kenny. The draft will be conducted on TNT on Feb. 6, similar to previous All-Star drafts that consisted of two player captains choosing teams.

The fourth team will be the winner of the Rising Stars Challenge that will be held on Friday, Feb. 14. Four teams made up of first- and second-year NBA players and G League standouts will play a three-game tournament to crown a champion. The Rising Stars format that’s been used in previous years serves as a model for the new All-Star Sunday tournament.

WNBA legend and TNT analyst Candace Parker will serve as the honorary general manager of Rising Stars team that advances to Sunday’s tournament. The team will be known as Team Candace.

The All-Star team coaches will come from the NBA teams with the best record in the Eastern and Western conference as of Feb. 2. The head coaches of each team will serve as coaches of two of the All-Star teams. Assistant coaches from each team will serve as the the coaches for the Rising Stars team and the third…

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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/nba-adopts-pickup-style-tournament-to-replace-all-star-game-will-it-revive-the-leagues-beleagured-all-star-weekend-205416617.html

Author : Yahoo Sports

Publish date : 2024-12-17 20:54:00

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