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Adam Silver felt he had to do something. For years, All-Star players — guys like Kevin Durant, Anthony Davis and Devin Booker — have tried harder to avoid injury than anything else, which has turned the NBA’s All-Star Game into an unwatchable defense-free exhibition. Last season, the league went retro, returned to East vs. West, and the final score was 211-186.
So this year the NBA shook up the Sunday game: the 24 All-Star players will be divided into three teams of eight and they, plus the winning team from the rookie/sophomore Rising Stars game, will play in a four-team tournament with games to 40.
Durant, Davis and Booker all panned the idea. Durant pulled no punches, he hates the new format.
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. All-Star Game format changing, all the formats — terrible in my opinion. 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 All-Star Weekend, I think we just keep the tradition. We’ll see how this one works. You never know, I might be wrong, I’m just another guy with an opinion, but we’ll see how it works.”
Hey, Kevin, once again, the league tried the East vs. West thing last year and the players showed they had zero desire to make it competitive. So, the NBA tried to find a new format that might force some competition, and while I’m skeptical it works it’s better than doing something we know — that we saw a year ago — does not work.
Booker echoed Durant, via Duane Rankin of the Arizona Republic.
“It’s change, it’s different,” said Booker, a four-time All-Star, after Wednesday’s practice. “I’m more into the nostalgia. I agree with Kev. I like East versus West with your own team jersey. I like the old jerseys. It’s whatever.”
The Lakers’ Anthony Davis, also not a fan.
Anthony Davis on the new All-Star Game format: “I don’t really like it. But we’ll see…
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Author : NBC Sports
Publish date : 2024-12-19 03:14:00
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