NBA announces revamped All-Star tournament

LAS VEGAS -- The NBA's All-Star Game is going to beryllium an All-Star tourney this season, pinch the convention announcing connected Tuesday that it has finalized plans to usage a different format for the upcoming midseason showcase successful San Francisco.

And scoring is judge to beryllium down -- way, way, measurement down.

This season's format is simply a four-team, three-game, one-night tourney pinch 3 teams of 8 All-Stars apiece and the 4th squad being the victor of the Rising Stars situation for first- and second-year players. The winning squad successful each games will beryllium the first to people 40 points.

It'll hap Feb. 16 astatine the location of the Golden State Warriors. The Rising Stars arena is location Feb. 14, headlining All-Star Friday.

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver has wanted a much competitory All-Star arena for immoderate time, and this alteration comes aft the teams mixed to people a grounds 397 points -- 211-186 was the last -- successful past season's crippled astatine Indianapolis.

The teams mixed to return 289 changeable attempts successful past year's game, 94% of those being either wrong the overgarment aliases beyond the 3-point line.

"Obviously, pinch the elephant successful the room being america competing, them trying to shingle things up is expected and makes sense," said Oklahoma City Thunder defender Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, a apt All-Star action this play for the 3rd time. "At the extremity of the day, it's going to travel down to whether the players want to spell astatine it, and I would emotion to spot that. Love to beryllium a portion of that for sure, and hopefully it happens."

There person been different All-Star format shakeups successful caller years. After the first 66 All-Star Games were fundamentally played for illustration a normal crippled -- Eastern Conference vs. Western Conference, 4 quarters, 12 minutes apiece -- the convention switched to a format wherever the starring vote-getters from each convention served arsenic captains who sewage to draught their teams.

LeBron James served arsenic 1 of the captains each six times, pinch Giannis Antetokounmpo the different skipper 3 times, Kevin Durant doubly and Stephen Curry once.

In 4 of the captain's-pick years, All-Star Games utilized a target people astatine the extremity of games, ensuring that the victor was decided connected a made shot. Fourth quarters were untimed and the victor was the first squad to scope immoderate the starring team's people was aft 3 quarters, positive 24 points -- the 24 being a motion to Kobe Bryant's past jersey number.

It went backmost to the East vs. West format past twelvemonth and saw a grounds constituent full on pinch Luka Doncic trying a 70-foot jumper, Donovan Mitchell throwing a 50-foot underhand inbounds pass, Bam Adebayo inbounding the shot to himself by tossing it disconnected Nikola Jokic's backside, Tyrese Haliburton trying and making 5 3-pointers successful a 92-second span, and Damian Lillard capping the nighttime pinch a 44-foot jumper -- which wasn't moreover his longest changeable of the game.

"I deliberation thing could beryllium done astir it," Lillard said aft his MVP-winning capacity successful past year's game. "I'm not judge what, but I deliberation there's a measurement to make it a much competitory game."

The convention hopes it has recovered the answer.

Voting format

All-Star voting originates Thursday and the format is unchanged.

Fans -- who tin ballot done Jan. 20 -- tin formed ballots regular for 3 frontcourt and 2 backcourt players from some conferences.

That'll beryllium portion of a weighted look -- 50% instrumentality vote, 25% media sheet vote, 25% existent subordinate ballot -- to find the 10 players that will beryllium designated arsenic "starters."

NBA caput coaches will prime the 14 players designated arsenic "reserves."

But the starter and reserve columns won't mean overmuch connected crippled night, since location will beryllium 15 different players starting -- 5 from each of the 3 teams, evidently -- and only 9 players coming disconnected the chair successful those semifinal games.

How the teams will beryllium picked

TNT analysts Shaquille O'Neal, Charles Barkley and Kenny Smith will draught teams from the 24-player All-Star excavation connected Feb. 6. The teams will carnivore their names -- Team Shaq, Team Charles and Team Kenny.

The Rising Stars victor that'll spell to the All-Star tourney will beryllium called Team Candace, for Candace Parker.

Coaching staffs

The coaching staffs from the teams pinch the champion records successful the Eastern and Western Conferences will spell to the All-Star Game. (It cannot beryllium the Milwaukee aliases Minnesota coaching staffs this year, since they coached past year.)

The East and West caput coaches will each coach a squad successful the tournament; 1 adjunct coach from each unit will service arsenic caput coach for the different 2 teams successful the All-Star tournament.

Prize money

There is simply a prize excavation of $1.8 cardinal for the All-Star Game.

Each subordinate connected the All-Star champion squad gets $125,000, each subordinate connected the runner-up squad will get $50,000 and the players connected the teams eliminated successful the semifinals will each get $25,000.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.