SAN FRANCISCO — The NBA All-Star Recreation reached a low level in 2024.
The league’s annual showcase, as soon as the anchor occasion of All-Star Weekend, had devolved to such an extent that the ultimate rating was 211-186. Gamers on the East staff, which received, overtly admitted they had been chasing the first-ever 200-point whole.
In 2025, the NBA reformatted the All-Star Recreation to a match. 4 groups would compete in short video games to 40 factors.
The brand new format was extra profitable. There was a smattering of protection right here and there.
Shaq’s OGs’ Stephen Curry (30) shoots a 3-point basket Candace’s Rising Stars’ Trayce Jackson-Davis (32) throughout Recreation 2 of the NBA All-Star Recreation at Chase Heart in San Francisco, Calif., on Sunday, Feb. 16, 2025. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Space Information Group)
Within the semifinal spherical, Shaq’s OG’s, that includes Warriors celebrity Stephen Curry, narrowly beat Candace’s Rising Stars 42-35 in a sport the place the result was briefly unsure. The opposite semifinal between Chuck’s International Stars and Kenny’s Younger Stars was much less aggressive however nonetheless comparatively shut. Chuck’s staff received 41-32.
Within the closing, Shaq’s staff beat Chuck’s staff 41-25 in an entirely uncompetitive contest.
So did the brand new construction work?
“The format was cool,” stated Jayson Tatum, a member of Shaq’s staff. “The toughest part was that they stopped the game to do the presentation while we were kind of halfway through it. We were sitting down for 20 minutes, whatever it was. It was tough to get back into the game. But I thought it was good.”
Shaq’s OG’s Jaylen Brown (7) steals the ball away from Candace’s Rising Stars’ Trayce Jackson-Davis (32) in Recreation 2 of the NBA basketball All-Star Recreation on the Chase Heart in San Francisco, Calif., on Sunday, Feb. 16, 2025. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Space Information Group)
Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo, who dressed out for the International Stars however didn’t take part in both of their video games, endorsed a United States-versus-World competitors.
“The U.S. versus the World, that would be an exciting format,” Antetokounmpo stated. “I feel like that would make people play hard. Hopefully we can get it back — I wasn’t there, but get it back to where it was. I remember the first couple of years that I was an All-Star, everybody was playing hard.”
Maybe simply because the Olympic gold medal sport was a spirited affair between France and the U.S. on the Paris Olympics final August, a extra distinguished worldwide taste would carry elevated depth.
“I would rather play without breaks,” stated Oklahoma Metropolis’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, a local of Canada and member of the International Stars staff. “But I had fun nonetheless. I feel like it was a little bit more towards the competitive side tonight, which is a good feeling. Step in the right direction.”
Shaq’s OGs’ Kevin Durant (35) takes a shot towards Candace’s Rising Stars’ Dalton Knecht (4) in Recreation 2 of the NBA basketball All-Star Recreation on the Chase Heart in San Francisco, Calif., on Sunday, Feb. 16, 2025. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Space Information Group)
Curry, the sport’s MVP, supplied enter on the format to NBA commissioner Adam Silver. He left happy with the general outcomes.
“I don’t want to compare it to any other era because the world has changed,” Curry stated. “Life is different. The way people consume basketball is different. It’s not going to look like it used to. But it can still be fun for everybody. I had fun. Our team had fun. That’s kind of all that matters.”
Damian Lillard, an Oakland native and member of Shaq’s staff who hit the game-clinching 3-pointer within the semifinal, endorsed a return to the long-tenured East-West format. The All-Star Recreation was East-West from its inception in 1967 to 2018.
From 2018-2023, groups had been fashioned from a draft undertaken by the highest vote-getters in every NBA convention. The league returned to East-West in 2024 earlier than abandoning it as soon as once more.
Shaq’s OGs’ Stephen Curry (30) dribbles towards Candace’s Rising Stars’ Dalton Knecht (4) in Recreation 2 of the NBA basketball All-Star Recreation on the Chase Heart in San Francisco, Calif., on Sunday, Feb. 16, 2025. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Space Information Group)
“I’m a fan of the original way,” the Bucks guard stated. “Just put more on the line, heightened incentives – a financial incentive is what we’re talking about. That’s something that I’m sure would get people going.”
Lillard had a number of concepts. He additionally steered placing home-court benefit within the Finals on the road, in addition to making a staff of All-Star snubs to compete within the four-team match.
Clearly, the occasion remains to be a piece in progress. However a number of gamers thought this 12 months’s version was nearer to the perfect model than final 12 months’s uncompetitive debacle.
“Kyrie (Irving), yesterday at practice when we came in right before we took the floor, he’s like, ‘Yo, we playing this year?’ I was like, ‘Yeah,’ and he’s like, ‘All right.’” Curry stated.
“You saw him, he was guarding Donovan Mitchell physical, he was in short spurts playing, keeping the intensity going and all that. So it all mattered. Everybody was professional tonight. Everybody showed up, did their job and did right by the game.”
Shaq’s OGs’ Kyrie Irving (11) fights for the ball towards Chuck’s International Stars’ Donovan Mitchell (45) in championship sport of the NBA basketball All-Star Recreation on the Chase Heart in San Francisco, Calif., on Sunday, Feb. 16, 2025. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Space Information Group)
Initially Printed: February 16, 2025 at 9:41 PM PST
