The NBA All-Star Game is returning this season to its old format pitting the Eastern Conference against the Western Conference, the league announced Wednesday. Here’s what you need to know:
- The game, which will take place Feb. 18 at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, will have a traditional scoring system with four 12-minute quarters, eliminating Elam’s ending. Teams will compete to win each quarter to benefit a charity of their choice.
- The voting process to determine All-Star rosters will remain the same, with 12 players selected from each conference. The highest number of votes from each conference will be named captain of their team.
- Before 2018, the All-Star Game was played between the East and the West. Over the course of six games under the player draft format, LeBron James led one of the teams.
What Adam Silver Said About Change
When asked Wednesday afternoon in Indianapolis why the league changed formats, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said, “I felt like it was time.”
“I said it earlier, in keeping with the overall theme of ‘return to basketball’ this season, I think we recognize that we’ve heard it from our fans,” Silver said. “I think the players also recognize that last year’s All-Star Game was something that no one was proud of, and I don’t think it’s anyone’s fault in particular. I think though that maybe we need to refocus on what this league actually is, and that is the best basketball in the world.
Silver said that when league officials discussed how to improve the All-Star Game, the fact that it’s being held in Indianapolis in 2024 “makes me think about the game at its roots.”
“And ultimately we thought if there was ever a place to restore the NBA to something that felt more classic, it was at an All-Star Game in Indianapolis, where you featured the East versus West, without complicated endings like we’ve had in the past with what we call Elam Ending, let’s make it a pure 48-minute basketball game,” he said. “The team whoever scores the most points in 48 minutes, assuming no overtime, wins.”
Silver added that the NBPA and Rick Carlisle, head of the coaches association, also agreed that changing the format was the right decision.
Pass
Changes to the All-Star Game format were a topic of discussion at board of governors and general managers meetings earlier this year, Athleticism Previously reported. THE NBA and the National Basketball Players Association also agreed to discuss increased competitiveness during the All-Star Game as part of a new collective bargaining agreement.
The 2023 game marked the first time in All-Star history that both teams were selected by team captains moments before tipoff, as if it were a game in a playground. school.
THE NBA also changed the All-Star Game in 2020 to implementation of the end of Elama scoring format that sets a target point total that teams must achieve to win, ensuring that every game ends on a game-winning field goal or free throw, rather than a timeout.
Required reading
(Photo: Kyle Terada / USA Today)
