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Michael C. Wright
SAN FRANCISCO — The new tournament format for the NBA All-Star Game on Sunday night drew mixed reviews, with several players taking issue with the breaks during and between games.
The NBA eschewed the traditional East vs. West setup in favor of a four-team, single-elimination tournament, with a target score of 40 points for each round. Three of the teams were drafted by TNT “Inside the NBA” analysts Charles Barkley (Chuck’s Global Stars), Kenny Smith (Kenny’s Young Stars) and Shaquille O’Neal (Shaq’s OGs). The fourth team, named for Candace Parker (Candace’s Rising Stars), was comprised of the winning squad from Friday night’s Rising Stars event.
Players expressed satisfaction with the action on the floor, but pointed out Sunday’s tournament featured too many stoppages, as comedian Kevin Hart entertained the crowd at Chase Center with commentary and banter that halted play.
“To be honest, I didn’t like it at all,” said Trae Young, a member of Chuck’s Global Stars. “I didn’t like the breaks. The games were so short. Obviously, we can score. So, they’re trying to, I feel like, trying to extend the game, extend the TV time with the breaks and things like that.”
The championship game — in which Shaq’s veteran-laden squad that featured players such as Stephen Curry, Jayson Tatum and Kevin Durant defeated Chuck’s team of international talents such as Nikola Jokic, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Victor Wembanyama — had a break of nearly 20 minutes due to a tribute to the TNT broadcast crew, which is in its final year covering All-Star Weekend.
“I would rather play without breaks,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “But I had fun, nonetheless. I feel like it was a little bit more towards the competitive side tonight, which is a good feeling, a step in the right direction. I guess it’s up to the guys that handle all that stuff to figure out what’s next and how to keep making it more and more interesting. Hopefully, we get there one day.”
Added Jaylen Brown: “I would say it’s not ideal to stop like that if you want guys to be physical. I think guys were still out there having fun. All the OGs, team old knees and old backs, we came out on top, so I don’t think anyone else should have had any excuses. It’s definitely not ideal.”
Curry, who scored 12 points in the championship game en route to earning the All-Star MVP, said he “did have some input and a lot of conversations with [NBA commissioner] Adam [Silver] and the rest of the leadership on where we were last year.”
“We needed to change, needed some new life, new juice in the game, something kind of unexpected,” Curry said.
Durant said the format “took some getting used to,” and Warriors forward Draymond Green criticized the decision to include first- and second-year Rising Stars players.
“I had to work so hard to play on Sunday night of All-Star Weekend,” Green said on the TNT broadcast. “And because ratings are down, because the game’s bad, we’re bringing in Rising Stars? I never played in the Rising Stars game. My first two years, I didn’t touch that game. And these guys get to touch the All-Star floor? On Sunday night?”
The absence of injured stars such as LeBron James, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Anthony Edwards also put a damper on the game.
Chuck’s Global Stars bested Kenny’s Young Stars in the first semifinal matchup of the evening as Gilgeous-Alexander scored a game-high 12 points on 5-for-5 shooting to fuel a 41-32 victory. Shaq’s OGs advanced to the championship with a 42-35 win over Candace’s Rising Stars.
Damian Lillard scored a team-high nine points in the semifinal win and Curry contributed eight as Shaq’s OGs closed the game on a 14-7 run. Lillard drilled the game-winning 28-footer off a Durant assist.
“Once we got into the flow of things, it was pretty good,” Durant said. “The first game we played against the Rising Stars I thought was pretty good.”
