NBA lands gold with new All-Star game format
Last night’s fourth quarter in the NBA All-Star game was some of the most exciting basketball you’ll ever see in an exhibition game.
from People.com
The NBA put on a celebration to honor its league and the life of basketball legends David Stern and Kobe Bryant. What was a night that usually gets overshadowed by Saturday night festivities, the actually all-star game was everything fans would have wished for. It was highly entertaining, competitive throughout, and added a sense of drama unlike we’ve seen in years. No doubt these players were motivated to honor their mentor and idol Kobe, but the NBA actually fixed their all-star game format.
With the new format, every quarter is a new game where the players compete for Chicago-based charities. When it got to the fourth quarter, to honor Bryant, the teams will then compete untimed to the score of 24. This was done not only to celebrate Bryant and what he has done for the NBA but to also increase competitiveness and excitement for a night where players often don’t play hard to prevent injuries. And to the people that don’t like this notion, remember that players compete just as hard at pickup games over the Summer.
The NBA made it to where you had to tune it throughout and not just the fourth quarter as many do with the new stipulations. Since every quarter was a new game, it added a competitive feel to where players were actually playing defense and there wasn’t just running and gunning down the court shoot threes. Team LeBron took the first quarter with a hot start by Kawhi Leonard who was on fire from deep hitting seven.
But not to get outshined, the reigning MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo dominated the second with a dunk after dunk to lead his team to the win. The third quarter got more competitive and you saw the best basketball players in the world but on an absolute show. Strategy was being used and players were actually playing up to a level that Sunday’s game doesn’t really see.
With all that praise, the fourth quarter absolutely stole the show. The energy and competitiveness were there from start with LeBron’s team down and having to come back after losing the third. It really felt like you were watching a playoff game with Kyle Lowry taking charges in the lane. Players like Leonard and Giannis played incredible defense and Team Gianni’s used strategy throwing it down to big man Joel Embiid in the post late in a close game.
The only complaint comes from a lackluster ending that saw the game end on free throws by hometown player Anthony Davis.
With the lead Team LeBron went for it all shooting threes including a deep one near halfcourt by James himself but failed to game it like that. Adam Silver has to change it to where the game doesn’t end on free throws but rather having to score once getting to game point.
With all that said this exceeded expectations fans had for the new format and the NBA perfectly executed it and its honoring of Bryant and Stern. A compelling tribute by Jennifer Hudson set the tone for a night that felt special and was truly a celebration. The game itself was great action to see and was still highly entertaining. With the loss of conference bragging rights, the NBA needed to do something new other than the All-Star Draft to create excitement and they hit on this.
Let’s hope Silver and the players keep this format as we just watched one of the greatest All-Star games of all time.
Full highlights here:
