Tag: NBA All-Star Game

Why the 2024 NBA All-Star Game moved away from a draft and the Elam ending

Whether you missed it or not, the traditional NBA All-Star Game is back. 

Instead of a draft and the Elam ending, the 2024 NBA All-Star Game will be Eastern Conference vs. Western Conference with four 12-minute quarters.

After a few years of experimenting with a different format, including a draft for players between 2018 and 2023, the league will now return to the original format of the game that was used for decades. The draft ocassionally had its interesting moments but it had run its course.

The Elam Ending, explained here, was initially considered a huge hit when it was first introduced to the NBA All-Star Game in 2020. But for a variety of reasons, some that had little to do with the format and more to do with a fear of players getting hurt, the games have not seen much competition of late.

Fans have noticed this and last season, viewership of the game was down to its lowest figure in more than 20 years. Someone needed to step in and save this game as its quality got worse and worse!

During an interview with JJ Redick on The Old Man and the Three podcast, NBA comissioner Adam Silver addressed these problems:

“No one was happy about the experience last year, no one at all … It’s not me necessarily saying we expect you to be playing like it’s the Finals but we need a game.”

It was obviously time for a change and so Silver decided to shake things up.

But another reason why the league has moved back to the format, according to Silver, is a tribute to the city that is hosting the 2024 NBA All-Star Game (via Indy Star):

“It’s fitting with the entire theme of our season which essentially, ‘Back to basketball,'” Silver said. “… Since we’re coming back to such a traditional market, we’re going back to the classic format.”

Rick Carlisle, head coach of the Pacers, supported the idea. He said that Indiana is among the “purer basketball” places.

Whether you missed it or not, the traditional NBA All-Star Game is back.

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Seven Former Wildcats Named All-Star Team

A record seven former Kentucky Wildcats made the NBA All-Star team this year

The NBA All-Star weekend has an argument to be the best in all of major sports and it culminates with the All-Star game on Sunday, February 18th. It’s preceded by the skills competition, slam dunk contest, and three-point contest on Saturday night.

The NBA announced their All-Star teams this week and a record seven former Wildcats were selected to the team. For seven of the twenty-four selected players to be from one school is quite the feat. Here are the seven former Wildcats to be selected to the 2024 NBA All-Star Game.

The NBA unveiled a jaw-dropping LED court for All-Star Weekend and the future is here

This is a VERY cool court.

The NBA has unveiled an LED court that they will use during All-Star Weekend at events hosted by Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.

Although the NBA All-Star Game will be held at Gainbridge Fieldhouse (the home of the Pacers and the Fever) and will not feature the LED court, the rest of the weekend festivities will be at the NFL stadium where the Colts play.

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That means the NBA All-Star Celebrity Game, the Skills Challenge, the 3-Point Contest, and the Slam Dunk Contest will all take place on an amazing LED court. (The one-on-one shooting contest, Stephen vs. Sabrina, will also happen on the special court.)

We saw FIBA install similar glass courts during the U19 Women’s Basketball World Cup last year and it was an exciting glimpse into the future.

The court that the NBA will use, which was developed by the German company ASB GlassFloor, will add an enhanced experience for fans in-arena and those watching the TNT broadcast.

It will allow for design and color changes, live replays, game stats, location-based player tracking animations, and other animations.

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Even Doc Rivers can’t believe he’s the NBA All-Star Game coach after just 1 win with the Bucks

Doc Rivers wants to pass on the All-Star Game.

Doc Rivers has been the head coach of the Milwaukee Bucks for all of three games, but he’s already the recipient of one of the rewards that comes with coaching a team led by Giannis Antetokounmpo — if you want to call it a reward.

With their win over the Dallas Mavericks Saturday — Rivers’ first since taking over for Adrian Griffin — the Bucks clinched the Eastern Conference’s second-best record through Feb. 4. That means their coaching staff will be headed to the All-Star Game on Feb. 18. The honor usually goes to the first-place team, but the Boston Celtics were ineligible after coaching the East all-stars last year.

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That left the job to the Bucks and Rivers, who was just as miffed as everyone else. He said he’ll give the bonus money and All-Star ring to Griffin.

“That is ridiculously bad. It really is,” Rivers said. “Well, Adrian’s gonna get some money. That’s for sure. And a ring. You know, it’s one of these quirky things. I think there should be a rule somehow that someone else does it other than me. Maybe I’ll send my staff, and I’ll go on vacation.”

Domantas Sabonis will miss a $1.3 million bonus for not making the 2024 NBA All-Star Game

This is a costly omission for the Sacramento Kings big man.

Sacramento Kings big man Domantas Sabonis was one of the most surprising players not selected for the 2024 NBA All-Star Game.

The three-time All-Star had tough competition to represent the Western Conference. Sabonis ranked top-10 among all frontcourt players in the West when it came to fan voting, player voting, and media voting.

That put him ahead of Minnesota’s Karl-Anthony Towns in weighted rank, but reserves are chosen by the 30 coaches in the NBA. Towns made the team (perhaps surprisingly) while Sabonis was not selected.

But his omission was the most costly among the potential candidates. As noted by ESPN’s Bobby Marks, not making the All-Star Game will cost him a $1.3 million bonus from the Kings.

Sabonis currently ranks fifth-best among all NBA players in win shares, which is an advanced catch-all metric that measures overall value to a team. He trails only MVP frontrunners Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Nikola Jokic, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Joel Embiid.

Perhaps the big man could get a nod for the All-Star Game, and a bonus, as a potential injury replacement if Anthony Davis (who has now missed multiple games in a row due to injury) or another player from the West cannot play in Indiana.

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10 potential All-Star injury replacements (Trae Young!) for Joel Embiid and Julius Randle in the East

Trae Young deserves a trip to Indiana for the NBA All-Star Game.

The starters and reserves were announced for the 2024 NBA All-Star Game and several players were snubbed.

Two players (Joel Embiid and Julius Randle) in the Eastern Conference, however, are currently injured and are likely not expected back in time for the festivities in Indianapolis on Feb. 18.

Randle is out with a dislocated shoulder while Embiid was diagnosed with a devastating meniscus injury following a controversial return to play after he was a late scratch from a game against Nikola Jokic and the Nuggets.

While it is unclear how long Embiid will remain sidelined, in all likelihood, both players will require replacements in Indiana. Considering that Embiid and Randle are big men, at least one replacement will likely come from the frontcourt.

Here are some of the top candidates that NBA commissioner Adam Silver could consider when he makes his decision:

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These are the top NBA players who were snubbed for the 2024 All-Star Game, including Domantas Sabonis

Some of these players will get the nod from the commissioner as injury replacements.

The list of 2024 NBA All-Stars was now announced by the NBA on TNT’s crew and several noteworthy players did not make the list.

We already knew the 10 starters for the game in Indianapolis on Feb. 18. Those players were chosen based on weighted voting by fans (50 percent), the media (25 percent), and other players (25 percent).

Seven more players from each conference got the call that they as well. Those candidates were selected based on voting by the 30 coaches in the league. But that left some big names on the outside looking in.

Here is a look at the players who perhaps could have made the 2023 NBA All-Star Game but did not:

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Warriors’ Steph Curry not starting 2024 All-Star Game in Indiana

The Golden State point guard has been named a starter in his last nine All-Star game appearances.

On Thursday, the NBA revealed the starters for the 2024 All-Star game in Indiana. No members of the Golden State Warriors were voted starters, including Steph Curry.

Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeos-Alexander and Dallas Mavericks guard Luka Doncic were elected starters in the backcourt for the Western Conference. Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James, Phoenix Suns forward Kevin Durant and Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic will round out the rest of the Western Conference squad.

Via @NBAAllStar on Twitter:

Curry has been named a starter in his previous nine appearances in the All-Star game, including the last three consecutive seasons. The only time Curry wasn’t listed as a starter for the game was in the 2019-20 campaign when he was dealing with a hand injury.

The nine-time All-Star has served as a captain in the game in the past along with winning All-Star Game Most Valuable Player in 2022.

Curry will still have the chance to suit up for the All-Star Game in Indiana as a reserve. Reserves for the game will be revealed on Feb. 1. The star-powered game is set for Sunday, Feb. 18, in Indianapolis.

This post originally appeared on Warriors Wire! Follow us on Facebook and X! 

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The 2024 NBA All-Star jerseys are here and fans (mostly) like the classic look

Jordan Brand designed the NBA All-Star Game jerseys and these are pretty good.

To celebrate the upcoming NBA All-Star Game, the league revealed the jerseys that the league’s top players will wear on the court.

Indiana will host the 2024 NBA All-Star Weekend and Indianapolis has already installed a basketball court in its airport for the occasion, although fans unfortunately cannot play on the court. During the game, for the seventh year in a row, players will jerseys designed by Jordan Brand.

It is worth noting that the NBA has decided to switch back to East versus West for the format of the All-Star Game, and the jerseys reflect as much. Here is more from the NBA:

“In the return of the East vs. West format, the uniforms celebrate the league and rich basketball history of Indiana. The 2024 NBA All-Stars will also be outfitted in Jordan Brand old-school, Hoosier-inspired warm-ups.

Designed from the idea that basketball was raised in Indiana, the uniforms are rooted in a nostalgic, heritage look that feature a tonal twist on the classic red and blue uniforms with cream lettering. The pinstripes are inspired by the iconic Pacers uniforms in the late 1990s and early 2000s.”

You can take a look at the East (left) and West (right) jerseys below:

Some details to note include racing stripes under the words “All-Star” as an homage to Indianapolis and the Indy 500.

The sides of the shorts also have a logo with a large circle around it as a tribute to Monument Circle, which is there to represent the Soldiers and Sailors Monument in Circle City.

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Perhaps the best design element is the “ASG” ligature mark on the belt buckle, which draws from the “graphical origins” of the sport.

Of course, fans shared their thoughts about the look of these jerseys:

NBA All-Star 2024: Victor Wembanyama, Chet Holmgren maintain place among voting leaders

Victor Wembanyama and Chet Holmgren collectively received more than 250,000 votes since last Thursday.

San Antonio Spurs forward Victor Wembanyama and Oklahoma City Thunder forward Chet Holmgren continue to maintain ground among the league leaders in voting for the 2024 NBA All-Star Game.

Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo and Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James lead the Eastern and Western conferences in the third batch of fan returns released on Thursday. They led their respective conferences last week in the second fan vote returns.

Wembanyama and Holmgren are eighth and ninth in the frontcourt of the Western Conference, respectively, in the latest voting results. The two players’ positions remained unchanged, but they received more than 250,000 additional votes since last week.

The fan voting for the All-Star Game will run through Saturday at 11:59 p.m. EST, with the starting lineups for each conference set to be announced on Jan. 25 on TNT.

The 2024 NBA All-Star Game will be held on Feb. 18 at the Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Indiana. The event will air on TNT and is expected to reach fans in more than 200 countries and territories in more than 50 languages.

The NBA previously announced the game will return to a matchup between the two conferences that uses the traditional scoring system with four 12-minute quarters. The voting process will still determine a captain from each conference.

Wembanyama and Holmgren face long odds of earning an All-Star selection this year: A rookie hasn’t been selected since 2011 (Blake Griffin), and only 45 in history have earned that honor, but the two 7-footers are looking to add their names to the list.

Though the two players may be long shots to be named an All-Star, they are virtual locks to be selected to the Rising Stars game on Feb. 16. Wembanyama is also expected to compete in the Skills Challenge as part of the All-Star Saturday night festivities.

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