LAS VEGAS — Milwaukee Bucks guard Damian Lillard is the reigning NBA All-Star Game MVP, after scoring 39 points last February in the highest-scoring game the league has ever seen.
East 211, West 186.
It rewrote the record book. It did not make the league happy.
So, the NBA is changing the how the midseason showcase works once again. The league has announced the finalized changes for the reimagined All-Star Game, turning it into a one-night tournament — the Sunday night of All-Star weekend — and following the format that the Rising Stars Challenge for rookies and second-year players has used in recent years.
The NBA's hope is simply this: By getting players to compete even a little bit more, the product will be more compelling, and more people will watch. Ratings have plummeted in recent years, viewers evidently not loving the constant stream of lobs, 3-pointers, dunks and zero defense.
''I understand what's being attempted,'' Lillard said. ''You want to create some type of competitiveness in that game on Sunday. You want to try to mix it up to try to find a way to make it more entertaining. We'll see.''
The new format largely mirrors the one used for the Rising Stars games since 2022. For Rising Stars, the NBA brings the best rookies and sophomores to All-Star weekend and splits them into four teams. There are two semifinal games — the first team to 50 points was the winner in Year 1, the first team to 40 points has been the winner of the semifinals in 2023 and 2024. And the semifinal winners meet in a championship game that same night, first to 25 points winning.
The All-Star format this year will see 24 players being selected — 10 will be designated as starters, 14 as reserves, even though that's not how it will work on game night. The 24 players will be drafted into three teams of eight, and the Rising Stars winning team will remain to compete as the fourth team in the All-Star tournament. There will be two semifinal games to 40 points, and then a final to 40 points.