Kevin Durant, Anthony Davis, Devin Booker all bash new All-Star Game format

On By Littum

Adam Silver felt he had to do something. For years, All-Star players — guys like Kevin Durant, Anthony Davis and Devin Booker — have tried harder to avoid injury than anything else, turning the NBA’s All-Star Game into an unmanageable defenseless exhibition. Last season, the league went retro, reverting to east versus west, and the final score was 211-186.

So this year, the NBA shook up Sunday’s game: the 24 All-Stars will be split into three teams of eight, and they, plus the winning team from the rookie/sleeper year Rising Stars game, will play in a four-team tournament with games for 40.

Durant, Davis and Booker all panned the idea. Durant pulled no punches, he hates the new format.

“I hate it, I absolutely hate it. Terrible. The All-Star Game format is changing, all the formats — horrible in my opinion. We should just go back to East-West. Just play a game. I think we has been Trying to bring that flare back somehow with All-Star Weekend, I think we’re just keeping the tradition going. We’ll see how this one works out, we’ll see how it works out.”

Hi Kevin, once again the league tried east vs west last year and the players showed they didn’t want to make it competitive. So the NBA tried to find a new format that could force some competition, and while I’m skeptical it will work, it’s better than doing something we know – as we saw a year ago – doesn’t work.

Booker echoed Durant, via Duane Rankin of the Arizona Republic.

“It’s change, it’s different,” Booker, a four-time All-Star, said after Wednesday’s practice. “I’m more into the nostalgia. I agree with Kev. I like East versus West with your own team jersey. I like the old jerseys. It’s whatever.”

Lakers’ Anthony Davis, not a fan either.

The new format calls for 24 All-Stars – the same number as in previous years, with the 10 starters voted in by fans/players/media and the other 14 selected by the coaches. Those 24 will be divided into three teams of eight, with a member of the Inside the NBA Crew (Shaq, Charles Barkley or Kenny Smith) serving as the GMs who draft the teams. Those three teams, plus the winning team from Friday night’s Rising Stars match, will be seeded into a four-team knockout tournament. The teams will play games to 40, and the winners of the first two games will meet in a championship game.

The way they’ve played this season, Durant, Booker and Davis should easily all be in San Francisco for the All-Star Game. We will see what they think of the new format after playing in it.