All-Star Weekend is just a couple of weeks away and Tim Reynolds from the Associated Press just announced that the 2020 NBA All-Star Game will receive some changes in its playing format and also will honor Kobe Bryant and his legacy with his iconic number 24 jersey.
BREAKING: NBA changing format for All-Star Game. Scores to be reset to begin second and third quarters, and a target score – with a Kobe Bryant tribute twist – will decide which team wins, all while $500,000 for charity is at stake. AP story here — https://t.co/RwY9DYZ4Y3
— Tim Reynolds (@ByTimReynolds) January 30, 2020
The changes include the score for the 2nd and the 3rd quarter to be reset to then be restored for the 4th quarter. In addition, the teams will play to reach a “Target Score” which will be established before the 4th quarter starts. The score will be determined by adding 24 points -to honor Kobe Bryant- to the total points scored by the team in the lead in the first three quarters.
Each team will also pick a charity from Chicago that will receive money according to the quarters the teams win. The first three quarters will be worth $100,000 and the team that gets to the target score and wins the game will receive $200,000 for a total of $500,000. In case one team wins the three quarters and the game, the losing team will receive $100,000 to the charity they picked.
These changes are the most recent ideas the NBA developed to make the All-Star Game more competitive like some years ago when they change from conferences to using team captains and a draft to make the teams. Following comes from Tim Reynolds in an interview with Byron Spruell, the NBA’s president for league operations:
“We’ve been very focused on making it more competitive, making it more exciting and making it fun,” Spruell said. “And we’ve had a great collaboration with the union. For this year’s game, we really focused on what new things we could do to make it a really competitive game where each quarter mattered in this case.”
The target score is one of the multiple tributes the NBA will perform to honor Kobe, his daughter Gianna and the seven lives that were lost in the helicopter accident.
