NBA All-Star is a major annual event in the American basketball industry. This year, the classic game rules will return along with many other notable highlights.
In the 73rd edition, the NBA All-Star event series will take place in Indiana (USA) from February 17 – 19. This is a unique “party” held every February for the largest basketball tournament on the planet.
This year, the All-Star match at Gainbridge Fieldhouse and other competitions at Lucas Oil all have many notable highlights.
Classic rules return
Since 2018, NBA All-Star has changed to a random team format, regardless of the East or West regions. The competition list is finalized based on votes from fans, media agencies and NBA players. The competition rules are determined as 3 regular rounds (12 minutes) and the 4th round is untimed.
NBA All-Star 2024 marks the return of the East – West team division.
After many years of maintaining the new format, the classic game rules have returned for the first time at NBA All-Star 2024, signaling a hot confrontation of basketball in the two regions of America. The traditional scoring system also reappears with 4 rounds, each round 12 minutes. The only thing that hasn’t changed is the goal of giving selected charities an edge.
This is what the Commissioner of the US National Basketball Association – Mr. Adam Silver – announced at a press conference in October 2023. This information makes many longtime NBA fans both reminisce about the top matches of the past and look forward to upcoming surprises.
The “Star Wars”
This year, the two captains in the NBA All-Star game are Giannis Antetokounmpo (East) and LeBron James (West). This is the 20th consecutive time “King James” has competed in NBA All-Star. At the age of 39, LeBron became the player who appeared the most times in the tournament’s history, surpassing the legendary Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
LeBron James (left) and Giannis Antetokounmpo (right) are the captains of two teams at NBA All-Star 2024.
This is also the fourth time these two stars have faced off as captains in All-Star matches. In the previous 3 times, James won in 2019 and 2020. Antetokounmpo “triumphed” in 2023.
In addition, NBA All-Star 2024 also brings together a series of top basketball stars. The official lineup of the Western team includes Luka Doncic, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Kevin Durant and Nikola Jokic. The Eastern team has Tyrese Haliburton, Damian Lillard, Jason Tatum and Trae Young (replacing injured Joel Embiid).
The reserve line is also worth waiting for with the return of “chef” Stephen Curry (Western team). Some names that have the honor of appearing for the first time at this year’s “super event” such as Jalen Brunson, Tyrese Maxey, Paolo Banchero and Scottie Barnes also want to express themselves.
Curry – Ionescu and the “great 3-point battle”
Stephen Curry is known as the best 3-point shooter in NBA history, with 3,624 successful shots. Sabrina Ionescu also gradually asserted herself with 128 3-pointers in the WNBA arena (NBA for women’s players) in the 2023 season.
The two will meet in this year’s 3-point shooting competition. This is a “unique” confrontation event, stemming from Ionescu’s “challenge” on social networks sent to his seniors. At that time, she set a record of scoring 37/40 points at the 3-point throw line.
Curry and Ionescu will make shots from the standard line of each participating tournament. The NBA’s 3-point line has a distance of 23’9” (7.23m), the WNBA’s is 20’6” (6.24m). Each successful throw of both will help increase donations for charities supporting the black community.
“Stage” for artists
Like every year, the NBA All-Star event is also an opportunity for artists and athletes of other sports to show their passion for basketball when they attend the “celebrity” match. All-Star 2024 is no exception and this time continues to have the presence of many prominent names.
The team of Shannon Sharpe (former NFL player) and Stephen A. Smith (sports journalist) will face each other. Famous rapper 50 cent will play the role of assistant coach of team Shannon and he will direct “players” such as actor Quincy Isaiah, racing driver Conor Daly, NFL player Micah Parsons…
Meanwhile, another familiar rapper, Lil Wayne, will lead the Stephen A. team as assistant coach. This team also includes the appearance of actress Jennifer Hudson, former NBA player Metta Sandiford-Artest, Backstreet Boys member AJ McLean…
Some of the remaining events of the 2024 NBA All-Star period include a game for young stars, a 3-point shooting contest, a slam dunk contest and a technique contest.
