The upcoming NBA All-Star Game will be held under unusual circumstances this year, owing to the continuing effects of COVID-19. After scrapping its original plan to stage the game in Indianapolis (who will now host in 2024), this year’s All-Star event will instead take place at State Farm Arena in Atlanta, also the home of TNT, which holds the game’s television rights. Many prominent stars have spoken out against the league’s plans to carry out its usual All-Star festivities amid a global pandemic, with Kawhi Leonard accusing the NBA of prioritizing money over the health and safety of its players.
Regardless of their intentions, the NBA All-Star Game is now officially slated for March 7th with a number of changes including several new wrinkles players probably won’t care for. Not only is the All-Star Game happening (largely against players’ wishes), but according to ESPN’s Tim Bontemps, the NBA will also hold three-point and skills challenges, with those contests to occur sometime before the game’s scheduled 8 PM ET tipoff. And, most ambitious of all, the Slam Dunk Contest, usually reserved for Saturday night, will instead, for the first time, take place during halftime of the All-Star Game.
In essence, the league is squeezing all the activities and events that would usually span an entire All-Star weekend into a single night. Though the NBA’s All-Star itinerary has the potential to be highly entertaining, it also sounds exhausting, placing an unnecessary burden on its players, many of whom were already running on fumes.
Already winded from a condensed schedule and a shorter-than-usual offseason (the result of a four-month COVID delay that shelved the playoffs until last fall), you can see why players would be less than thrilled to forgo their vacation plans in the interests of a draining, TV-driven All-Star event. ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski has speculated that displeasure over the All-Star Game could be a factor in players’ initial reluctance to endorse the COVID vaccine.
Per Bontemps, this year’s All-Star Game will benefit historically black colleges and COVID relief with the NBA and Players Association pledging over $2.5 million in support of those causes. The scoring format used last year, with the game’s outcome determined by whoever reaches the point total of the leading team through three quarters plus 24 points first (24 is a nod to Kobe Bryant’s uniform number), will remain intact. All-Star starters will be announced Thursday night on TNT with reserves to be unveiled the following Tuesday. Rosters will again be drafted by the highest vote-getter from each conference with those players serving as captains for their respective teams. In accordance with COVID protocols, players will arrive on March 6th and will only be allowed to leave their hotels to attend the game.
Bontemps also notes that each player will be permitted up to four guests—this includes family, “longtime close personal friends” and agents—along with one “health-focused staff member.” Players who are invited must also self-quarantine with “limited exceptions” the week leading up to their arrival in Atlanta.
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