The NBA recently announced a new All-Star Game format that completely turned the traditional game on its head. It will now be a four-team mini tournament between teams of eight All-Stars and one team of Rising Stars. With the announcement, players likely to be All-Stars — like Los Angeles Lakers star Anthony Davis — are giving their takes on the game.
Kevin Durant of the Phoenix Suns has already gone on record to say that he doesn’t like the new format. The NBA has become known in the last few years for trying to do wholesale changes to fix issues revolving around player enthusiasm, including the Emirates NBA Cup.
And although the All-Star format was in definite need of tweaking, this format certainly could be viewed as too much. That’s what Davis had to say as his initial reaction to the change.
“I don’t really like it, but we’ll see how it goes this year and see if they change it or not,” Davis said after a recent practice.
When breaking down specifically what he doesn’t like about it and what he would change it to, he said that he feels most players would be on his side.
“Two teams. If anything, go back to East and West, but the four teams and multiple games and all that stuff, I don’t think a lot of players are going to like that, personally,” Davis said. “But we’ll see. See how it goes.”
The major reason for the change to the All-Star format is that viewership has dropped dramatically with the on-court product being less than enjoyable to watch. That will only get worse if the players are not on board with the format. However, Davis wanting to go back to East vs. West is also not viable, as that is the format that led them to the initial problem.
At the end of the day, fixing the All-Star Game is a difficult task, as players will inherently never take it as seriously as they do games that matter. But perhaps this change will bring about better results that Davis expects. He’ll more than likely be one of the guinea pigs for this event given the season he’s having.
Anthony Davis believes break has been beneficial
Anthony Davis has been the leading man for the Lakers during the 2024-25 season, assuming more responsibility on both ends of the floor as LeBron James nears 40 years old.
Davis has done well in the larger role, though has suffered his share of nicks and bruises along the way. For example, Davis hurt his shoulder in the win against the Memphis Grizzlies, though chalked it up as nothing more than a little stinger. He has also dealt with plantar fasciitis in his foot for a majority of the season.
Los Angeles has been able to enjoy another few days of rest before their game on Thursday against the Sacramento Kings and Davis acknowledged that it’s been good for him and the team to rest and get some practice in.
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