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NBA All-Star Game 2013

Source: Ronald Martinez / Getty

Today the NBA announced there will be a new format for this year’s All-Star Game. The changes are hoping to increase the competition and add incentives for all involved through the entirety of the game. It also aims to add incentives via charitable donations, provide a little extra excitement at the end of the fourth quarter, and honor Kobe Bryant.

Both All-Star teams will choose various Chicago-based community organizations as selected by team captains LeBron James and Giannis Antetokounmpo.

The different community organizations selected will receive $100,000 if their team wins the quarter, this will be the case for each of the first three quarters.

The fourth quarter is going to be a little different.

The winner of the All-Star game will be determined by taking the cumulative score of the first three-quarters of the highest-scoring team, adding 24 and playing to that final score. The number 24 has been chosen because it Kobe Bryant’s number, who tragically passed away after the helicopter he was taking to a basketball game crashed in Calabasas.

The NBA provided the following example: if the cumulative score at the end of the first three quarters is 100-95 the Final Target Score will be set at 124 points. To win the game the team with 100 points would need to score 24 points to get to 124 and the team with 95 points will need to score 29 points to get to 124. The first team there, wins.

The team that wins the game will receive $200,000 towards the organization of their choosing.

This NBA All-Star weekend will see more than $1 million donated to local non-profit organizations in the Chicago area through NBA Cares outreach efforts.

The NBA said there will be multiple tributes to Bryant, his 13-year-old daughter, Gianna, and the seven others who lost their lives in Sunday’s helicopter crash throughout All-Star weekend.

“We spent a lot of time considering the right target number to use for the fourth quarter,” said Byron Spruell, the NBA’s president for league operations. “Through the events of this week it became clear to us that the only appropriate number for this season’s All-Star game is 24.”

The 2020 NBA All-Star Game will take place on Sunday, February 16 at the United Center in Chicago and will start at 8 p.m. Eastern Time.

 

NBA Announces Major Change To 2020 All-Star Game To Honor Kobe Bryant  was originally published on cassiuslife.com