The N.B.A. All-Star Game Gets Major Changes, and a Kobe Tribute

The N.B.A. has been considering the target score concept since last summer when Chris Paul, the president of the players’ union, suggested it. Paul, an Oklahoma City Thunder guard, is a big fan of The Basketball Tournament, a winner-take-all $2 million event composed mostly of college alumni teams. The Basketball Tournament uses what is called the Elam Ending; the game clock is turned off at the first stoppage with 4:00 or less in the fourth quarter, and the target score there is eight points more than the leading score at the time. Paul reached out to say the N.B.A. should explore the idea.

“It almost takes us back to when we would play on the playground,” Spruell said. “We’d go up to 15 or 21 or what have you. This time it’ll be 24 with someone hitting a game-winning shot.”

There’s at least $500,000 for charity at stake from the game alone. Each of the first three quarters is worth $100,000 — if there’s a tie, the money rolls over to the next quarter — and the final score is worth another $200,000. If one team sweeps all four quarters, the other team will receive $100,000 for its charity regardless.

For now, this is a one-year change, though the N.B.A. is hopeful that the quarter-score for charity element and the target-score ending become part of the All-Star Game on a long-term basis.

“If successful, I would imagine we keep it moving,” Spruell said.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/30/sports/basketball/kobe-bryant-nba-all-star-game.html?emc=rss&partner=rss