The NBA All-Star Game last year was … something.
The Eastern Conference beat the Western Conference 211-186, combining for a record 397 points. The format was traditional, but the game was not. Overwrought by dunks and three-pointers, its lack of competitiveness made a mockery of the event. The game averaged 5.4 million viewers, making it the second-least-watched NBA All-Star Game on record, behind the game from the previous year.
The league and broadcaster TNT knew they had a problem.
“We had this collective discussion with the NBA almost immediately following the weekend,” said Craig Barry, executive vice president and chief content officer for TNT Sports. “Usually we would save that till after the season, but there was certainly some urgency to it.”
The NBA and TNT discussed numerous ways to make the game compelling. Barry even brought longtime TNT host Ernie Johnson to the meeting to offer his perspective. The group kept coming back to the annual Rising Stars event, which became a four-team tournament of target-score games in 2022.
The discussion turned to breaking up the 24 NBA All-Stars into three teams and including the winner of the Rising Stars tournament, held the Friday of All-Star Weekend. The group reconvened in November, and the NBA formalized its revamped event.
It will come to life Sunday at Chase Center in San Francisco when TNT airs the mini-tournament starting at 7 p.m. Semifinal games are scheduled for 7:20 and 8:10, with the championship at 9. The games also will air on TBS and truTV and streaming service Max. The first team to 40 points wins, the only clock will be the shot clock and no one fouls out.
“It’s all going to fall on how hard these guys go out and play,” Barry said. “If they’re highly competitive, I think it will be a really interesting, unique and impactful format.”
But the event needs to be entertaining, too. That’s where Barry, who worked his first All-Star Game in production in 1992, comes in. He and his crew suggested including Charles Barkley, Shaquille O’Neal and Kenny Smith of TNT’s beloved “Inside the NBA” show. The three chose and will coach the teams of NBA All-Stars, and former Sky star Candace Parker will coach the winner of the Rising Stars tournament.
“There’s three super-competitive guys picking the teams, there’s 24 super-competitive individuals participating, hopefully this will drive a higher level of competition,” Barry said. “And then the inclusion of whoever wins Rising Stars puts another must-win dynamic around it for the 24 named all-stars. It just started to turn into something that looked very much like an event that would be interesting for the fan.”
The production of the broadcast will include everything NBA viewers have come to expect from TNT, with a new wrinkle. Comedian Kevin Hart will be the All-Star Game’s first on-court emcee. He also will join Johnson during the games, sitting at a table opposite play-by-play voice Brian Anderson and analyst Reggie Miller. Barkley, O’Neal, Parker and Smith will wear microphones, as well.
“A lot more commentary and access,” Barry said. “We’re going to have a lot of voices chiming in. Hopefully that will create a better editorial narrative and make it more entertaining. You either have the coach that just lost or the coach that’s about to play the winner, so there’s some banter that could start to happen. We’re not going to control the narrative; we just want to amplify it.
This will be TNT Sports’ last All-Star Game. Next season, the NBA begins a new rights agreement that brings NBC/Peacock and Amazon Prime Video into the mix with ESPN/ABC. NBC will carry the All-Star Game next year. TNT won’t air any games, but it will produce “Inside the NBA” and license it to ESPN. Barry said TNT will acknowledge its finale during the broadcast, and the crew will likely address it.
“It’s up to the guys. We don’t editorialize our guys,” he said. “They have the green light to talk about what they want. I think everybody knows this is the last All-Star weekend as we know it. Sure there’s going to be emotions about that. And knowing those guys, it will be translated in a really fun way.
“We’re emotional about it, but that will translate in our shows in a positive way. It’s the age-old ‘You write the best songs when you’re the most emotional about it.’ We’re kind of in that place.”
NBA ALL-STAR GAME
Where: Chase Center, San Francisco.
Time/TV: 7 p.m. Sunday, TNT, TBS, truTV, Max.
Format: Three teams of NBA All-Stars and the winner of the Rising Stars tournament Friday play a mini-tournament. The first team to score 40 points in a game wins. The only clock is the shot clock, and no one fouls out.
Semifinals: Chuck’s Global Stars vs. Kenny’s Young Stars, Shaq’s OGs vs. Candace’s Rising Stars.
OTHER EVENTS
Friday: All-Star celebrity game, 6 p.m., ESPN; Rising Stars, 8 p.m., TNT, truTV.
Saturday: All-Star Saturday Night, 7 p.m., TNT, truTV.
- Skills challenge
- Three-point contest
- Dunk contest: Bulls’ Matas Buzelis competing