2025 NBA All-Star Game
 | |
| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| City | San Francisco |
| Venue(s) | Chase Center |
| Date | February 16, 2025 |
| Season | 2024–25 |
| Teams | 4 |
| TV partner(s) | TNT |
The 2025 NBA All-Star Game will be an exhibition tournament played on February 16, 2025, during the National Basketball Association's 2024–25 season. It will be the 74th edition of the NBA All-Star Game. It will be hosted by the Golden State Warriors at Chase Center. It will be the fourth time the Warriors will host the game and the first time since 2000, when the NBA All-Star game was played at the Oakland Arena in Oakland, California. The Warriors also hosted the game in 1960, as the Philadelphia Warriors at the Convention Hall in Philadelphia and in 1967, as the San Francisco Warriors at the Cow Palace in Daly City.[1] This will be the first time that the NBA All-Star Game will be held in San Francisco. The All-Star Game will be televised nationally by TNT for the 23rd and final consecutive year, before returning to NBC (which aired the game for 11 years prior to TNT taking over coverage) in the next season.
The All-Star Game itself will consist of a four-team tournament, similar to the most recent NHL All-Star Games and Rising Stars Challenges. Three teams will be drafted from a pool of twenty-four selected all-stars by NBA on TNT analysts Shaquille O'Neal, Kenny Smith, and Charles Barkley, while Candace Parker, also a TNT analyst, will manage the winning team from the Rising Star Challenge (which has used a four-team tournament since 2022).
Background
[edit]The Chase Center in San Francisco was announced to host the All-Star Game on November 6, 2023, at a press conference held by the Golden State Warriors. In attendance at the announcement were NBA commissioner Adam Silver, Warriors Co-Executive Chairman & Chief Executive Officer Joe Lacob, Warriors Co-Executive Chairman Peter Guber, Warriors President and Chief Operating Officer Brandon Schneider, and San Francisco Mayor London Breed.[2]
Format change
[edit]On December 17, 2024, the NBA announced that the All-Star Game would utilize a four-team tournament format, similar to the format used by the Rising Stars Challenge since 2022. Each of the teams will consist of 8 players, with the traditional pool of selected all-stars drafted for the first three teams by NBA on TNT analysts Charles Barkley, Shaquille O'Neal and Kenny Smith (who will be honorary general managers of each team, to be known as Team Chuck, Team Shaq, and Team Kenny, respectively). The fourth team in the tournament will be the winner of the Rising Stars Challenge, with their honorary general manager being Candace Parker (and therefore known as Team Candace). The head coaches for each team will be chosen from the coaching staffs of the teams with the best regular season records in each conference, based on games played through February 2, 2025. The head coach of the top team in each conference will coach one of the All-Star teams, while their assistant coach will coach either the remaining All-Star team or the Rising Stars winner. The three games (two semi-finals and the championship) will end when a team reaches a score of 40 points, with said team being the winner.[3][4]
All-Star Game
[edit]Coaches
[edit]
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Mark Daigneault, head coach of Western Conference leader Oklahoma City Thunder, earned a coaching spot on January 19.[5] Kenny Atkinson, head coach of Eastern Conference leader Cleveland Cavaliers, earned a coaching spot on January 23.[6] One assistant coach each from the Cavaliers and Thunder will fill the two remaining coaching spots.
Rosters
[edit]As had been the case in previous years, the rosters for the All-Star Game were selected through a voting process. The fans could vote through the NBA website as well as through their Google account. The starters were chosen by the fans, media, and current NBA players. Fans made up 50% of the vote, and NBA players and media each comprised 25% of the vote. The two guards and three frontcourt players who received the highest cumulative vote totals in each conferences were named the All-Star starters and two players in each conferences with the highest votes were named team captains. NBA head coaches voted for the reserves for their respective conferences, none of which could be players from their own team. Each coach selected two guards, three frontcourt players and two wild cards, with each selected player ranked in order of preference within each category. If a multi-position player was to be selected, coaches were encouraged to vote for the player at the position that was "most advantageous for the All-Star team", regardless of where the player was listed on the All-Star ballot or the position he was listed in box scores.[7]
The All-Star Game starters were announced on January 23, 2025. Donovan Mitchell of the Cleveland Cavaliers and Jalen Brunson of the New York Knicks were announced as the starting guards in the East, earning their sixth and second all-star appearances, respectively. Giannis Antetokounmpo of the Milwaukee Bucks and Jayson Tatum of the Boston Celtics were named the frontcourt starters in the East, earning their ninth and sixth all-star appearances, respectively. Joining the East frontcourt was Karl-Anthony Towns of the New York Knicks, his fifth selection.[8]
In the West, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander of the Oklahoma City Thunder and Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors were named to the starting backcourt, earning their third and eleventh all-star appearances, respectively. In the frontcourt, Kevin Durant of the Phoenix Suns and LeBron James of the Los Angeles Lakers were named to their 15th and 21st all-star appearances, respectively. James' 21st All-Star selection increased his NBA record for most All-Star selections. With his selection, James also joins the short list of players with 21 or more All-Star selections which includes Hall of Fame hockey player Gordie Howe and Baseball Hall of Famers Hank Aaron, Willie Mays, and Stan Musial.[9][10] Joining the West frontcourt was Nikola Jokić of the Denver Nuggets, earning his seventh selection.[8]
The All-Star Game reserves were announced on January 30, 2025. The West reserves included Anthony Edwards of the Minnesota Timberwolves, his third selection; Anthony Davis of the Los Angeles Lakers, his eleventh selection; James Harden of the Los Angeles Clippers, his eleventh selection; Jaren Jackson Jr. of the Memphis Grizzlies, his second selection; Alperen Şengün of the Houston Rockets, his first selection; Jalen Williams of the Oklahoma City Thunder, his first selection; and Victor Wembanyama of the San Antonio Spurs, his first selection.[11]
The East reserves included Damian Lillard of the Milwaukee Bucks, his ninth selection; Darius Garland of the Cleveland Cavaliers, his second selection; Jaylen Brown of the Boston Celtics, his fourth selection; Cade Cunningham of the Detroit Pistons, his first selection; Tyler Herro of the Miami Heat, his first selection; Evan Mobley of the Cleveland Cavaliers, his first selection; and Pascal Siakam of the Indiana Pacers, his third selection.[11]
- Italics indicates leading vote-getters per conference
Draft
[edit]The NBA All-Star draft will take place on February 6, 2025.[12]
All-Star Weekend
[edit]Slam Dunk Contest
[edit]| Pos. | Player | Team | Height | Weight | First round | Final round |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| F | Matas Buzelis | Chicago Bulls | 6–10 | 209 | ||
| G | Stephon Castle | San Antonio Spurs | 6–6 | 215 | ||
| G | Andre Jackson Jr. | Milwaukee Bucks | 6–6 | 209 | ||
| G | Mac McClung | Orlando Magic | 6–2 | 185 |
References
[edit]- ^ Mehra, Rakesh (October 31, 2023). "Warriors Win Hosting Rights To 2025 NBA All-Star Weekend First Bay Area Team In 23 Years To Host The Game". Pinkvilla.com. Archived from the original on November 4, 2023. Retrieved October 31, 2023.
- ^ "Golden State Warriors and San Francisco Bay Area Selected to Host NBA All-Star 2025". NBA.com. November 6, 2023. Archived from the original on November 7, 2023. Retrieved November 7, 2023.
- ^ "NBA announces revamped All-Star tournament for San Francisco". ESPN.com. December 17, 2024. Archived from the original on December 17, 2024. Retrieved December 17, 2024.
- ^ "NBA and NBPA announce new format for 2025 NBA All-Star Game". NBA.com. December 17, 2024. Archived from the original on December 17, 2024. Retrieved December 17, 2024.
- ^ "Oklahoma City's Mark Daigneault earns spot as head coach in 2025 NBA All-Star Game". NBA.com. January 19, 2025. Archived from the original on January 20, 2025. Retrieved January 19, 2025.
- ^ "Cleveland's Kenny Atkinson earns spot as head coach in 2025 NBA All-Star Game". NBA.com. January 23, 2025. Archived from the original on January 24, 2025. Retrieved January 23, 2025.
- ^ Stein, Marc (January 18, 2013). "1. Reserve Judgment: Stein's All-Star Benches". ESPN.com. Archived from the original on November 15, 2017. Retrieved January 18, 2013.
- ^ a b c d "Giannis Antetokounmpo, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander highlight All-Star starters". NBA. January 23, 2025. Archived from the original on January 23, 2025. Retrieved January 24, 2025.
- ^ "Most MLB All-Star Appearances". foxsports.com. July 23, 2024. Archived from the original on August 9, 2024. Retrieved January 24, 2025.
- ^ "All-Star Records". records.nhl.com. Archived from the original on December 25, 2024. Retrieved January 23, 2025.
- ^ a b c d "Victor Wembanyama, Jaylen Brown highlight 2025 All-Star Game reserves". NBA. January 30, 2025. Retrieved January 31, 2025.
- ^ Zillgitt, Jeff (December 17, 2024). "NBA unveils new format for 2025 All-Star Game featuring four teams". USA Today. Archived from the original on January 1, 2025. Retrieved January 15, 2025.
