The NBA All-Star game is set to return to Chicago and it will happen with a new set of rules.
The league has announced changes to the game format on Thursday, which will make every quarter of the showcase into a mini-game for charity. The game will end with an untimed final quarter with a target score for the overall winner. Scores will be reset at 0-0 for the second and third quarters, and restored for the final period, ESPN reports.
The target score will be 24 as an ode to the late Kobe Bryant and will be one of many tributes to the late legend.
“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 aim of the new format is to put a more competitive game on the floor. Team LeBron and Team Giannis will be competing for Chicago-area charities with $100,000 on the line for each quarter. To detail how the target number comes into play, NBA gives the example:
For instance, if the cumulative score of the first three quarters is 100-95, the Final Target Score would be set at 124 points.
The NBA has been thinking about the target score since last summer as Oklahoma City Thunder point guard and National Basketball Players Association president Chris Paul suggested the Elam Ending rule from The Basketball Tournament summer games.
“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.”
