Stephen Curry wins All-Star Game MVP honors in his host city as the league rolls out a new approach to the game.

Steve Aschburner

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Big finishes from Jaylen Brown, Cade Cunningham and Jalen Williams highlight this All-Star Sunday edition of Top Plays.

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SAN FRANCISCO — The NBA knew it had to do something with the All-Star Game after the beating it had taken in recent years. Or, from what we witnessed Sunday at Chase Center, a whole bunch of somethings.

Here are five takeaways from the entirely reimagined All-Star Game, a three-game mini-tournament , in the championship round:

That previous paragraph gives a good sense of how much the NBA tinkered with the traditional All-Star Game format. Forget tweaks — this was major surgery, an admittedly desperate attempt to inject some sizzle into Sunday’s game.

Getting the league’s elite players to perform in a February showcase event the way they play most or all of the season had reached the point of trying to relocate the pyramids. Nobody was budging. More modest attempts, such as letting the players choose their own sides, did little.

So the folks at Olympic Tower reconfigured everything. There wouldn’t be two All-Star teams representing the East and West conferences — there would be three! And a fourth, comprised of rookies and second-year players who might just challenge the All-Stars to slack a little less.

Four quarters and 48 minutes, the way all other NBA games are played? How about no clock, a target score of 40 and, to top it all, three games — two semifinals feeding into a title game.

All that newness dumped on All-Star Sunday at once had a platypus feel, with spectators not entirely certain about what they were watching. Some of it worked, some of it didn’t.

Team Shaq's squad full NBA legends wins the reformatted All-Star Game, with Stephen Curry taking home the Kobe Bryant MVP trophy.

The first semifinal game pitting a roster heavy with international players (Chuck’s Global Stars) vs. a squad of youngish NBA stars (Kenny’s Young Stars) benefitted from being the guinea pig game of sorts.

Whether the rosters were preconceived or grew organically — TNT’s Charles Barkley and Kenny Smith were the respective GMs of those squads while Shaquille O’Neal oversaw a mostly veteran group (Shaq’s OGs) — the setup provided some context, rooting interests and maybe a little pride.

A flurry of early steals and blocked shots served notice that, hey, maybe defense would play a big role for a change. And there was something to that: Chuck’s Global Stars “held” Kenny’s Young Stars to 46.4% shooting and outrebounded them 14-3 for at least the semblance of resistance.

The second semifinal had a natural challenge built-in: Veteran NBA stars determined not to lose to a bunch of kids, while the kids — Rising Stars with TNT analyst Candace Parker as “GM” — had a shot at a major upset. They had earned it by winning twice Friday in a parallel mini-tourney of their peers and a team of G-Leaguers.

The OGs flirted with potential embarrassment, stuck on 37 points and trying to finish it from 3-point land until Kevin Durant went in for a heck-with-that layup. It was 39-35 when Steph Curry’s shot from deep got them past 40 with a couple of points to spare.

With two losing teams, some reality hit home. The eight All-Stars on Smith’s team were done for the day, all limited to about eight minutes or less of playing time. Meanwhile, the inclusion of the Rising Stars unit put five rookies in play on All-Star Sunday. (The last actual rookie All-Star was LA Clippers forward Blake Griffin back in 2011.)

The bad news about the championship game is that it felt a lot more like the second half of the old-fashioned All-Star games. Many of the players throttled back, some long, lazy shots got hoisted and the defense was casual. The saving grace was that, as in some All-Star Games before it, a local favorite emerged first as an MVP candidate, then the winner.

Golden State’s Stephen Curry had 12 points in the clincher, opening it with a 3-pointer and putting his guys on the brink, 39-21, with two more. Boston’s Jayson Tatum outscored Curry in the finale 15-12 and had the game-winning dunk, but there was no denying the Bay Area darling.

Curry got 12 of 14 votes from the panel of media members and input from fans via the NBA App. It was his second All-Star MVP after winning in Cleveland in 2022.

Shaq's OGs defeat Chuck's Global Stars 41-25 in the championship game of NBA All-Star 2025.

Both the OGs and the Young Stars played shorthanded because of late scratches. James announced less than two hours before the first tipoff that he would not participate due to foot/ankle discomfort. The Lakers’ 40-year-old forward met with reporters Sunday afternoon because he was not present Saturday for All-Star Practice and Media Day.

James made his decision too late for the league to name a replacement from several deserving candidates in the West, including the Sacramento Kings’ Domantas Sabonis, the Phoenix Suns’ Devin Booker and the Clippers’ Norman Powell. James’ streak of consecutive All-Star appearances ends at 20.

Edwards’ absence — the Timberwolves’ star never got off the bench — was reported after the game as being due to groin soreness.

Maybe the league just needs to work the kinks out of this new approach. There were long gaps between action, too much chatter from emcee Kevin Hart and lengthy timeouts crammed with on-court entertainment, including a protracted shooting challenge in which a fan managed to win $100,000.

In terms of the impetus for all this newness, the effort, time and experimentation went into solving a problem that has a much simpler fix: All-Stars need to play harder and play defense.

They are, after all, constantly referred to as partners in the NBA universe, receiving approximately 51% of the revenues. Their skin in the game is real and its time for them to comport themselves thusly.

Here’s something that might help: Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo talked with the media Sunday afternoon too and was asked about the viability of a U.S. vs. international All-Star battle.

“I would love that. Oh, I would love that,” said the Bucks’ Greek star, who was unavailable to play due to a calf strain. “I think that would be the most interesting and most exciting format.

“For sure, I’d take pride in that. I always compete, but I think that will give me a little bit more extra juice to compete, like having Shai [Gilgeous-Alexander], [Nikola] Jokić, Luka [Dončić], Wemby [Victor Wembanyama], [Karl-Anthony] Towns, [Alperen] Sengun. … Going against the best U.S. players, I think it would be fun.”

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Steve Aschburner has written about the NBA since 1980. You can e-mail him here, find his archive here and follow him on X.

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