The format was supposed to give the All-Star Game a new boost of energy.
No one could have guessed that it would change the entire fabric of the NBA’s showcase classic moving forward.
Thanks, Chris Paul.
It was Paul that went to Commissioner Adam Silver last summer, with the veteran guard wanting to make the game have more on the line than simply dunks and shoddy defense. In the wake of Kobe Bryant’s death in a helicopter crash last month, the perfect format was put in place.
Three quarters with the score wiped at the end of each, and then the score of the leading team through the first three quarters aggregated.