Inspired By And To Honor Kobe, NBA Reformats 2020 NBA All-Star Game
Thursday, January 30, 2020 at 07:02PM NYSJ Sports-Entertainment Business News Service
UPDATED January 31, 2020: The NBA, National Basketball Players Assn. and Nike said that the 2020 NBA All-Star uniforms would pay tribute toKobe Bryant, his daughter Gianna and the seven others who “tragically passed away in last Sunday’s helicopter accident.”
The 2020 NBA All-Star Game will feature Team LeBron (James) wearing the No. 2 and Team Giannis (Antetokounmpo) wearing the No. 24 — Gianna and Kobe’s basketball jersey numbers, respectively.
In addition, both teams will wear jersey patches during the game displaying nine stars, representing those who lost their lives in the crash: John, Keri and Alyssa Altobelli; Sarah and Payton Chester; Christina Mauser and Ara Zobayan.
On Feb. 14 during NBA Rising Stars, the league’s top rookies and sophomores will all wear jersey patches featuring the No. 2 and No. 24 in the center surrounded by nine stars.
The same patch will be worn by State Farm All-Star Saturday Night participants competing in the Taco Bell Skills Challenge, Mtn. Dew 3-Point Contest and AT&T Slam Dunk on Feb. 15.
Los Angeles Lakers players all entered the court in Staples Center on Friday, the team’s first game since the death of Bryant, wearing either No. 8 or No. 24 jerseys, and all fans in Staples were given either No. 8 or No. 24 jerseys.
January 30, 2020: The NBA said today it would use a new format for the 2020 NBA All-Star Game, scheduled for Feb. 16 in Chicago's United Center.
The change, inspired by the untimely death of Kobe Bryant, is “designed to increase the level of competition throughout the game, provide additional excitement at the finish and make the outcome of every quarter count for charity.”
The changes include a new fourth-quarter format that will honor Bryant, who earned 18 NBA All-Star selections and a record-tying four NBA All-Star Game MVP awards (with Bob Pettit)
Based on voting, team captains are Giannis Antetokounmpo of the Milwaukee Bucks and LeBron James of the Los Angeles Lakers.
The starters have been selected, with the reserves named tonight (Jan. 30) on TNT and the NBA All-Star Game Draft scheduled for Feb.6 on TNT (7 PM ET).
"The changes include a new fourth-quarter format to honor Bryant, who earned 18 NBA All-Star selections and a record-tying four NBA All-Star Game MVP awards."
During the 69th NBA All-Star Game, Team Giannis and Team LeBron will compete to win each of the first three quarters, with each 12-minute quarter starting with the score of 0-0 and will be 12 minutes long.
At the beginning of the fourth quarter, the game clock will be turned off and a Final Target Score will be set.
The Final Target Score will be determined by taking the leading team’s total cumulative score through three quarters and adding 24 points — the 24 representing Bryant’s jersey number for the final ten seasons of his NBA career.
The teams will then play an untimed fourth quarter. The first team to reach the Final Target Score will win the NBA All-Star Game.
As an example, if the cumulative score of the first three quarters is 100-95, the Final Target Score would be set at 124 points.
To win the NBA All-Star Game, the team with 100 points would need to score 24 points in the fourth quarter before the team with 95 points scores 29 points, and vice versa.
With no minimum or maximum time on the clock in the fourth quarter, the NBA All-Star Game will end with a made basket or a made free throw. 
As part of NBA All-Star 2020, more than $1 million will be contributed to Chicago community non-profit organizations through NBA Cares outreach efforts.
According to the league, “These efforts will culminate during the NBA All-Star Game when each team will play for a Chicago-based charity beneficiary, as selected by team captains Antetokounmpo and James.
The community organization selected by the winner of each of the first three quarters will receive $100,000 — a total of $300,000 donated to charity for those three quarters. The winner of each of the first three quarters will be the team with the higher score at the end of the 12-minute quarter.
The winning team in the NBA All-Star Game (that reaches the Final Target score first) will earn $200,000 for its community organization.
If the first or second quarter ends in a tie, the $100,000 charity award for that quarter will be added to the next quarter’s award. If the third quarter ends in a tie, the $100,000 charity award for that quarter will be added to the award of the team that wins the NBA All-Star Game.
If one team wins each of the first three quarters and reaches the Final Target Score first, $500,000 will be donated to the winning team’s charity and $100,000 will be donated to the losing team’s charity.
The 2020 NBA All-Star Game is scheduled for Feb. 16 in the United Center, Chicago, airing live one TNT (8 PM ET).
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