The NBA has made it a priority to make the 2025 NBA All-Star Game a competitive affair to return to its roots. In recent years, the quality of the game has seen a severe dropoff, with fans comparing it to a glorified shoot-around.
However, a tournament-style format is the most recent effort from the league to alter the game’s perception. Additionally, for the players competing, there is a significant financial element to it as well, with a major cash prize available.
What Is the Cash Prize for the NBA All-Star Game?
The revamped format for the weekend will see four teams compete in a knockout tournament to crown the eventual winner.
The winner of the championship round will have $125,000 allocated to each member of the team. Whoever comes in second behind them will have $50,000 for each player. Meanwhile, the teams that lose out in the elimination round itself will still get prize money, albeit just $25,000 for each player, bringing a total amount of $1.8 million up for grabs.
The games will kick off with Kenny’s Young Stars taking on Chuck’s Global Stars, and Shaq’s OGs taking on Candace’s Rising Stars, the members of Team C, which won the Rising Stars challenge. The winners of the two games clash in the championship round.
As evidenced by the names, the teams have a distinct flavor to them, drafted from the pool of 24 All-Star selections by legends of the sport.
Shaquille O’Neal went for established veterans like LeBron James, Stephen Curry, and Kevin Durant on his OGs team and has a combined 86 All-Star selections among them, but Charles Barkley and Kenny Smith went a different route.
Barkley had an international flavor to his Global Stars team, with the likes of Victor Wembanyama, Nikola Jokić, and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander on the squad. Smith, however, went a younger route, with Anthony Edwards leading the charge for his Young Stars.
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The Rising Stars team that won the event on Friday night is led by the likes of Dalton Knecht and Stephon Castle.
Both O’Neal and Barkley’s teams had a replacement to make, however, with Anthony Davis and Giannis Antetokounmpo out with an injury and replaced by Kyrie Irving and Trae Young, respectively.
