The NBA All-Star game has seen a decrease in viewership throughout the past couple of years. Due to this, the NBA decided to introduce a brand new version of the game. The NBA kept the same activities around the game on Friday and Saturday but the game that is played on Sunday.

The games are held on the third weekend of February, with Friday being the Rising Stars game, which is when the newer players in the league get to play against each other and show off their skills. The players involved are the first- and second-year NBA players along with NBA G League standouts. The G League is like the minor leagues where younger players go to develop their skills. The winner of this game will be the fourth team in Sunday’s game.

Saturday is the skills contest, the three-point contest and concludes with the dunk contest. The skills contest is a competition where players’ ball-handling, passing and shooting skills are all tested. Following this competition is the three-point contest where players attempt five three pointers from five different positions, with the goal to make the most shots they can. The dunk contest, where players who are selected display their dunking skills while also getting judged by a panel of former NBA players and celebrities, ends the day.

This year the NBA changed the main game from a 48-minute game between two teams into three shorter games featuring four teams. This year each team had eight players and were named TNT NBA analysts. “The 24 NBA All-Star selections will be divided evenly into three teams, with the rosters drafted by TNT’s Inside the NBA commentators and honorary team general managers Charles Barkley, Shaquille O’Neal and Kenny Smith,” according to the NBA website.

The expectation with this new format was to get more viewership and for the fans to like it, but overall there has been a huge backlash on the NBA for this new version of the game. “I thought the game was boring and I feel like there is a lot of room for improvement,” freshman Ansh Singh said.

Fans also say that the NBA does not listen to what they have to say about the NBA All-Star weekend. “The NBA should listen to what advice the fans have to improve the weekend overall. I really like the idea of a one-v-one tournament but as of now the NBA has not really considered it,” junior Jeremiah Lee said.

Fans also say that their voice is not heard when voting for who gets to play in the actual game. Due to this, fans say that the NBA should change how they select players and listen to their viewers’ opinions. “They should make the All-Star game a complete fan vote because players like Lamelo Ball should have gotten selected for it,” Singh said.

With this new format, the NBA continued to see a decrease in viewership this year. According to Yahoo Sports, just more than 4.7 million people tuned in for this year’s game, which is a 13% decrease compared to the viewership from last year. Due to this, the NBA is rumored to switch the format again.