‘Hate it’: Kevin Durant eviscerates NBA All-Star Game format change

NBA superstar Kevin Durant did not hold back when asked about the planned changes for this year’s All-Star Game festivities.

It’s fair to say Phoenix Suns superstar Kevin Durant is not a fan of the NBA All-Star Game format changes.

The league is looking to make the annual mid-season event more competitive after last year’s game saw a combined 397 points scored between the East and West All-Stars.

But Durant, a 14-time All-Star, didn’t seem to think the changes — which include four teams and three games instead of one — are good at all, as the New York Post reports.

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“I hate it. I absolutely hate it,” Durant told reporters on Wednesday (AEDT). “Terrible. All-Star Game formats changing.

“All the formats are terrible in my opinion and we should just go back to East-West and just play a game.

“I think we’ve been trying to bring that flare back somehow with the All-Star Weekend, but I think we just keep it traditional.”

Kevin Durant is no fan of the new All Star format. Photos: AFP

Durant is having another outstanding season for the Suns. (Photo by Chris Coduto/Getty Images via AFP)

The All-Star game has come in for steep criticism in recent years due to a perceived lack of effort or any semblance of defence from the players involved.

Durant, 36, has played in 14 of the last 15 All-Star Games, missing out only in the 2019-20 season through injury.

A two-time MVP of the annual contest, he was at least content to see how the new plans unfold.

“We’ll see how this one works, you never know,” he added. “I might be wrong.

“I’m just another guy with an opinion, but we’ll see how it works.”

The new format will include 24 players drafted into three teams of eight.

The Rising Stars challenge winner will be the fourth team competing at Chase Center, the home of the Golden State Warriors.

Durant (centre) way back at the 2012 All-Star Game. Photo: AP

The All-Star tournament will include two semi-final games and a final.

The winner in all three games will be the team that first reaches or surpasses 40 points.

The changes come after commissioner Adam Silver had hinted at tweaks to the format speaking on November 2.

“We’re looking at other formats,” Silver said then. “I think there’s no doubt that the players were disappointed as well in last year’s All-Star Game.

“We all want to do a better job providing competition and entertainment for our fans.”

All-Star festivities begin on February 14, with the Rising Stars event on Friday, the skills competition taking place the next day and the new tournament closing things out on Sunday.

This article originally appeared in the New York Post and was reproduced with permission

Originally published as ‘Hate it’: Kevin Durant eviscerates NBA All-Star Game format change