Eastern Conference guard Damian Lillard (0) of the Milwaukee Bucks makes a three point basket from half court against the Western Conference All-Stars during the fourth quarter in the 73rd NBA All Star game at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. Credit: Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports
By Sean Keeley on

Ungapatchka is a Yiddish word that means something is too much, garish, or over-the-top. A hat on a hat, if you will.

With that in mind, the NBA officially announced that the 2025 NBA All-Star Game in San Francisco will feature a mini-tournament between three teams comprised of 24 All-Stars as well as the team that wins the Rising Stars Challenge.

Now that’s ungapatchka.

Born out of the desire to make the All-Star Game into an interesting event that audiences will not only watch but enjoy, this new format, which was officially announced by the NBA and National Basketball Players Association, takes a “more is more” approach to solving the issue.

The tournament will include three games consisting of two semifinals and a championship. The first team to score 40 or more points in each game is the winner. The prize money pool of $1.8 million will be split amongst the winning squad, with each player earning $125,000.

The current All-Star voting format will not change. Five “starters” will be voted on by fans, media, and players, while seven “reserves” will be selected by coaches.

What’s new is that once those players are chosen, they will go into a pool for selection by TNT NBA analysts Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith, and Shaquille O’Neal, who will serve as general managers of their respective teams. They’ll divide the players up into three groups of eight on Feb. 6 during Inside the NBA.

Turner Sports analyst Candace Parker will be the general manager for the Rising Stars team, which will come out of the Rising Star Challenge that takes place on the Friday of All-Star Weekend. All-Star Game coaches will continue to come from the first-place team in each conference as of Feb 2. The head coaches will each take one All-Star team while assistants from one of their staffs will each coach the Rising Stars champion and the other All-Star team.

The coaches for the All-Star Game will come from the staff of the first-place team in each conference as of Feb. 2. The head coach from each first-place team will coach an All-Star team. Meanwhile, an assistant from one staff will coach the Rising Stars champion and an assistant from the other staff will coach the remaining All-Star team.

The All-Star tournament is on Sunday, Feb. 16 at Chase Center.

As for whether or not this new format will have any impact on fan and audience excitement around All-Star Weekend, that’s anyone’s guess. For now, opinions seem to vary between players.

“With the elephant in the room being us competing, them trying to shake things up is expected and makes sense,” said Oklahoma City star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, per The Athletic. “But at the end of the day, it’s going to come down to whether the players want to go at it, and I would love to see that. Love to be a part of that for sure, and hopefully it happens.”

“I hate it. Absolutely hate it,” said Kevin Durant, via Gerald Bourguet. “Terrible….We should just go back to East-West.”

[NBA, The Athletic, Gerald Bourguet]

About Sean Keeley

Along with writing for Awful Announcing and The Comeback, Sean is the Managing Editor for Comeback Media. Previously, he created the Syracuse blog Troy Nunes Is An Absolute Magician and wrote 'How To Grow An Orange: The Right Way to Brainwash Your Child Into Rooting for Syracuse.' He has also written non-Syracuse-related things for SB Nation, Curbed, and other outlets. He currently lives in Seattle where he is complaining about bagels. Send tips/comments/complaints to sean@thecomeback.com.

View all posts by Sean Keeley