Breakdown of NBA All-Star 2021 format and rules
The 2021 NBA All-Stars will gather together the best basketball players in the world under one roof this Sunday at State Farm Arena in Atlanta. Though they will not be allowed to enter the arena, fans are still ecstatic to witness an amazing collection of talent on the same floor.
All-Star Weekend used to be a multi-day event capped off by the NBA All-Star Game on Sunday. Due to the pandemic, the league decided to jampack the events in one day, but properly spread them out to create a unique weekend spectacle.
TNT will broadcast the All-Star festivities beginning with the NBA Tip-Off at 5 PM ET. Next on the schedule at 6:30 PM ET is the Skills Challenge followed by the 3-Point Contest. At 8 PM, the NBA All-Star Game will commence while the Slam Dunk Contest will serve as the game’s halftime entertainment.
NBA All-Star 2021: Taco Bell Skills Challenge Rules
The NBA’s Taco Bell Skills Challenge is an obstacle-course style competition to test NBA players on their dribbling, passing, agility and 3-point shooting ability. The challenge is made up of three rounds and designed to be a single-elimination tournament.
The challenge has six participants in all, with two of them pre-selected by the NBA to receive a bye in the first round of the competition. The remaining four contestants will be divided into two pairs.
Each pair of contestants will go head-to-head on separate but identical courses with the winner advancing to the second round. The second round will follow the same format as the first with the winners advancing to the final round. The remaining two players will then compete head-to-head to determine the winner of the Skills Challenge.
A complete explanation of the rules has been provided by the NBA through this link.
NBA All-Star 2021: MTN DEW 3-Point Contest Rules
The NBA’s MTN DEW 3-Point Contest is composed of two rounds of timed shooting, which includes last year’s “MTN DEW Zone.” There are two MTN DEW Zones each located beyond the 3-point arc with a single-ball pedestal placed in between the top of the key rack and the wing racks.
These pedestals are placed six feet behind the NBA’s 3-point line and each shot made with the special green ball (the “3-Ball”) found on them will count as three points.
The traditional racks will be positioned in the usual five shooting locations. Four of the racks contain four game balls worth one point and one multicolored “money” ball worth two points.
The fifth rack, called the “all money ball” rack which contains five “money” balls, can be placed by the participant at any of the traditional shooting locations.
There are six contestants who will each be given the opportunity to shoot 27 balls within 70 seconds. The maximum score that each competitor can receive is 40 points in a single round.
The three highest-scoring contestants in the first round will advance to the final or championship round. The player with the top score in the championship round will be declared the winner of the contest.
NBA All-Star 2021: AT&T Slam Dunk Contest Rules
The NBA’s AT&T Slam Dunk Contest will have three contestants this year, down from the usual four from previous years. It is made up of two rounds with each dunker attempting two dunks in the first round.
The dunk contest judges will score each contestant’s dunk attempt from 6-10. The lowest total a dunker can receive is 30 points and the highest is 50 points.
The two contestants with the highest total scores will advance to the second and final round of the competition.
The final round will be between the two dunkers who will perform a single dunk and they will be judged based on that solitary entry. Rather than scoring the dunks, the judges will select the best dunker through a voting system called “Judges' Choice.”
Each dunk contest judge will raise a card that carries the name of the dunker who had the better dunk in the final round. The winner will be determined by the number of times a player’s name appears on the judges’ cards.
NBA All-Star 2021: All-Star Game
The 2021 NBA All-Star Game between Team LeBron and Team Durant will be played in a similar fashion to a regular season or playoff game for the first three quarters, but with a twist in the fourth.
Scores for each of the first three quarters are set to zero to determine the winner on a quarter-by-quarter basis. The winner of each quarter will earn $100,000 for their assigned beneficiary.
The game clock will be turned off in the fourth quarter and the team’s total scores from the first three quarters will be summed up. There will be a Final Target Score for the teams to reach or surpass to determine the winner.
The Final Target Score is the leading team’s score plus 24 points (in honor of Kobe Bryant). The first team that reaches or surpasses the Final Target Score will be declared the winner of the NBA All-Star Game.
Also Read: When is the NBA All-Star Dunk Contest 2021?