Stephen Curry wins MVP in new All-Star tournament format

SAN FRANCISCO: Stephen Curry won the Kobe Bryant All-Star MVP trophy on Monday night in front of a home team crowd as the Chase Center hosted this year’s All-Star festivities.

Curry scored 20 points across both games in the new tournament format, which saw the all stars divided among four teams, including Shaq’s OGS, Candace’s Rising Stars, Kenny’s Young Stars, and Chuck’s Global Stars.

The semi-finals saw the Young Stars face off against the Global Stars, while the OGS played the rising stars. The winners of all the games would be the team to reach 40 points first.

In the former of the two, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led all scorers with 12 points, to lead the Global Stars to a 41-32 victory. Tyler Herro, who won the three-point contest earlier in the night, as well as Jalen Brunson and Evan Mobley, all scored six points for the Young Stars.

In the second game, Damian Lillard scored a game high nine points, while both Curry and Jaylen Brown had eight each, helping the OGS to take a 42-35 victory. Dalton Knecht showed out for the Rising Stars, scoring a team high eight points.

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The final game was the biggest blowout of the night, with Jason Tatum and Stephen Curry scoring 15 and 12 points respectively. Curry hit four threes in the game, with the final make from deep putting the OGS one point away from winning. Tatum made that point and another with an easy dunk off an assist from James Harden to win the game.

The OGS beat the Global Stars to win the inaugural All-Star tournament.

Each player on the OGS was awarded $125,000, while each player on the Global Stars received $50,000. The Rising Stars and Young Stars didn’t leave empty handed, with each player on both teams receiving $25,000.

Time will tell whether the National Basketball Association (NBA) keeps the format, which was introduced due to fan backlash spawned from the lack of intensity players played with in previous iterations.

Immediate reactions on social media express that the issue has yet to be resolved, with fans believing there was still a lack of effort across the three games. Fans also complained about the short games, a product of the 40-point limit, which many stated was too low. Some also complained about the plethora of advertisements that were shown on the night.

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