Kevin Durant openly against new NBA All-Star game format

Phoenix Suns superstar Kevin Durant isn’t a fan of the new NBA All-Star game format and that’s putting it mildly.

“I hate it. Absolutely hate it,” a candid Durant said after Tuesday’s practice. “I think it’s terrible. All-Star games, formats changing. All the formats been terrible in my opinion. We should just go back to East-West and play the game.”

The Feb. 16 NBA All-Star game at Chase Center in San Francisco will feature a mini-tournament with four teams and three games. Two teams will battle in one semifinal with the next two teams meeting in the second semifinal.

The winners will advance to the championship game and the first team to reach 40 points will win the game. The 24 All-Star selections will be divided into three eight-player teams chosen by TNT’s Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith and Shaquille O’Neal while the fourth team is the Rising Stars champion.

Barkley, Smith and O’Neal will draft their All-Star teams Feb. 6 on TNT before a double-header and serve as honorary team general managers for Team Chuck, Team Kenny and Team Shaq.

“I think we’ve been trying to bring that flair back somehow with the All-Star weekend, but I think we should just keep it traditional,” continued Durant, a 14-time All-Star. “We’ll see how this one works. You never know. I might be wrong. I’m just another guy with an opinion, but we’ll see how it works.”

The new NBA All-Star format is what the league used for Rising Stars during last season’s All-Star weekend in Indianapolis in having four teams with one comprised of G League players.

This year’s Rising Star game is Feb. 14. TNT’s Candace Parker will serve as honorary general manager of the Rising Stars champion. That team will be called Team Candace for the Feb. 16 All-Star game.