Los Angeles (AFP)
The memory of Kobe Bryant, who died Sunday in a helicopter accident, will be honored at the next All-Star Game on February 16 in Chicago, through a new format implemented for the meeting of the stars, announced on Thursday the NBA .
The principle is that each of the first three quarters constitutes a match in itself. At the end of the 12 minutes of play, the winning team wins $ 100,000 which it will donate to a charity of its choice. The scores are reset to 0-0 at the start of the 2nd and 3rd quarter with the same stake, before being all added up when starting the fourth.
Therefore, the objective will be to record the number of points of the team leading + 24 additional. 24 as the jersey number that Kobe Bryant wore (18 times selected for the prestige match) during his second career with the Lakers (he first wore 8).
Concretely, if for example the "Team LeBron" wins in Q1 (36-30), the "Team Giannis" wins in Q2 (35-28) and the "Team LeBron" wins the Q3 (41-32), this the latter will have gleaned $ 200,000 and its competitor 100,000. Q4 will then start with a score of 105-97 to the advantage of "Team LeBron" and the objective to be reached will then be 129 points (105 + 24) without waiting to go after 12 minutes.
The first team to reach 129 points will win the match and $ 200,000 in bonus money, which will also be donated to charity.
The composition of the two teams will be known on February 6, according to the choice made in turn by LeBron James and Giannis Antetokounmpo, each having been designated captain thanks to the vote of the public, the players and the journalists.
Other tributes to Bryant are also planned for this great annual NBA basketball party which will undoubtedly be rich in emotions after the tragic death of the former Lakers legend, his 13-year-old daughter Gianna and seven other people Sunday morning northwest of Los Angeles.
© 2020 AFP