- Steph Curry wins Kobe Bryant MVP trophy
- Curry leads Shaq's OGs to All-Star title
- New NBA All-Star format receives mixed reviews
Steph Curry led Shaquille O’Neal’s team, the OGs, to victory in the 2024 NBA All-Star Game, claiming the Kobe Bryant MVP trophy after a dominant performance. The Golden State Warriors star scored 12 points in the final, leading his team to a 41-25 victory against Chuck’s Global Stars at Chase Center in San Francisco.
“I had a lot of fun,” Curry said after the win. “The intensity was definitely different than last year, a step in the right direction. It’s something new, everybody is still trying to figure it out.”
The game featured a new format, with four teams, each coached by an NBA legend, competing in a single-elimination tournament. Shaquille O’Neal coached the victorious team, while other teams were led by Kenny Smith, Charles Barkley, and Candace Parker.
Curry ended the competition with a total of 20 points, having scored eight points in a 42-35 semi-final victory over Candace Parker’s Rising Stars. His performance earned him his second career All-Star MVP, making him the 15th player in NBA history to win the award more than once.
The new tournament structure received mixed reviews, as the 2024 All-Star game had drawn criticism for its lack of competitiveness. The revamped format included semi-finals and a final, with games played to a first-to-40-points rule instead of the traditional four quarters.
Curry praised the changes, saying, “I think it was a good step in the right direction to reinvigorate the game in some way.” Milwaukee Bucks guard Damian Lillard, who was also on the winning side, agreed, noting, “They’re just looking for a more competitive game and trying to find ways to create that, and it was a little bit more competitive than they have been the last few years.”
However, Curry’s Warriors teammate, Draymond Green, who served as a television analyst for the event, was not impressed with the new format. “Ten being the best? A zero. It sucks. Awful,” Green said when asked to rate it. “You work all year to be an All-Star and you get to play up to 40 (points) and then you’re done.”
