Stephen Curry leads a forgettable 2025 All-Star Game

The new format of the NBA All-Star Game ended with a familiar outcome for Stephen Curry: the Golden State Warriors star took home the Kobe Bryant MVP award after being the standout player in a lackluster weekend.

Curry scored 12 points in Team OGs' 41-25 victory over Global Stars in the final, played with a "first to 40 points" format. With this win, his team emerged victorious in the round-robin tournament that capped off the February festivities.

Under the guidance of Shaquille O'Neal, the OGs seized control of the game, and with a lead of 23-15 in the final, Curry dazzled by sinking a half-court three-pointer. The play ignited the Chase Center, which celebrated its star player euphorically. With an undefined MVP until that moment, his teammates started feeding him the ball, trusting in his prowess as the greatest three-point shooter in league history. Curry responded with two more triples, extending the lead to 39-21 before Jayson Tatum sealed the win with a dunk and added 15 points to his own tally.

"It was one of those streaks, just having fun," commented Curry on his three-point barrage. "I knew at some point I was going to launch from half court. [Nikola] Jokic was defending me there, which was pretty fun."

MORE COMPETITIVE?

The All-Star Game had faced criticism in recent years, with low-intensity matches and astronomical scores, like the 397 combined points in last year's event in Indianapolis. However, the new format, which split the 12 players from the East and West into three teams of eight, plus a fourth team composed of first and second-year players, seemed to revive some competitive spirit.

"I think it was a step in the right direction to revitalize the game," opined Curry.

Curry received 12 of the 14 MVP votes, while Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Jayson Tatum got one each. This is the second time the Warriors' guard has won this award, following his standout performance in 2022 in Cleveland, where he scored 50 points with 16 threes.

The game format doesn't make it easy for a player to stand out clearly as the MVP. In the semifinals, Gilgeous-Alexander had been the frontrunner for Global Stars after tallying 12 points with a perfect 5-for-5 from the field, including the game-winning dunk in the 41-32 victory over Team Young Stars. Meanwhile, Damian Lillard had been poised as the favorite in Team OGs after sinking a 27-foot three-pointer to seal the 42-35 win over Rising Stars.

"In this format, no one is going to score 50 points, and even reaching 30 is tough unless you shoot all the time and make every shot," remarked Lillard. "But when you see which moments stood out, when the crowd was the loudest, it's clear who was the MVP. And watching the game, I knew Steph would win it."

Kyrie Irving, also part of Team OGs, supported Curry's selection.

"When a teammate gets hot, it's easy to give him the ball. After his first three, we looked for him on every play," said Irving. "Playing at home means a lot for any NBA player. As his teammates, we didn't want to get in the way of that."

Curry became the 15th player in league history to win more than one All-Star MVP and the 17th to do so when his team is the host.

"The experience of being hosts was incredible," stated Curry about the reception of the event in Oakland and San Francisco. "I'm not going to complain about the fatigue. It's an honor to be able to share and celebrate with the Bay Area, which has been my home for 16 years, and with this incredible fanbase."

This news is an automatic translation. You can read the original news, Stephen Curry lidera un All-Star 2025 para el olvido