Jazz's Keyonte George Sounds Off on New All-Star Game Format

The Utah Jazz guard will be in San Francisco this weekend for the All-Star festivities.

Feb 13, 2025; Salt Lake City, Utah, USA; Utah Jazz guard Keyonte George (3) warms up before a game against the LA Clippers at the Delta Center. Mandatory Credit: Christopher Creveling-Imagn Images | Christopher Creveling-Imagn Images

The NBA All-Star Game saw some significant format changes ahead of this year's events going down in San Francisco.

Rather than a traditional East-West matchup or two-team battle, this year, the league is putting a different spin on things. The field will be split into four teams, three with All-Stars and one consisting of the winning group of the Rising Stars game, to take on a tournament-style set of games on Sunday to determine the winner.

It's a bit of an unorthodox take on the typical annual All-Star Game, however, it does provide a chance to see Utah Jazz guard and Rising Star Keyonte George in the mix for the festivities on Sunday.

If he and Team C are able to get two wins in Friday's Rising Stars Game, they'll advance to play against Shaq's OGs on Sunday, a team led by the likes of LeBron James, Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, and five other All-Star talents.

With the unique opportunity ahead of him, George spoke about some of his feelings on the new All-Star setup.

"That's honestly cool that they give us the opportunity to get the chance to compete in the Rising Stars, and then have a chance to compete against the All-Stars," George said. "We're young guys just coming up in the league trying to make a name for ourself, so to be able to have the opportunity on national television, everyone watching it, we're not going to take it for granted. To have the opportunity to potentially play those guys, it's always a blessing for sure."

The new format’s got @keyonte1george excited for the opportunity to play against the All Stars on Sunday 👀💫

Make sure to tune-in to @NBAonTNT tonight at 7PM MT to watch Team C! #TakeNote | #CastrolRisingStars pic.twitter.com/zawT8C55wY

— Utah Jazz (@utahjazz) February 14, 2025

George has had a productive second season with the Jazz on his way to his second Rising Stars selection. In 44 games, he's averaged 16.4 points, 3.6 rebounds, and 6.0 assists.

On Friday night, he'll play alongside other young stars on Team C like Zach Edey, Ryan Dunn, Dalton Knecht, and Stephon Castle competing for a chance to play on the big stage with the best in the world.

The start time for Team C's first matchup vs. Team T is scheduled for 7:15 PM MT.

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