ESPN is reporting that the NBA is offering $100K bonuses to each player on a winning team in NBA All-Star Games, while each player on the losing team will earn $25,000 each. With All-Star Weekend rapidly approaching, it would seem as if the NBA is offering an extra incentive to make things all the more competitive on Feb. 16 to Feb. 18 in Los Angeles.
Sources close to the league have told ESPN that this is a $50,000 boost from previous years, and that All-Star players aware of the change are very happy with the news. While some players already have bonuses in their contracts when it comes to their All-Star appearances, ESPN says that these bonuses are independent to that of this new boost. The majority of All-Stars players in competition have claimed they're unaware of this change.
There's previously been complaints that players involved haven't been taking the game serious enough, but Boston Celtics forward Al Horford says this could very well change that. "I think guys will definitely take the game more seriously," he said. "In the last couple of years, the games haven't been good, and we're all aware of that. Regardless of that, I think guys are going to come out and compete. But that's a big incentive, for sure. We're going to be diving for loose balls out there."
Kyrie Irving, Klay Thompson, and Steph Curry all agreed with Horford's sentiments, too. "That's significant. For some players, they just want to see [the game] being worth their time," Curry told ESPN.
The marquee game on All-Star Weekend will take place on Feb. 18 at the Staples Center in L.A.
