The NBA made a series of changes to the All-Star game to try and get the players to compete a little harder for the sake of a more competitive and entertaining game.
They took the top two vote-getters and they became the captains of their own teams, instead of the classic East and West format. Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James and Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry ended up first and second in votes, respectively. They then proceeded to draft their teammates, another new innovation to his year's All-Star Game.
The NBA also upped the amount that the players would make if they won, in hopes of getting the players to at least play more defense.
One of the coolest changes though was picking local charities in the Los Angles area to play for. The winning team will have $350,000 given to their charity, and the losing team's charity will receive $150,000.
According to Kurt Helin of NBC Sports, the charities were picked on Wednesday morning.
Team LeBron will play for the After-School All-Stars Los Angeles, which was founded in 1992 by Arnold Schwarzenegger and provides year-round, school-based, comprehensive after-school programs to about 8,000 youth in 52 low-income schools in the city.
Team Stephen will play for the Brotherhood Crusade, a 50-year-old grassroots organization that works to improve the quality of life and fill the unmet needs of low-income, underserved, under-represented and disenfranchised individuals through health and wellness programs, facilitating academic success, providing access to artistic excellence and cultural awareness, increasing financial literacy, and more.
These are both programs that affect a lot of underprivileged people in the Los Angeles area, and no matter who wins or loses in the All-Star game, these charities are the big winners of the weekend.
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