Report: NBA Increases All-Star Game Winners' Prize to $100K
Members of the winning team of this year's NBA All-Star Game will receive a bonus of $100,000, an increase in winnings designed to keep the game more competitive, according to ESPN.com.
This year's game is set for Feb. 18 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.
Before this season, the winning team received $50,000 each. The losing team will get $25,000.
Several players told ESPN that they did not know about the increase for the winners and say it will help the game overall.
"That's significant. For some players, they just want to see [the game] being worth their time," Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry said.
"That'll certainly make it more interesting," Boston Celtics guard Kyrie Irving added. "That's a huge difference."
The league did away with the usual Eastern Conference vs. Western Conference format and instead added a draft where the top-vote getter of each conference made picks from the pool of starters and reserves.
Curry and Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James are the captains of each team.