Suns' Devin Booker had this one-word response to possible 'All-Snub' team in NBA All-Star game

Suns’ Devin Booker had this one-word response to possible ‘All-Snub’ team in NBA All-Star game

Posted by author February 25, 2025 NBA

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MEMPHIS — Phoenix Suns guard Devin Booker offered a one-word response to a possible four-team tournament format for next season’s NBA All-Star Game that would feature two American teams, one international squad and an “All-Snub” team.

“Nah,” Booker said.

The Sports Business Journal reported Monday through sources this possible format for the 2026 All-Star game at the new $2-billion Intuit Dome, home of the Los Angeles Clippers, in Inglewood. SBJ reported the NBA will collaborate with NBC on All-Star possibilities as the newest media partner has rights to the All-Star game moving forward.

“I’d say bring the best 24 players, man, let the coaches vote everybody in,” Booker said. “Coaches and players.”

Milwaukee Bucks All-Star guard Damian Lillard suggested an “All-Snub” team instead of the Rising Stars champion in the four-team tournament. The four teams each had eight players.

“It would probably be more interesting instead of maybe the Rising Stars team doing it, the players with the next most amount of votes or the next most amount of votes from coaches that got snubbed, maybe that would, maybe that other team of eight should be made up of those guys,” Lillard said after the All-Star game.

Booker would’ve likely been on an “All-Snub” team as he wasn’t voted an All-Star starter by the fans, players and media or as a reserve by the NBA coaches.

The four-time All-Star didn’t receive one media vote as a starter. He finished ninth in the fan vote for Western Conference guards and fifth in the player vote.

The players, media and fans voted Oklahoma City Thunder All-Star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Golden State Warriors All-Star Stephen Curry 1-2 for West starting guards.

Fans make up 50% of the starter vote while the players and media each have 25%.

This was the first year for a mini-tournament for the NBA All-Star game.

“The All-Star experience on Sunday is very sacred, and you have to work your way into that,” Curry said. “But I think it was a good step in the right direction to reinvigorate the game in some way, and then you tinker with it again next year and see what changes you can make.”

The All-Stars gave it mixed reviews after the game.

Suns All-Star Kevin Durant: “The format takes something to get used to. Once we got into the flow of things, it was pretty good, the first game we played against the Rising Stars. I thought was pretty good, once we got in the flow of it.”

New York Knicks All-Star Jalen Brunson: “I think it’s interesting. It’s different. The games are kind of short. I like the format. It’s something new, something unique. Maybe just score to 50 maybe (target score was 40 for each game). But it’s interesting, something new like that. You never really know what to expect, but it was all right.”

Pacers All-Star Pascal Siakam: “I can’t evaluate it. I don’t know. It was OK. Then there were times there was a lot going on. I feel like one game maybe, but two games. There was a lot of sitting around.”

Siakam is speaking on the multiple stoppages in play whether for contests or entertainment for crowd engagement or television commercials that took the natural rhythm of the game.

“Yeah, breaks, I guess, weren’t ideal,” Gilgeous Alexander said after the All-Star game. “I would rather play without breaks. But I had fun nonetheless.”

There was a 20-minute break during the final to honor TNT’s Ernie Johnson, Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith and Shaquille O’Neal.

“The toughest part, they stopped the game to do the presentation while we were kind of halfway through it,” Boston Celtics All-Star Jayson Tatum said after the All-Star game.

“We were sitting down for 20 minutes, whatever it was. It was kind of tough to get back into the game after that. But besides that, I thought it was cool. First two games were pretty competitive. If they could just find a way to not have that long intermission in between the games or during the game, I think it would be a lot better.”

Curry had conversations with NBA Commissioner Adam Silver going into All-Star weekend about the format to improve the competitiveness of the All-Star game.

“We needed to change, needed some new life, new juice in the game, something kind of unexpected,” Curry said. “What that answer was, was a collaborative effort to — I think one, condense the amount of time you’re actually playing so that it gives us more clarity on like, all right, so we can raise our level of competition and keep it fun for everybody. I think that was a big part of it.”

The Rising Stars have previously used the format and did so once again this year with the winner advancing to compete in the All-Star game.

“I think we’re starting to see All-Star weekend competitive nature in the game starting to creep back in,” Durant said after the All-Star game. “I think it was solid tonight. It was way better than it was before. Maybe because the games were condensed, but I feel like guys were trying to play hard.”

Have opinion about current state of the Suns? Reach Suns Insider Duane Rankin at dmrankin@gannett.com or contact him at 480-787-1240. Follow him on Twitter at @DuaneRankin.

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