KD says Doncic and Jokic ‘don’t care’

Kevin Durant joked that Luka Doncic and Nikola Jokic “don’t care” about the NBA All-Star Game as he fielded questions about how hard his USA Stripes team would compete.

Durant is part of an extremely experienced roster, one that he nicknamed “the old heads”, which features LeBron James and Kawhi Leonard and will be without the services of Stephen Curry due to injury.

They will face a USA Stripes roster and Team World in a new round-robin format in Los Angeles on Sunday.

It is hoped that the revamp and the introduction of Team World will increase the competitiveness of a game that has, in essence, represented a glorified exhibition for many years.

But 16-time All-Star Durant is skeptical the international players will put in much effort.

Asked about how seriously the USA Stripes team will take the tournament, Durant replied laughing: “You should ask the Europeans and the World team if they’re going to compete.

“If you look at Luka Doncic and Nikola Jokic now, let’s go back and look at what they do in the All-Star Game. Is that competition? So, we haven’t questioned what they’ve been doing. But we’re going to question the old heads, and the Americans.

“But these two dudes out there, Luka and Jokic, they don’t care about the game at all. These dudes be laying on the floor. They’re shooting from half court. But you’ve got to worry about the old heads playing hard? I can read between the lines, bro. It’s just an overall topic that everybody’s been talking about.”

When informed of Victor Wembanyama’s insistence that he would be putting all his effort into winning, Durant said: “We’ll see.

“He said that last year, too. They said it was the worst All-Star Game that people watched. So, we’re going to see. Who knows what’s going to happen? This format might change the game, but who knows? We’ll see.”

What is the new NBA All-Star Game format?

The new NBA All-Star game format features a round-robin between two USA teams, Stars and Stripes, and Team World.

All three teams will play each other once, with the top two advancing to the championship game. All four games are played with a 12-minute time limit.

The NBA drafted the three teams from a pool of 24 selected in a voting process.

NBA All-Star Game schedule

All games February 15

Round-robin games

USA Stars v. Team World – 5:00pm ET

USA Stripes vs. Winner of USA Stars/Team World – 5:55pm ET

USA Stripes vs. Loser of USA Stars/Team World – 6:25pm ET

Championship Game – 7:10pm ET

NBA All-Star Game rosters

USA Stars

• Cade Cunningham – Detroit Pistons
• Tyrese Maxey – Philadelphia 76ers
• Scottie Barnes – Toronto Raptors
• Devin Booker – Phoenix Suns
• Jalen Duren – Detroit Pistons
• Anthony Edwards – Minnesota Timberwolves
• Chet Holmgren – Oklahoma City Thunder
• Jalen Johnson – Atlanta Hawks
• Coach: J.B. Bickerstaff (Detroit Pistons)

USA Stripes

• Jaylen Brown – Boston Celtics
• Jalen Brunson – New York Knicks
• Stephen Curry – Golden State Warriors (unavailable due to injury)
• Brandon Ingram – Toronto Raptors
• Kevin Durant – Houston Rockets
• LeBron James – Los Angeles Lakers
• Kawhi Leonard – Los Angeles Clippers
• Donovan Mitchell – Cleveland Cavaliers
• Norman Powell – Miami Heat
• Coach: Mitch Johnson (San Antonio Spurs)

Team World

• Giannis Antetokounmpo – Milwaukee Bucks
• Deni Avdija – Portland Trail Blazers
• Luka Doncic – Los Angeles Lakers
• Shai Gilgeous-Alexander – Oklahoma City Thunder (unavailable due to injury)
• Nikola Jokic – Denver Nuggets
• Jamal Murray – Denver Nuggets
• Pascal Siakam – Indiana Pacers
• Alperen Şengun – Houston Rockets
• Karl-Anthony Towns – New York Knicks
• Victor Wembanyama – San Antonio Spurs
• Coach: Darko Rajakovic

How to watch the NBA All-Star Game

The NBA All-Star Game will be broadcast on NBC in the United States and is available to stream on Peacock.

In the United Kingdom, the game will be broadcast on Sky Sports + and can be streamed via Sky Go.

The All-Star Game and all of the events across All-Star Weekend can be viewed worldwide on NBA League Pass, except in Belarus, China, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Russia, Syria, and certain regions of Ukraine (Crimea, Donetsk, and Luhansk).