It’s that time of the year again, when the NBA fans vote for their favorite players to headline the biggest event of the All-Star Weekend The NBA All-Star Game. A matchup where the best players from throughout the league collide against each other midway through the season. But how does the voting actually work? Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered.

NBA All-Star: Know the event date and time

The league’s most anticipated weekend is set to take place from February 12th to February 15th, where the fans will get to see their favorite players in action. However, the highly anticipated NBA All-Star matchup will take place on the final day of the festivities.

Having said that, the event’s 75th edition this year will be held in Los Angeles inside the newly built Intuit Dome, the home of the LA Clippers. But again, who will cut? And how can the fans vote for their favorite players to feature at the NBA All-Star matchup?

What is the process of selecting an NBA All-Star? Know the format, rules, and more

This edition of the NBA All-Star Game is set to feature arguably one of the biggest changes in recent history. That’s because for the first time, the All-Star matchup won’t be between the Eastern Conference and the Western Conference. On the contrary, as the NBA announced this year, the format will be to fit “the U.S.A. vs. the World” narrative.

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This means that there will be two teams, one consisting of American players and the other made up of international stars, and each team will feature 8 players. These players will be selected through a rigorous process. They’ll be selected as a result of not just fan voting, but also media and player voting/coach selection as well.

However, if the selected 24 stars don’t fit the U.S.A.- international split, then the league will further select additional players, as NBA commissioner Adam Silver confirmed to ensure a minimum of 16 U.S.A and 8 international players. Once that is confirmed, the game will take place, which will feature four quarters of 12 minutes each.

While the first three quarters will consist of a round-robin format where each roster will play the other twice, only the two best teams will feature in the final quarter. Now, how can you contribute to the All-Star matchup, or rather, how can you vote for your favorite players? It’s pretty simple. You just have to log in to the NBA App or to NBA.com.

Then you can place one vote per player for up to 5 players in one conference each day, regardless of their position. However, there’s a slight twist. On several days, such as the 21st, 25th, 30th of December, and 7th and 14th of January, one vote would be counted as three. The voting is currently underway and will run until January 14th, exactly one month after which the All-Star Game is set to take place.

Moreover, the fan votes would hold 50 percent weightage in a player’s selection, while the media and the player votes would hold 25 percent each. Lastly, the head coaches will pick seven reserves from each conference. This newly established format and voting system is surely interesting, to say the least. In fact, so much so that it makes the NBA stand out from the rest of the leagues.

What separates it from other sports? NBA vs MLB, NBA vs NFL

Although several reasons make the NBA All-Star matchup different from the MLB and NFL All-Star games, the most prominent from this season onwards could be the U.S.A. vs the Rest of the World scenario. That’s because neither the MLB nor the NFL has featured such an interesting concept so far in their history.

Even though the MLB All-Star Futures Game does follow a similar format, it features players from the minor leagues rather than the MLB. Nonetheless, apart from the format, there are even several differences within the selection process between the NBA and the rest of the major sporting leagues.

In the MLB, voting is conducted in two phases. While in the first phase, fans may vote for the American League and National League players they want to see start at each position except the pitcher, in the second phase, they have to select amongst the two top vote-getters from each position. However, that doesn’t happen in the NBA.

As we mentioned, the fans vote once, after which their votes are taken along with the media and player votes, from which the final selection is made. Meanwhile, even though the NFL follows a pretty similar selection process, its fan vote weightage is similar to the media and player votes. So, these small nuances make the NBA different from other sports.