NBA All-Star Game will feature team captains, Elam Ending

The NBA announced that the All-Star Game is bringing back two newer traditions that have become popular with fans: team captains and the Elam Ending.

"The rosters for the NBA All-Star Game will be determined through the NBA All-Star Draft, where the two team captains will select from the pool of players voted as starters and reserves in each conference and make their picks without regard to conference affiliation," the league announced in an official statement. "The captains will be the All-Star starter from each conference who receives the most fan votes in his conference."

The team captain concept was introduced back in 2018, with LeBron James and Steph Curry becoming the first two captains. In that first year, the draft was held in private but the next year, they began broadcasting the draft to drum up interest for the game. LeBron has been a team captain every year and is set to be named the Western Conference captain once again.

The Elam Ending was introduced for the first time at last year's All-Star Game. With four minutes left in the game, the clock stops, and a target score is set. Whichever team is able to reach the target score first wins, which is meant to encourage competitiveness instead of the leading team simply trying to run out the clock. The new format was embraced by fans and players alike and appears to be here to stay.

The All-Star Game is set to be played in Atlanta on March 7.