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

Durant is part of a highly experienced roster, which he has nicknamed the “Old Heads,” that includes LeBron James and Kawhi Leonard, and Without the services of Stephen Curry due to injury.

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

It is hoped that the improvement and introduction of Team World will increase the competitiveness of the game which, in essence, represents a proud performance for many years.

But Durant, a 16-time All-Star, doubts international players will put in more effort.

Asked how seriously the USA Stripes team would take the tournament, Durant replied with a laugh: “You have to 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 see what they do in the All-Star Game. Is that competition? So, we’re not questioning what they’re doing. But we’re going to question the old heads and the Americans.

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

When informed of Victor Vembanyama’s insistence that he will do everything he can to win, Durant said: “We’ll see.

“He said that last year, too. They said it was the worst All-Star Game people had ever seen. So, we’re going to see. Who knows what’s going to happen? This format could 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, the Stars and Stripes, and Team World.

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

The NBA drafted 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 Vs. Team World – 5:00 pm ET

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

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

Championship Game – 7:10pm ET

NBA All-Star Game Rosters

USA Stars

• Cade Cunningham – Detroit Pistons
• Tyrese Maxey – Philadelphia 76ers
• Scotty Barnes – Toronto Raptors
• Devin Booker – Phoenix Suns
• Jalen Duren – Detroit Pistons
• Anthony Edwards – Minnesota Timberwolves
• Chet Holmgren – Oklahoma City Thunder
• Jaylen Johnson – Atlanta Hawks
• Coach: JB 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
• Danny Avdija – Portland Trail Blazers
• Luka Doncic – Los Angeles Lakers
• Shai Gilgeous-Alexander – Oklahoma City Thunder (unavailable due to injury)
• Nikola Jokic – Denver Nuggets
• Jamaal Murray – Denver Nuggets
• Pascal Siakam – Indiana Pacers
• Alperen Sangun – Houston Rockets
• Karl-Anthony Towns – New York Knicks
• Victor Vembanyama – 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.

All events of the All-Star Game and All-Star Weekend can be viewed worldwide NBA League PassExcept for Belarus, China, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Russia, Syria and some regions of Ukraine (Crimea, Donetsk and Luhansk).