NEW YORK – For the first time, State Farm All-Star Saturday Night will feature a new format that pits the Eastern Conference against the Western Conference in a night of competition that will raise money for charity, the NBA and State Farm announced today.

As part of the new format, points earned by each conference throughout the four All-Star Skills Competitions will determine the conference that earns the title of 2013 State Farm All-Star Saturday Night Champions.  Also, each conference will have an All-Star Saturday Night captain who will lead his team during the event.

In addition, NBA Cares and State Farm will make a joint donation of $500,000 as part of the event, with $350,000 going to the winning conference’s charities and $150,000 to the runner-up conference’s charities.  All of the charities will be selected by the conference captains, the NBA, and State Farm. The State Farm All-Star Saturday Night captains and the charities receiving donations will be selected and announced at a later date.

State Farm All-Star Saturday Night, an all-inclusive skills showcase, will take place on Saturday, Feb. 16 at the Toyota Center in Houston and will be televised live by TNT at 8pm ET.  The event consists of the Shooting Stars, a competition featuring NBA players, WNBA players, and NBA legends; the Taco Bell Skills Challenge, a contest of top guards working against the clock to complete a series of passes, free throws, layups and agility drills; the Foot Locker Three-Point Contest; and the Sprite Slam Dunk contest.

The 62^nd NBA All-Star Game will be played on Sunday, Feb. 17, at the Toyota Center, which will also host the BBVA Rising Stars Challenge. NBA All-Star Jam Session, the hugely successful interactive basketball celebration, will be held at the George R. Brown Convention Center and will host the Sprint NBA All-Star Celebrity Game and the Sprint Pregame Concert.

2013 will mark the 29th year that Turner Sports will provide NBA All-Star coverage, and the 11th consecutive year the All-Star Game will be televised in primetime on TNT.  The All-Star Game will be seen by a worldwide television audience in more than 200 countries and territories and in more than 40 languages.

During NBA All-Star 2013, the NBA will continue to celebrate its tradition of and commitment to social responsibility with a schedule of NBA Cares events. NBA Cares will partner with schools, government, and local nonprofit organizations in Houston and surrounding areas to highlight the league’s grassroots and community initiatives that reach millions of young people and their parents while providing critical resources to community-based programs.