NEW YORK -- The NBA is hoping that its new format for the All-Star Game will add some energy to the event, as fan voting is scheduled to begin Dec. 21.

Fan voting begins that day on NBA.com and the NBA App. Voting through all other formats, such as Twitter and Facebook and including Amazon Alexa for the first time, starts on Christmas Day before the annual five-game slate.

There will also be five 2-for-1 days where ballots cast through the NBA App and NBA.com, along with Sina Weibo and Tencent in China, will count twice. Those days are Dec. 31, Jan. 4, Jan. 11, Jan. 12 and Jan. 15 -- the day balloting ends.

Continuing a policy instituted last season, players and media will join fans in the voting process. The fan vote accounts for 50 percent, while players and a media panel each account for 25 percent.

The NBA had previously announced that the Eastern vs. Western Conference format would be scrapped for the first time, replaced by captains choosing sides in the latest effort to generate more enthusiasm and perhaps competitiveness for the game.

The starters from each conference with the highest total of fan votes will serve as the captains. They will then pick from the eight remaining starters first, then choose from the pool of players voted as reserves.

The captains' selections will be conducted before the full rosters are unveiled during a TNT program on Jan. 25.