The NBA All-Star Game stinks. It’s OK to admit it, even the players themselves have commented on how far the once-revered exhibition has fallen in recent years. NBA commissioner Adam Silver has tried different things to shake up the formula and return the All-Star Game to its former glory, but those efforts have been in vain so far.
Advertisement
Even the rest of All-Star Weekend has slipped. It’s impossible to get big names to participate in the dunk contest. The skills contest this year was a joke thanks to Victor Wembanyama and Chris Paul trying to game the system and get a cheap win. It’s a real shame that during a time when the league with the best athletes in the world convenes, it can’t muster a better product for the fans.
The NFL has had similar issues with its Pro Bowl, which is why in 2023 it did away with the traditional game altogether in favor of a flag football game and various other competitions meant to showcase players’ skills. On the other hand, the NHL seriously reinvigorated its own All-Star format by introducing the 4 Nations Face-Off this past year.
That event consisted of teams from the USA, Canada, Sweden and Finland. It featured intense competition and an overtime goal by Connor McDavid, the best player in the league, to help Canada beat the Americans for the title. Silver appeared on FS1’s Breakfast Ball this morning and admitted that the NBA is taking inspiration from the NHL, and from the success of the 2024 Paris Olympics, to make next year’s game better.
“Next year as part of our new media deal, the All-Star Game returns to NBC … and it so happens that next season will be smack in the middle of the Winter Olympics,” Silver said. While dropping the interesting nugget that the All-Star Game will be played in the afternoon next year, he also said that the game will be surrounded by Olympics coverage. “What better time to feature some form of USA against the world?” he asked.
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver confirms there will be USA vs. the World in the 2026 All-Star Game
“I’m not exactly sure what the format will be yet. I paid a lot of attention to what the NHL did, which was a huge success.”@craigcartonlive | @DannyParkins | @markschlereth pic.twitter.com/WsEzhe4Jkk
— Breakfast Ball (@BrkfstBallOnFS1) June 4, 2025
Adam Silver is trying his best, but can he save the NBA All-Star Game?
The NBA has seemingly tried everything to make the All-Star Game matter again. After this year’s four-team tournament was met with mixed reviews, it makes sense to follow in the footsteps of the NHL while trying to piggyback on the success of the Olympics. The question is, will it work when the league’s best players come to Los Angeles’ Intuit Dome in 2026?
The Olympics were a once-in-a-lifetime kind of event. This was the last ride for Team USA vets like LeBron James, Kevin Durant and Steph Curry. And they responded by winning the gold medal in dramatic fashion over the host, France, which was led by up-and-coming superstar Victor Wembanyama. To get there in the first place, they needed a dramatic comeback against the best player in the world, Nikola Jokic.
It’s going to be impossible to replicate that, especially when a nascent format carries none of the tradition or prestige of an Olympic gold medal. Today’s players have hardly shown any interest in playing hard during the All-Star Game. Are they suddenly going to be singing Yankee Doodle Dandy as they give it their all against an international team in the middle of what we all admit is a too-long regular season?
I’m always willing to give a new idea a try, but the NBA All-Star Game will only work if the players give a real effort. East vs. West, team captains, USA vs. the World, none of it matters if the players don’t care. Whether it’s because they get paid so much these days or they’re just desperate for some downtime in a grueling schedule, no new ideas have worked yet.
