NBA All-Star Game format changing yet again. Will this one stick?

The NBA is changing up the All-Star Game again.

Shams Charania of ESPN reports the 2026 showcase at the Clippers’ Intuit Dome will feature a round-robin tournament. Three eight-player teams will take the floor — two U.S.-born squads and one international — in a Ryder Cup-style setup, playing 12-minute quarters.

The league’s Competition Committee gave the plan a “positive” review this week, with players, execs and owners all weighing in. The NBPA has also signed off.

The All-Star Game has been a moving target for years. Last February the league tried a four-team mini-tournament, including a “rising star” group, and the response was lukewarm at best. Ratings barely moved.

The international angle is no surprise. As Charania noted, roughly a quarter of the league’s players were born outside the U.S., and every MVP since James Harden in 2018 has been an international star. That list includes Giannis Antetokounmpo, Nikola Jokic and Joel Embiid.

This will also be the first All-Star Game aired by NBC under the league’s new TV deal, after decades with TNT.

The NBA is betting a new format — and maybe a little national pride — can bring some juice back to a midseason event that has been losing steam.

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