NBA solves major problem for USA vs. the World

The NBA All-Star Game hasn't been competitive

Silver has been disappointed by the lack of competitiveness in recent All-Star Games. The league has experimented with different formats, including having player captains draft teams, playing to a certain score rather than to a time and last year's round-robin tournament featuring teams of All-Stars, Rising Stars and G Leaguers.

Last year's game was disappointing and non-competitive, though that happened in large part due to a series of non-basketball distractions, including a shooting contest spearheaded by Mr. Beast and a bizarre, extended tribute to "Inside the NBA," held in the middle of the final game.

Inspired by the NHL

On the same weekend the NBA was laying an egg, the NHL was succeeding wildly with the "4 Nations Face-Off." Replacing the league's normal All-Star Game, the NHL instead sponsored a round-robin tournament featuring teams from the USA, Canada, Finland and Norway, with the top two teams competing in a final game. Canada defeated the USA in overtime in the final, 3-2.

The initial problem with a USA vs. The World format, which the NBA has used for the Rising Stars Game, was numbers. While the last seven NBA MVPs have been born outside the United States (Joel Embiid has subsequently become a U.S. citizen), only seven of the 26 All-Stars (including injury replacements) were international.

Now the NBA plans to modify the format and make it a round-robin tournament that's the USA vs. the World vs. the USA. Three eight-player teams will compete, with only one of them being full of international players.

Is this a repeat of last season?

The question remains whether this is truly a different format. Last year, although the teams were "drafted" by Shaquille O'Neal, Charles Barkley and Kenny Smith, they were essentially split into an international team, a team of older legends and a team of younger All-Stars.

Team Chuck had all seven international players, plus Donovan Mitchell. Team Shaq had six over-30 stars, including Steph Curry and LeBron James, plus two younger Boston Celtics, Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown. Meanwhile. Team Kenny's youngest player was 28-year-old Jalen Brunson.

So if the NBA informally used this format last year, the only difference is the absence of a fourth team in the round robin. That has the advantage of not including G Leaguers in the NBA festivities, but there's no guarantee the games will be more competitive.

The real problem is that the format of All-Star Weekend, full of parties and sponsor obligations, doesn't lead to an ideal athletic environment. Many players are focused on staying healthy for the playoffs, like James, who withdrew from the 2025 game early and sat out the second half in 2023. If the players weren't full of patriotic fervor last year, will it truly be different if the teams are labeled differently?

It looks like just another attempt to tinker with the All-Star Game and leave casual fans more confused. Don't be surprised if this time next year, Silver is advancing yet another proposal to save All-Star Weekend.