Following last year’s NBA All-Star Game in which a record 397 total points were scored, many felt it was time for some sort of change. Competition in the game itself was at an all-time low as there were 67 3-pointers made and five players scored at least 30 points with Karl-Anthony Towns dropping 50.
Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James sat back for most of that contest, playing just 14 minutes, but overall fan and league satisfaction with the All-Star Game was low. Even Commissioner Adam Silver spoke about changes being necessary immediately after and that looks to be the case for this season’s version.
According to ESPN’s Shams Charania, the league will be adopting a four-team tournament style format for the 2025 NBA All-Star Game:
The NBA’s new four-team tournament-style format for the 2025 All-Star Game is expected to have two semifinal games played up to 40 points, with the winners advancing to the final match up to 25 points, sources told ESPN.
The first-of-its-kind event is expected to serve as a quick-burst competition that resembles pickup games where the winner moves to the championship round in single-elimination play.
Sources told ESPN last week that the NBA was in serious discussions to have three All-Star teams of eight players each and the winner of the Rising Stars game take part in an All-Star Game tournament.
The four teams would face each other in matchups — for instance, Team 1 versus Team 3 and Team 2 versus Team 4 — and the winners move on to the final round.
This is certainly something different that hasn’t been seen before and could help increase the level of competition during these games itself. Moving to multiple shorter games could also help the fans stay locked in as oftentimes games’ outcomes would be long-decided under the traditional format.
Team governors, executives, coaches and players all participated in discussions on these changes over the past few months so this was truly a league-wide decision that hopefully brings more excitement to the All-Star Game as a whole.
Adam Silver gives his thoughts on NBA ratings dip this season
The NBA has unfortunately also seen a big dip in ratings to start this season and many have theories as to why that has been the case. Commissioner Adam Silver isn’t too concerned, however, and offered his thoughts on why viewership is down to start the season.
Silver feels the low ratings are a matter of circumstance as opposed to fans being unhappy with the style or quality of play in the league. The commissioner pointed to the recent election garnering a lot of attention in addition to going up against a World Series featuring two of the most popular franchises in American sports in the Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Yankees.
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