One of the things the NBA and Commissioner Adam Silver have been trying to fix over the past few years has been the NBA All-Star Game. Once a highlight of the season, the All-Star Game has been the opposite recently as the lack of competitiveness has made it very tough to watch.
The league has tinkered with the format over the years and last season’s attempt was a failure as the league attempted to create a mini-tournament to try and bring out some sort of competition. Meanwhile, the NHL’s All-Star switched to a “4 Nations Faceoff,” which was a massive success.
The NBA can’t completely copy that format, but Silver and the league were paying attention and the commissioner revealed in an appearance on Breakfast Ball on FS1 that the 2026 NBA All-Star Game will feature some form of USA vs. World:
“Yes. So next year as part of our new media deal, the All-Star Game returns to NBC where it was when we were younger. And it so happens that, next season will be smack in middle of the Winter Olympics. So the game will be on NBC and the very day we’re on, the lead-in will be Winter Olympic events and then coming out of the All-Star Game, which is now gonna be in the afternoon instead of the evening, there’ll be more Olympic events so what better time to feature some form of USA against the World. I’m not exactly sure what the format will be yet, I mean, I obviously paid a lot of attention to what the NHL did which was a huge success. But also, going back last summer our Olympic competition was a huge success. Those games USA-Serbia, USA-France and by the way, to your point about the European style, a more physical style of basketball, a 40-minute game which we won’t reference again, I just said it happened to be a 40-minute game in the Olympics we’re not changing it, but I think that’s another example.”
The rise of international stars throughout the NBA makes this format a feasible one. In fact, there hasn’t been an American to win the NBA MVP Award since James Harden did in 2018 and seeing a team with the likes of Nikola Jokic, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Luka Doncic, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Victor Wembanyama, amongst others, is an exciting possibility.
There have been a lot of debates about whether Team USA could beat a team full of the best international stars the NBA has to offer and next year’s All-Star Game will now provide some sort of answer. Whether it will bring back that feel of past All-Star games remains to be seen, but credit to the NBA for at least trying something new to make the All-Star Game matter again.
Some other nuggets that Silver dropped here include the 2026 NBA All-Star Game being broadcast on NBC and also switching to an afternoon game instead of the evening.
Lakers expected to be one of the most aggressive teams in NBA this offseason
The Los Angeles Lakers have a pair of players that will almost certainly be in the 2026 NBA All-Star Game barring injury in LeBron James and Luka Doncic. But this offseason, the Lakers front office will be looking to build the right team around that duo and they are expected to exhaust all options in doing so.
The Lakers are reportedly expected to be ‘extremely aggressive’ this offseason in pursuing the right players to turn them from a good team into a championship contender, although it remains to be see what that means exactly.
Have you subscribed to our YouTube channel? It’s the best way to watch player interviews, exclusive coverage from events, participate in live shows, and more!
