The 2025 NBA All-Star Game faced plenty of backlash over its new format. Rather than the usual two-team matchup, the league rolled out a mini-tournament with four teams of All-Stars. The winners of the two semifinals then met in a championship game.
The change came as a response to declining interest and a lack of competitiveness in recent years. The NBA hoped a cash prize would boost player engagement—but it didn’t have the impact they were expecting.
Now, the league is already exploring yet another format for 2026.
On Tuesday, NBA commissioner Adam Silver appeared on SiriusXM NBA Radio and revealed that the league is in talks about trying something new: a U.S. team vs. international team matchup, inspired by the success of the NHL’s 4 Nations Face-Off Tournament.
"I've talked before about the fact we're looking at potentially U.S. against the world type formats," Silver said. "NHL had great success with the Four-Nation Face-Off this past season. We're going to be in the midst of the Winter Olympics on NBC, so the programming going into the All-Star game will be Olympic competition, and our game will be leading back into the Olympics, so I think it's only fitting. And on top of that, we'll be in LA, where, of course, the 28 Summer Olympics are going to be."
Silver went on to say this idea wouldn't be a permanent change but "maybe more short-term."
"So that's maybe more short-term, not so much a rule change, but something we talked about at the GM's meeting, and we want to get right," Silver added.
Silver went on to say this idea wouldn't be a permanent change but "maybe more short-term."
"So that's maybe more short-term, not so much a rule change, but something we talked about at the GM's meeting, and we want to get right," Silver added.
NBA commissioner Adam Silver.
NBA commissioner Adam Silver.
Mark J. Rebilas
The NHL’s Four Nations Face-Off wasn’t exactly an All-Star Game, but rather a tournament featuring the top players from the U.S., Canada, Sweden, and Finland. The tournament followed a round-robin format, with the top two teams advancing to the championship game.