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The 2025 NBA All-Star Game was a complete flop, and commissioner Adam Silver is taking the blame. The 2025 game, which was actually broken down into a four-team tournament, was widely panned by fans, players and members of the media. The stop-start nature of TNT’s broadcast didn’t help and players expressed concerns about potential injuries.
While there may not be a format out there that can revive the once highly anticipated contest, we do know that this format wasn’t it. Silver recently opened up about what went wrong and how the league is looking to make sure it never happens again.
“I thought we made almost an immeasurable amount of progress,” Silver said Thursday via Front Office Sports after an NBA board of governors meeting. “I thought this was a little better, but it was a miss. We’re not there in terms of creating an All-Star experience that we can be proud of, that our players can be proud of.”
Adam Silver Says TNT Broadcast Had A Lot To Do With NBA All-Star Game Failure
The new format failed for several reasons. But Silver, like players and fans, pointed to the pacing of the event as the biggest issue.
“We recalibrated around this year’s All-Star game in San Francisco, around more of an entertainment product, and I don’t think it worked,” Silver said. “The breaks were too long. And I get it: It was an opportunity to celebrate TNT, as they were gonna have their last All-Star Game. It was well-intentioned.”
Silver did not state what the format would be in 2026. But he did reveal that the league is exploring all of its options. One of those options, which has been discussed at length, is a potentially Team USA vs. Team World game. Players have thrown around the idea for several years and the success of the NHL’s 4 Nations Face-Off only furthered the discussion.
One thing we do know, however, is that the four-team tournament did not work. And as long as Adam Silver is in charge, it’ll never happen again.