The NBA Is Rolling Out Another Gimmick To Try And Fix Its Broken All-Star Game

Damian Lillard at NBA All Star Game

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The NBA has spent years attempting to address the All-Star Game that’s become an absolute snoozefest thanks to players who could not care less about the contest. Now, the league is switching things up yet again in an attempt to fix an event that might be irreparably broken.

The first NBA All-Star Game was held all the way back in 1951, and while it’s always been a largely meaningless contest, most players nonetheless put in a fair amount of effort for the sake of the fans during the vast majority of its existence.

However, anyone who’s tuned into the annual tradition in recent years is very aware that’s no longer the case.

In 2018, the league attempted to inject some additional intrigue into the All-Star Game by abandoning the traditional East vs. West format in favor of a draft that gave designated captains the chance to assemble a roster from eligible players.

A couple of years later, it introduced the unnecessarily confusing “Elam Ending” that replaced the game clock with a target score in the fourth quarter. However, all of those changes were wiped off the board in 2024 when the contest reverted to its traditional format.

Adam Silver promised NBA fans they’d be treated to a “good game” in the wake of the latest shift. Unfortunately, that did not end up being the case in a showdown where defense was predictably nonexistent, and he did not even attempt to hide his disdain while presenting the trophy to the winning side.

Over the summer, Silver suggested he was resigned to the fact that there’s basically nothing that can be done to incentivize players to care about the All-Star Game, but that hasn’t stopped the NBA from introducing yet another change in the hopes of bringing it back from the brink of death.

According to ESPN, the 2025 NBA All-Star Game in San Francisco will no longer feature two teams but four squads that will compete in a pickup-inspired tournament; three will consist of eight players who earn All-Star honors, while the last will feature the squad that comes out on top in the Rising Stars game (which will seemingly stick to the traditional script).

It sounds like there are some details to be ironed out before the NBA officially announces the change, but the outlet reports it will involve a semifinal where both teams play to 40 points before the winners face off in a championship round where the target score will be reduced to 25.

I’ll be shocked if this ends up being the fix that saves the NBA All-Star Game, but we’ll get the chance to see if that ends up being the case when it’s held on February 16th.

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Connor Toole is the Deputy Editor at BroBible and a Boston College graduate currently based in New England. He has spent close to 15 years working for multiple online outlets covering sports, pop culture, weird news, men's lifestyle, and food and drink.