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The NBA has spent more than a few years attempting to inject some new life into the All-Star Game only to see virtually all of those efforts fall flat. Now, it sounds like the league is gearing up to experiment with yet another tweak after the NHL handed it the perfect blueprint earlier this year.
Most people who keep tabs on the NBA know the All-Star Game is currently on life support after resisting multiple attempts to resuscitate a contest that has become the ultimate shell of its former self.
The NBA All-Star Game (which was held for the first time in 1951) has never been a bastion of cutthroat competition, but players usually did what they could to treat fans to an entertaining affair. However, that has not really been the case over the past decade or so, and attempts to address the issue—including the introduction of a draft, the ill-fated target score, and the four-team tournament organized this season—have all left a lot to be desired.
The NHL, on the other hand, managed to crack the code a couple of months ago after forgoing its All-Star Game in favor of the 4 Nations Face-Off that featured teams with players hailing from America, Canada, Sweden, and Finland facing off in an absolutely electric tournament that ended up being a ratings bonanza.
I was far from the only person to suggest the NBA would be wise to follow suit, and it appears the powers that be took notice.
According to The Athletic, Adam Silver made it pretty clear the NBA is planning on following in the NHL’s footsteps when the All-Star Game heads to Los Angeles in 2026 during a conversation where he told the outlet it’s currently exploring the introduction of an international twist to the festivities, saying:
“Our All-Star Game will return to NBC next season in the middle of their coverage of the Winter Olympics.
Given the strong interest we’ve seen in international basketball competitions, most recently in last summer’s Olympics in Paris, we’re discussing concepts with the players association that focus on NBA players representing their countries or regions instead of the more traditional formats that we’ve used in the past.”
Silver somewhat suspiciously declined to mention the NHL while discussing the impetus for the pivot, although it’s pretty hard to believe the success of the 4 Nations tournament didn’t influence the decision to try to tinker with the All-Star Game yet again.
As things currently stand, it’s unclear what the format would be; a United States vs. The World team would probably make the most sense, although you could conceivably come up with a four-team affair involving America, Europe, Canada, and Everyone Else despite the fact that the first two squads would have a sizeable advantage in the talent department.