The NBA has been tinkering with the All-Star Game format for several years, and next year there will feature another change of direction. The NBA is reportedly considering a format in which three teams will compete in a round-robin tournament to decide a winner, per ESPN’s Shams Charania. This will be the second consecutive year the NBA has changed the format, after trying a similar mini-tournament last year which featured four teams — one of which was the winning team from the Rising Stars Challenge.
This time though, the NBA is scrapping the Rising Stars roster, and will instead have two USA teams with one World team, which will highlight all of the league’s international talent. The format was introduced by the league and player’s union to the Competition Committee on Wednesday and received a positive response, per Charania.
This new change comes on the heels of what many considered to be a low point for the All-Star Game last year. The players didn’t seem enthused to participate in it, the format was criticized by fans for being too confusing and in the end it just fell flat. While this format isn’t too different from what we witnessed last season, the key change here is that the NBA will at least adopt a USA vs. World format — something that fans have been clamoring for over the last several years.
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We’re finally getting it, even if it’s in a mini-tournament that will only feature eight players on each team. It’s a small victory, and given the growing amount of international talent in the NBA, it only makes sense for the league to showcase that. If everyone is healthy then we’ll be getting a World team that will likely feature Nikola Jokić, Luka Dončić and Giannis Antetokounmpo, and that’s just the massive names. For the USA teams, there’s a limitless pool of players to choose from, but seeing which ones will make the cut will be like constructing a version of the Team USA Olympic roster.
We’ll still need to iron out all the details before the All-Star Game on Feb. 15 in Los Angeles, but this is a sign that the league is open to considering all possibilities to make the event exciting for fans to watch. In the end, though, this will come down to the buy-in from the players in wanting to bring a level of intensity and competitiveness we haven’t seen in this event consistently for at least a decade. Maybe this new change will fix that.
