Changes to the NBA All-Star Game format are reportedly becoming more and more evident.
Following reports that the league was considering a four-team tournament for the All-Star Game, the tournament will likely have a pickup-style format in which the two semifinal games would be played for 40 and the championship would be played for 25.
The 2025 NBA All-Star Game is scheduled for February 16 at the Golden State Warriors’ Chase Center.
As previously reported, the four teams would be made up of three All-Star teams of eight players each and the fourth team would be the winner of the Rising Stars Challenge.
The Rising Stars game is also a four-team tournament, each consisting of rookies and sophomores. G League standouts are also part of the rosters.
Among the players of last year’s Rising Stars competition They were Victor Wembanyama, Chet Holmgren, Paolo Banchero, Jalen Williams and Dereck Lively II. Matas Buzelis and Ron Holland, both first-round picks in the 2024 NBA Draft, also participated.
The coaching staffs of the top two teams in each conference would lead the All-Star tournament teams. The Athletic reports. If the current standings hold, Kenny Atkinson of the Cleveland Cavaliers and Joe Mazzulla of the Boston Celtics would coach the East teams. The West teams would be coached by Steve Kerr of the Warriors and Mark Daigneault of the Oklahoma City Thunder.
The NBA and commissioner Adam Silver were eager to make changes to the All-Star Game after last year’s contest was not very competitive and ended with a final score of 211-186.
“I think there’s no doubt that the players were disappointed in last year’s All-Star Game as well.” Silver told reporters before the Heat-Wizards game in Mexico City on November 2. “We all want to do a better job of providing competition and entertainment to our fans.”
NBA All-Star weekend could also include a variation on last season’s NBA versus WNBA 3-point challenge that featured Golden State’s Stephen Curry and New York Liberty’s Sabrina Ionescu. Among the players rumored to be included in an expanded competition are Indiana Fever star Caitlin Clark and Klay Thompson of the Dallas Mavericks.