NBA Commissioner Adam Silver admitted the 2025 NBA All-Star game was a miss.
In a league press conference, Silver talked about the new format introduced to the All-Star game spin and the complaints around it. The recent format featured the 24 all stars split into 3 teams, and the winner of the NBA’s Rising Stars challenge being added to the game, and the four teams play a tournament to win All-Star Weekend. Though different, it was met with a visceral reaction from fans and media alike, which Silver addressed:
“It was a miss. We’re not there in terms of creating an All-Star experience that we can be proud of and that our players can be proud of.”
The tournament figure was a departure from the recent team vs team format, where the leading All-Star vote getters from each conference drafts a team, but lacked the consistency of stars facing off on a big stage. A number of ideas have come up, with the original East vs. West formatting a possibility, and Silver addressed a possibility of a USA vs. the World.
“People have floated USA-World. I’m not sure that makes sense with the level of development, if that’s fair to lump all of the countries together these days. Maybe we can single it out, there are some different national teams that can compete.”
Silver’s struggles with finding a proper All-Star game format is understandable, and even admirable, but it undermines the true problem. There was nothing wrong with the original format, but the players don’t take it seriously enough. The All-Star game doesn’t need to be played like the NBA title is on the line, but fans want to see a level of intensity that isn’t in the current game. The players aren’t playing an aggressive game, and it’s understandable, but fans want more competition then what’s been shown.
The 2025 NBA All-Star game was a miss, but the league is exploring new options. Though there’s no consensus on what happens, one thing for certain is change is coming for 2026.
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