At this point, Adam Silver has made it his goal. The 2026 All-Star Game will receive a shakeup in its format once again. The NBA Commissioner hopes the February weekend festivities can once again garner interest for its yearly exhibition.
This time around, the NBA will go to a three-team round-robin tournament, per ESPN’s Shams Charania. It will be Team World and two Team USA squads. The three teams will have eight players on their respective rosters, totaling 24 All-Stars.
The World team and two USA teams will play each other in 12-minute quarter games. The 2026 All-Star weekend will be held at LA’s Intuit Dome from Feb. 13-15. The new format hopes to spark drama. The NBA has seen the talent gap between American and international players decrease over time, to the point that the latter arguably has the deeper pool.
Six of the seven past MVP winners have been international players in Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Nikola Jokic and Giannis Antetokounmpo.
Entering the 2025-26 regular season as the NBA champions and tied for the most national television appearances, the Thunder could be a team that sends multiple All-Star players to the weekend extravaganza. Gilgeous-Alexander and Jalen Williams were All-Star players last season. They should return to the event. Chet Holmgren could join them for the first time if he stays healthy.
In that scenario, Gilgeous-Alexander will face off against his Thunder teammates. Williams and Holmgren could either be All-Star teammates or opponents, depending on which of the two Team USA teams they land on.
Let’s see if the NBA can finally make the All-Star Game must-watch TV. While most fans are indifferent towards the glorified exhibition, it seems like Silver and the rest of the league are on a mission to make it the talk of the town. Either way, the best players will celebrate the unofficial halfway mark of the season.