Phoenix Suns guard Jalen Green discusses joining the team
New Phoenix Suns guard Jalen Green on joining the team after being traded from the Houston Rockets for Kevin Durant.
The NBA All-Star Game will have a new format again.
ESPN reported on Sept. 3, the 2026 All-Star Game in Los Angeles will have a round-robin tournament format that will feature three eight-player teams consisting of two USA teams and one World team.
“It presents an enormous opportunity for us to do something with an international competition instead of the traditional All-Star formats that we’ve used,” NBA commissioner Adam Silver said in April.
If any Phoenix Suns‘ top players, such as Devin Booker or Jalen Green, are selected to play in the game at the Los Angeles Clippers‘ Intuit Dome on Feb. 15, they will be on one of those USA teams.
The updated concept was given a positive response from the league’s board of governors, team executives and players when the NBA and National Basketball Players Association presented it to the league’s competition committee during a meeting on Wednesday.
The USA teams and World squad would play each other in 12-minute quarter games.
There are 70% American players in the NBA, so it will be easier for its international players to make an All-Star roster in the new All-Star competition format, according to the league.
The change comes after some players, including Kevin Durant when he was with the Suns, complained about last year’s format.
Last year’s San Francisco All-Star Game format was a four-team, single-elimination tournament with a target score of 40 points for each round. The mini-tournament features teams drafted by then-TNT analysts Charles Barkley, Shaquille O’Neal and Kenny Smith. The fourth team was the winner of the Rising Stars event.
The frequent stoppages and ceremonies between the games drew some criticism from the players, fans and TV viewers. Silver admitted that format was “a miss.”
The only Phoenix Suns player who participated in the 2025 All-Star Game was Durant. He expressed his discontent with the format change for last year’s All-Star Game change prior to the event.