{"id":599169,"date":"2026-02-12T16:30:20","date_gmt":"2026-02-12T16:30:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/599169\/"},"modified":"2026-02-12T16:30:20","modified_gmt":"2026-02-12T16:30:20","slug":"nba-all-star-2026-will-the-new-usa-vs-world-format-work-breaking-down-this-weekends-big-questions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/599169\/","title":{"rendered":"NBA All-Star 2026: Will the new USA vs. World format work? Breaking down this weekend’s big questions"},"content":{"rendered":"

With an awfully busy 2026 NBA trade deadline<\/a> now in the rear-view mirror, the NBA now trains its gaze on Los Angeles, site of the annual midseason basketball exhibition\/convention\/trade show\/sugar rush that is All-Star Weekend<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Here are a few things to keep an eye on as the league\u2019s best and brightest strut their stuff across three days of basketball-like activities, decidedly un-basketball-like activities prominently featuring The Rizzler and Joey Fatone<\/a>, and \u2014 yet again \u2014 a revamped, rebooted game format:<\/p>\n

Will the new All-Star format work?75th NBA All-Star Game: 5 p.m. ET Sunday (NBC\/Peacock)<\/p>\n

After \u201cfinal score: 211-186\u201d<\/a> didn\u2019t work for anybody two years ago, NBA commissioner Adam Silver and his crew of problem-solvers at the league office decided to try to shake things up in pursuit of an answer to stem the tide of the years-long trend: the once-proud Sunday showcase devolving into, ostensibly, a \u201cwe\u2019re just here so we won\u2019t get fined\u201d glorified shootaround. That led to a tournament-style structure<\/a> featuring rosters drafted by the \u201cInside the NBA\u201d crew<\/a>, with four teams \u2014 \u201cYoung Stars,\u201d \u201cGlobal Stars,\u201d \u201cOGs\u201d and the winners of the Rising Stars Challenge \u2014 competing in curtailed pickup-style games in a two-round competition to eventually crown a winner.<\/p>\n

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The result? Nobody really seemed to try any harder<\/a> in three shorter games than they did in the standard-length affair. Nobody seemed to enjoy the changes<\/a>, from Kevin Hart\u2019s running commentary<\/a> to MrBeast showing up to sponsor a 3-point shooting exhibition<\/a>. The whole stop-and-start endeavor ran long and wrapped up late, the finale was as uncompetitive as ever<\/a>, and the ratings plunged<\/a>.<\/p>\n

So: Back to the drawing board!<\/p>\n

\"(Bruno<\/p>\n

(Bruno Rouby\/Yahoo Sports Illustration)<\/p>\n

\u201cIt just makes me think if there was a game of the World vs. USA, that would be interesting,\u201d San Antonio Spurs star Victor Wembanyama told reporters<\/a> before last year\u2019s game. \u201cThat would be even better.\u201d<\/p>\n

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As it turned out, the big fella was onto something. This year\u2019s tweak from Silver and Co.? A three-team tournament featuring two rosters of American-born players and one of international players<\/a>, competing in a round-robin tournament consisting of four 12-minute games.<\/p>\n

[Subscribe to Yahoo Sports NBA on YouTube<\/a>]<\/p>\n

In the first game, Team USA Stars (Scottie Barnes, Devin Booker, Cade Cunningham, Jalen Duren, Anthony Edwards, Chet Holmgren, Jalen Johnson and Tyrese Maxey) will take on Team World (Wembanyama, Giannis Antetokounmpo*, Deni Avdija, Luka Don\u010di\u0107*, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander**, Nikola Joki\u0107, Jamal Murray, Pascal Siakam, Alperen \u015eeng\u00fcn, Karl-Anthony Towns).<\/p>\n

* Both Antetokounmpo<\/a> (calf) and Don\u010di\u0107<\/a> (hamstring) are currently sidelined due to injury; it\u2019s unclear whether they\u2019ll actually be suiting up Sunday.<\/p>\n

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** Gilgeous-Alexander (abdominal strain) will miss the All-Star Game<\/a>; \u015eeng\u00fcn was named as his replacement.<\/p>\n

In the second game, Team USA Stripes (Jaylen Brown, Jalen Brunson, Stephen Curry***, Kevin Durant, LeBron James, Kawhi Leonard, Donovan Mitchell, Norman Powell) will take on the winner of the opener. In the third game, Stripes will take on the team that lost the opener.<\/p>\n

*** Curry (knee) will miss the All-Star Game<\/a>; Brandon Ingram was named as his replacement.<\/p>\n

After the third game, the two teams with the best record will advance to face each other in the championship game. (If all three teams are 1-1 after the third game, point differential will serve as the tiebreaker.)<\/p>\n

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Will these changes generate the intended ratcheting-up of intensity that Silver and Co. are seeking? Will the decision to go USA vs. The World at this moment in history<\/a> perhaps bring about some unintended consequences, like so many other changes instituted by the league office over the years?<\/p>\n

Will even further shortening the games \u2014 12 minutes tops, with the event schedule<\/a> allotting 50 minutes between Games 1 and 2, 30 minutes between Games 2 and 3, and 45 minutes between Game 3 and the championship \u2014 put some pep in everybody\u2019s step? I\u2019d guess that the longer gaps between the first two and final two games will make space for some kind of brand activation; I haven\u2019t seen Kevin Hart\u2019s name on a press release, but let\u2019s keep our heads on a swivel out there.<\/p>\n

Will basketball fans come away from the festivities waxing poetic about the avalanche of talent from all over the world currently on display in the NBA game? Or, will a weekend that seemingly remains tilted toward content creation, influencers, marketing partnerships and the ongoing grasp for the ever-elusive hem of the garment of What\u2019s Next<\/a> \u2014 once again \u2014 leave fans wondering whether something that\u2019s seemed broken for years might not actually be able to reset and heal?<\/p>\n

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We\u2019ll find out the answers to those questions, and plenty more, soon enough. This much, though, we know is true: With the opening game scheduled for 5 p.m. and a 7:10 p.m. ET tip in the championship game, it\u2019ll all end a lot earlier. That\u2019s something, you know?<\/p>\n

How many names from the rosters for the Ruffles Celebrity Game do I, a 43-year-old father of two, recognize?<\/p>\n

Ruffles NBA All-Star Celebrity Game: 7 p.m. ET Friday (ESPN)<\/p>\n

You\u2019re not going to believe this, but the answer \u2014 for a second straight year \u2014 is 13 of 22! More than half! A robust shooting percentage of 59.1% \u2014 what Vin Baker shot from the free-throw line during the 1997-98 season<\/a>! Tremendous work by me.<\/p>\n

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I know we all remember every single possession of last year\u2019s Celebrity Game like LeBron holding court after a playoff game<\/a>, but just in case you need a refresher, it ended with Barry Bonds\u2019 team beating Jerry Rice\u2019s team, and with Rome Flynn taking home MVP honors:<\/p>\n

Flynn is back to try to become just the third player in Celebrity Game history to win consecutive MVP awards, joining Jaleel White and Frankie Muniz. (NOTE: This may not be true, but I\u2019m not looking it up, and you can\u2019t make me.) He\u2019ll be playing for a team coached by three Antetokounmpo brothers \u2014 sorry, Kostas; maybe next year \u2014 and Los Angeles Dodgers superstar Mookie Betts. Among those joining him on Team Antetokounmbros: All-Pro Detroit Lions receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown, Brazilian soccer legend Cafu, ex-NBA players Jeremy Lin and Tacko Fall, comedian\/actor Keegan-Michael Key, Charlotte Hornets owner Rick Schnall, and rapper GloRilla, who\u2019ll get to spend All-Star Weekend with beau Ingram, which is nice.<\/p>\n

Also on Team Antetokounmbros: NBA newsbreaker Shams Charania, who will have to put his phone(s) down for at least a little while to run up and down the court \u2026 which gives Sam Amick, Jake Fischer, Chris Haynes, Chris Mannix and Marc Stein a chance to do the funniest thing ever.<\/p>\n

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They\u2019ll be squaring off against a team coached by actor\/comedian Anthony Anderson and basketball trainers\/content creators Chris Brickley and Lethal Shooter. Their roster includes Pro Bowl L.A. Chargers receiver Keenan Allen, Canadian Olympic sprinting champion Andre De Grasse, ex-NBA player Jason \u201cWhite Chocolate\u201d Williams, actor Simu Liu, music producer\/name to yell<\/a> Mustard, and Phoenix Suns owner Mat Ishbia. One can only hope that Nikola Joki\u0107 decides to make time to sit courtside and renew some unpleasantries<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Which Rising Stars will shine brightest?<\/p>\n

Castrol Rising Stars: 9 p.m. ET Friday (Peacock)<\/p>\n

For the fifth straight year, the rebooted rookie-sophomore challenge will feature four seven-player teams competing in a three-game Friday night mini-tournament. With the event shifting to Peacock this year, the three teams of first- and second-year NBA players will be coached by Hall of Famers-turned-NBC\/Peacock commentators Carmelo Anthony, Vince Carter and Tracy McGrady. A fourth composed of G Leaguers (and rookie Yang Hansen, who has played three G League games and made 32 NBA appearances in Portland, and rookie Yanic Konan Niederh\u00e4user, who has played all of one game for the G League\u2019s San Diego Clippers this season, compared to 32 for the big club) will be coached by fellow NBC\/Peacock commentator Austin Rivers.<\/p>\n

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Team Melo plays Team Austin. Team Vince plays Team T-Mac. The winners square off for the crown. In each of the first two games, the first team to 40 points wins. In the championship game, though, it\u2019s first to 25, because, y\u2019know, let\u2019s keep this thing moving.<\/p>\n

Melo got the first pick in the Rising Stars draft, and selected Dallas Mavericks phenom Cooper Flagg. As someone who recently wrote a big takeout on how Flagg\u2019s real-time growth<\/a> has put him into some rarefied air among first-year prospects \u2026<\/p>\n

\u2026 I can\u2019t fault Melo\u2019s drafting much. What I can fault, though, is the fickle nature of the midfoot, because Flagg\u2019s left one is now sprained, which means he will miss this game<\/a>. Boo, I say. Boo!<\/p>\n

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Melo\u2019s squad could still wind up just fine, considering he also landed Stephon Castle and Dylan Harper from San Antonio. I\u2019m not entirely sure how much having a pair of defensive demons will help in this particular context, but it ought to be cool seeing Donovan Clingan try to block everything and Collin Murray-Boyles generally Draymond his way around out there. They might be the team to beat \u2026<\/p>\n

\u2026 unless, of course, Kon Knueppel \u2014 Flagg\u2019s old roommate and his chief rival for Rookie of the Year honors \u2014 just decides he will not be denied. Intrigue!<\/p>\n

The full Rising Stars rosters:<\/p>\n

Team Melo<\/p>\n

Cooper Flagg (Dallas Mavericks)*<\/p>\n

Reed Sheppard (Houston Rockets)<\/p>\n

Stephon Castle (San Antonio Spurs)<\/p>\n

Dylan Harper (San Antonio Spurs)<\/p>\n

Jeremiah Fears (New Orleans Pelicans)<\/p>\n

Donovan Clingan (Portland Trail Blazers)<\/p>\n

Collin Murray-Boyles (Toronto Raptors)<\/p>\n

* Flagg will miss the Rising Stars Challenge with a left midfoot sprain.<\/p>\n

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Team T-Mac<\/p>\n

Kon Knueppel (Charlotte Hornets)<\/p>\n

Kel\u2019el Ware (Miami Heat)<\/p>\n

Tre Johnson (Washington Wizards)<\/p>\n

Alex Sarr (Washington Wizards)*<\/p>\n

Ajay Mitchell (Oklahoma City Thunder)<\/p>\n

Jaylon Tyson (Cleveland Cavaliers)<\/p>\n

Cam Spencer (Memphis Grizzlies)<\/p>\n

* Sarr will miss the Rising Stars Challenge with a hamstring injury.<\/a><\/p>\n

Team Vince<\/p>\n

VJ Edgecombe (Philadelphia 76ers)<\/p>\n

Derik Queen (New Orleans Pelicans)<\/p>\n

Kyshawn George (Washington Wizards)<\/p>\n

Matas Buzelis (Chicago Bulls)<\/p>\n

Egor D\u0451min (Brooklyn Nets)<\/p>\n

Cedric Coward (Memphis Grizzlies)<\/p>\n

Jaylen Wells (Memphis Grizzlies)<\/p>\n

Team Austin<\/p>\n

Sean East II (Salt Lake City Stars)<\/p>\n

Ron Harper Jr. (Maine Celtics)<\/p>\n

David Jones Garcia (Austin Spurs) [injured, will not play]<\/p>\n

Yanic Konan Niederh\u00e4user (San Diego Clippers)<\/p>\n

Alijah Martin (Raptors 905)<\/p>\n

Tristen Newton (Rio Grande Valley Vipers)<\/p>\n

Yang Hansen (Rip City Remix)<\/p>\n

Mac McClung (Chicago Bulls) [named as Jones Garcia\u2019s replacement]<\/p>\n

[checks list of events] Hey, what happened to the Skills Challenge?<\/p>\n

I think CP3 and Wemby broke it?<\/p>\n

After last year\u2019s competition included one team getting disqualified in the first round for not taking shots<\/a>, a flagrant flouting of the spirit of the contest aimed at gaining whatever edge there was to gain \u2014 a.k.a. The Most Chris Paul S*** Imaginable (Complimentary) \u2014 the NBA, it seems, elected to pivot. So long, Skills Challenge; welcome back, Shooting Stars!<\/p>\n

Wait, what was the deal with Shooting Stars again?<\/p>\n

Kia Shooting Stars: second event of All-Star Saturday, starting at 5 p.m. ET (NBC\/Peacock)<\/p>\n

Instead of a timed competition in which you have to throw chest passes and bounce passes through moving targets, Shooting Stars is a timed competition in which four different three-person teams \u2014 two current players, one former NBA player \u2014 have to make a bunch of shots from seven different spots on the court.<\/p>\n

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You know who was kind of a mack<\/a> at Shooting Stars? Chris Bosh, Swin Cash and Dominique Wilkins<\/a> were kind of macks at Shooting Stars.<\/p>\n

The four teams vying to walk in the dynastic footsteps of Bosh, Cash and Wilkins:<\/p>\n

Team All-Star<\/p>\n

Scottie Barnes (Toronto Raptors)<\/p>\n

Chet Holmgren (Oklahoma City Thunder)<\/p>\n

Team Cameron (as in, Cameron Indoor Stadium; as in, Dukies)<\/p>\n

Jalen Johnson (Atlanta Hawks)<\/p>\n

Kon Knueppel (Charlotte Hornets)<\/p>\n

Team Harper<\/p>\n

Dylan Harper (San Antonio Spurs)<\/p>\n

Ron Harper Jr. (Boston Celtics)<\/p>\n

Ron Harper Sr. (five-time NBA champion, proud papa,\u00a0 Doberman<\/a>)<\/p>\n

Team Knicks<\/p>\n

Jalen Brunson (New York Knicks)<\/p>\n

Karl-Anthony Towns (… um, New York Knicks)<\/p>\n

Allan Houston (… I mean, two-time All-Star as a Knick, and now the Knicks\u2019\u00a0 VP of player leadership and development)<\/p>\n

Teams get 70 seconds to score points while rotating through the seven different shooting locations, with all three players proceeding in a set order. The first three shots \u2014 a layup\/dunk from the right side of the lane, an 18-foot shot from the right baseline, a jumper from the right elbow \u2014 are all worth two points. The fourth, a 3-pointer from the right wing, is worth, well, three.<\/p>\n

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Next: a top-of-the-key jumper worth two points. Rounding things out: a left-corner 3 worth, again, three, and finally, a shot from the logo that\u2019s worth \u2026 four. All four teams compete in the first round, with the two highest-scoring teams advancing to compete for the title.<\/p>\n

Things might get tricky! Every player has to shoot from every location, and you can\u2019t advance from one location to another until everybody has taken a shot from the first spot. Players have to shoot in a predetermined order, and points scored on out-of-order shots won\u2019t count; if you shoot out of order on the 4-pointer, you don\u2019t get to shoot again. There is legitimately a PDF with tiebreaker policies and examples of shooting orders that would violate the rules<\/a>. It\u2019s all very serious.<\/p>\n

A referee will be on hand \u201cto enforce rules and make judgments on any potential rules violation\u201d \u2014 including, if need be, the call to invoke instant replay review. Let\u2019s all say a prayer to our respective gods that that won\u2019t be necessary.<\/p>\n

Wait a sec \u2014 is Damian Lillard really in the 3-Point Contest again?State Farm 3-Point Contest: first event of All-Star Saturday, starting at 5 p.m. ET (NBC\/Peacock)<\/p>\n

Yep! Despite missing the entirety of the 2025-26 NBA season to date as he rehabilitates his surgically repaired Achilles tendon, Dame\u2019s back to take a second crack at winning a third 3-point shootout crown, joining Larry Bird and Craig Hodges as only the third player in the competition\u2019s 40-year history to three-peat. (That one is real. I looked it up<\/a>.)<\/p>\n

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It\u2019s kind of weird, though you\u2019d assume that none of the stakeholders involved \u2014 Lillard and his reps, the Portland Trail Blazers (to whom, in case you forgot, he returned after the Milwaukee Bucks waived him this summer), the league office \u2026 hell, State Farm \u2014 would\u2019ve greenlit this if it wasn\u2019t deemed 1000% safe for Dame to do some light jogging and stationary shooting. Here\u2019s hoping any extant concerns about it all melt away after the first couple of jumpers go up, replaced by the warm, fuzzy feeling of watching one of the greatest shooters of all time get \u2018em up again.<\/p>\n

Lillard will face some stiff competition from a field featuring five All-Stars (Tyrese Maxey, Devin Booker, Donovan Mitchell, Jamal Murray, Norman Powell); rookie sharpshooter Knueppel, who ranks second in the NBA in total made 3-pointers<\/a>, behind only Mitchell, and who\u2019s drilling his triples at a 43% clip for the Hornets; and former teammate Bobby Portis Jr., who feels like an odd inclusion \u2026 until you realize he\u2019s shooting a blistering 45.6% from deep this season.<\/p>\n

The rules remain broadly the same: five racks; five balls each; shoot and make as many as you can in 70 seconds. Four racks feature a money ball worth two points; one rack consists entirely of money balls. The competition also now features two \u201cFrom the Logo\u201d balls, placed on pedestals six feet behind the 3-point arc on either side of the half-court logo, that are worth three points apiece. (To get credit for those, players have to begin their shooting motion with at least one foot on the \u201cFrom the Logo\u201d floor decal, a la Caitlin Clark in the ads<\/a>.)<\/p>\n

Eight shooters enter the contest; the three highest scorers advance to the final; one leaves with the bragging rights. And, presumably, the undying loyalty and respect of Jake<\/a>.<\/p>\n

What excitement can be ginned up about the Dunk Contest?AT&T Slam Dunk Contest: third event of All-Star Saturday, starting at 5 p.m. ET (NBC\/Peacock)<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s check in with one of the people you\u2019d presume would be most jazzed about the contest \u2014 one of the four people actually competing in it. Take it away, rookie Orlando Magic guard Jase Richardson:<\/p>\n

\u2026 OK!<\/p>\n

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While Richardson \u2014 son of Dunk Contest legend Jason Richardson \u2014 later clarified that he will, in fact, try hard to win the contest<\/a>, his reaction is A) not exactly the greatest advertisement for the festivities and B) \u2026 kind of the way it seems like most folks react to the Dunk Contest nowadays?<\/p>\n

I will reiterate my long-held stance that dunk contests can really only ever be kind of bad, because dunking, like pizza, is at worst always at least pretty good. I suspect that this year\u2019s contest \u2014 featuring Richardson, Lakers center Jaxson Hayes (provided he can avoid fighting any mascots<\/a> on the way out to the court), Heat swingman Keshad Johnson and Spurs rookie wing Carter Bryant \u2014 will not immediately stir the hearts and minds of observers desperate for a return to the days of bona fide, marquee, household-name superstars performing feats of aerial acrobatics and derring-do the likes of which we\u2019ve never seen.<\/p>\n

Maybe that\u2019s on us, though. I watched last year\u2019s competition with my daughters, and it was pretty hard to convince them not to get amped up about what Stephon Castle did \u2026<\/p>\n

\u2026 or Mac McClung doing what he does best \u2026<\/p>\n

\u2026 because of what Vince Carter did in 2000, or Zach LaVine and Aaron Gordon did a decade ago.<\/p>\n

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They saw dudes flying through the air, jumping over stuff, twisting and detonating. They thought it was pretty cool, all things considered.<\/p>\n

Like I said last year: In dunk contests, as in difficult times, hope dies last. As long as they keep having them, we\u2019ll keep showing up, hoping that the next takeoff is the one that returns us to the joys of competitions past. And if not \u2026 well, \u201cpretty cool\u201d might not seem like much in the context of both what we\u2019ve watched in years past and what we\u2019ve imagined might be possible if the moment\u2019s most explosive vertical athletes \u2014 LeBron in his day, Zion and Ja a few years ago, Ant and VJ Edgecombe now \u2014 decided to show up. But when the other alternative is just being preemptively mad and disappointed about whatever dunks the competitors we actually do have are about to try, then \u201cpretty cool\u201d ain\u2019t half-bad.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s most likely to breathe new life into the All-Star Game?<\/p>\n

I think the goal is, \u201cFind some way to replicate the fourth quarters of U.S. vs. Serbia<\/a> and U.S. vs. France<\/a> from the 2024 Summer Olympics.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Given the Grand Canyon-sized chasm in stakes between \u201cwe\u2019re playing for a chance at Olympic gold\u201d and \u201cwe\u2019re playing for a bunch of marketing managers from Salesforce,\u201d though \u2026 I kind of think the answer might be, \u201cTeam World just absolutely dusts both U.S. teams.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not exactly hot-take artistry to say that, while the U.S. still produces more great basketball players than other countries throughout the world, the very best players of this age \u2014 the ones routinely topping MVP ballots and stocking the All-NBA First Team \u2014 were born elsewhere. Most of those guys, with the exception of the injured SGA, are about to suit up against two teams full of Americans; it wouldn\u2019t necessarily be shocking if they just mopped up the Stars and Stripes. If that happened, the resultant reaction might not be altogether pretty; it might be forceful enough, though, to reignite the competitive fires in an event where the embers have long since grown cold.<\/p>\n