The NBA All-Star Game has a new, doomed format

Adam Silver is revamping the All-Star Game for 2025 in San Francisco. Inevitably, he’s going to be disappointed again.

Last year, fans and NBA officials were disappointed that the All-Star Game wasn’t very competitive. And so, the NBA is rumored to be changing the format once again, in hopes of having a competitive game. Spoiler: It’s not going to work any better than their other changes.

The new idea is a copy of how the Rising Stars Challenge worked the last few seasons. A combination of 28 rookies, sophomore, and G Leaguers were separated into four teams, who then played a short semifinal and final, both to a pre-determined final score. Now that’s the NBA’s idea for the big game itself. 12 All-Stars from each conference will be separated into three teams, with the fourth team being the winner of the Rising Stars Game.

This is predicated on the idea that NBA All-Stars won’t want to be embarrassed by losing to the Rising Stars team, and thus play harder. That might be true! But it also seems like they’re guaranteeing a massive talent disparity when an NBA All-Star is going up against someone from the G League. Also, why is the league’s annual showcase trying to embarrass the players it’s supposedly honoring?

The NBA has done different formats, like having team captains draft, which ended up being a gimmick where LeBron James always got the first pick and the best team. Then they tried a live draft, which took forever and saw Nikola Jokic just join Team LeBron on his own during the first round. Plus, it took forever, even for a game that’s not known for its concise pregame ceremonies.

Of course, if being picked last motivated Jokic to punish LeBron James with a playoff sweep, I guess the format had its positives.

The NBA has also tried doing separate scores by quarters, with the final quarter being an “Elam Ending” where the teams played to a specific point total. Even when the first incarnation of that idea was somewhat successful, it still ended on Anthony Davis making a game-winning free throw and everyone kind of shrugging.

Don’t forget, the winning team won charitable contributions for at-risk children, which meant that AD’s free throw took money away from the other at-risk children represented by Team Giannis.

The main problem is, it’s an All-Star Game. Those simply aren’t competitive in any sport, for a number of reasons:

1. No one wants to get hurt. Just look at Edwin Diaz’s injury from the World Baseball Classic to see how furious fans get when a player gets hurt in an exhibition.
2. It’s essentially a group project. No matter how much any individual cares, or works hard, or guards their man even when he’s launching three-pointers from the logo, the blame is shared when it falls apart thanks to the laziest person involved. Looking at you, Luka Doncic!
3. There’s too many All-Stars for it to be a normal game. Look at baseball, where every team gets an All-Star, the rosters have 32 players, and so the league’s biggest superstars leave the game in the 4th inning to make room for all the reserves. In the NBA, only the Golden State Warriors actually use a 12-man rotation, and even that’s pretty weird.
4. People lose their minds if their favorite player doesn’t get the court time they feel he deserves, regardless of their performance or the outcome of the game. Looking at you, Boston Celtics fans during the 2024 Olympics!
5. Everything about the game works in opposition to the idea of it being competitive. It takes place on a Sunday night after a long weekend devoted to parties and celebrations. The teams get a minimal amount of practice time together, often when many of them are hung over. A few years ago, the NBA had team captains draft their players minutes before the game started. Somehow, Adam Silver was shocked the teams didn’t have great teamwork in that situation.
6. Any game with all superstars is inherently weird. Players generally become All-Stars because they’re so good at scoring, not their screen-setting or ability to make timely defensive rotations. When those players, Paul Millsap for example, do make the game, fans complain they’re boring.

The Slam Dunk Contest suffers a similar fate. Why isn’t the contest as good as it once was in the 90’s? Well, in part because YouTube exists now, and you can watch dunks whenever you want form wherever you want. In 1989, All-Star Weekend was basically the one time a year you could see someone do a 360 dunk. Now you just need a phone.

But the worst part is that anyone participating in the dunk contest has to subject themselves to a global roast on social media for either doing dunks that are too ambitious, doing dunks that are too easy, or doing dunks where they’re wearing Timberlands. Or jumping over a tiny model of the Wright Brothers’ plane. Or dunking over someone too short, or too tall, or not famous enough.

People often ask why LeBron James has never done the dunk contest. Maybe because it’s a thankless job that pays $105K – if you win! The most successful dunker in recent memory is a G League guy named Mac McClung who literally had nothing to lose.

Our prediction? People are going to be unhappy with this format of the All-Star Game, too. And then the NBA will come out with another overly-complicated change for 2026, and people will be unhappy with that one.

How can the Warriors and the NBA make the 2025 edition memorable? There’s a simple solution. Bring back former owner Chris Cohan, and let Warriors fans boo him one more time.