NBA Commissioner Adam Silver says the league is seriously looking into shaking up the All-Star Game format — possibly turning it into a “USA vs. the World” matchup.
He spoke to The Athletic’s Joe Varden about the idea, pointing to the rise of international basketball, especially after the Paris Olympics:
“Given the strong interest we’ve seen in international basketball competitions, most recently in last summer’s Olympics in Paris, we’re discussing concepts with the players’ association that focus on NBA players representing their countries or regions instead of the more traditional formats that we’ve used in the past.”
Silver also brought it up earlier with the Associated Press Sports Editors and mentioned that the timing makes sense, since the 2028 Olympics are coming to Los Angeles.
“It’s not lost on us … we’ll be in L.A., the home of the ’28 Summer Olympics, and we’ll be competing in the arena at Intuit, where the basketball competition will take place in the 2028 Olympics. So I think all of those factors, when they come together, 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.”
During All-Star Weekend this year, the idea seemed to get more love from international players than American ones. Giannis Antetokounmpo, for one, was all in.
“I would love that. Oh, I would love that,” he said. “I think that would be the most interesting and most exciting format. I would love that. For sure, I’d take pride in that. I always compete, but I think that will give me a little bit more extra juice to compete, like having Shai, Jokic, Luka, Wemby, Towns, Sengun. I know those players — obviously I’m missing some guys that I cannot think from the top of my head, going against the best U.S. players. I think it would be fun. I think that would be the best format.”
Honestly, Giannis might be onto something. The international talent pool is stacked — and arguably just as good as, if not better than, the US. group right now.
The last six MVPs have all been from outside the US., and this season’s frontrunners, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Nikola Jokic, could keep that trend alive.
Even though international players only make up about a quarter of the league, the top-end talent is there. The only concern? Rounding out those last few roster spots — slots 10 through 12 — might mean including some players over more deserving American All-Stars.
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