NBA abandons All-Star tourney format

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The new NBA All-Star Game format didn’t work, commissioner Adam Silver admits, so it’s ‘back to the drawing board’ for the league

It’s unclear what next year’s NBA All-Star Game will look like, but commissioner Adam Silver said the league is “a bit back to the drawing board” as it moves away from the three-game mini-tournament that was implemented this season.

Speaking to reporters on Thursday, March 27, following a board of governors meeting, Silver said the league will look for ways to improve the midseason event, which this year drew 4.7 million viewers across TNT platforms — down 13 percent from last year. The only NBA All-Star Game with fewer viewers came in 2023, with 4.6 million.

“I thought we made almost an immeasurable amount of progress,” Silver said. “I thought this was a little better, but it was a miss. We’re not there in terms of creating an All-Star experience that we can be proud of, that our players can be proud of.”

This season’s format featured four teams competing in a three-game mini-tournament, with 24 All-Stars divided among three teams in San Francisco. The fourth team was the Rising Stars event winner, which was held two nights before the All-Star Game. 

Four-time NBA MVP LeBron James, a late scratch, was not among the participants. Anthony Edwards also scratched.

“We recalibrated around this year’s All-Star game in San Francisco, around more of an entertainment product, and I don’t think it worked,” Silver said. “The breaks were too long. And I get it: It was an opportunity to celebrate TNT, as they were gonna have their last All-Star Game. It was well-intentioned.”

Next year’s All-Star Game will be broadcast on NBC, which takes over following a 23-year run by TNT, and will occur during NBC’s coverage of the Winter Olympics in Milano Cortina.

“[NBC is] very enthusiastic about the All-Star Game as a marquee property,” Silver said.

The commissioner added that despite the success of the NHL’s Four Nations Face-Off, the NBA doesn’t appear to be set on adding a USA vs World format for next year’s All-Star Game in Inglewood, California.

“I’m not sure that makes sense, with the level of development, if that’s fair to lump all the other countries together these days,” Silver said. – Rappler.com