NBA Commissioner Adam Silver recently announced that the 2026 All-Star Game, which will be held in Los Angeles, will have a new format. Silver hinted that a Team USA vs. Team World game could be on the cards, but the league’s President of League Operations, Byron Spruell, made it clear that it is not guaranteed on NBA Today.
“So, we’re not all the way locked into a USA vs. World,” Spruell said. “We’re not locked in yet. We’re looking at that as an option, but other formats as well, similar to the mini-tournament we did last year. But we hope it’ll have an international theme to it.
“Now, the key to that is the Players Association,” Spruell continued. “We’ll work with [Executive Director] Andre [Iguodala] very closely and the players and All-Stars to get their input to make sure we have the right player experience in this, that also is something we can be very proud of as we present it to fans.
“So, we haven’t locked in on the format exactly yet,” Spruell added. “But think of it in those terms, as some form of a international style, international theme, Olympic theme as well, because it just makes sense to really lock that in at this point, but not the format just yet. Still working on that.”
So, we’re looking at some sort of international element, but the NBA is still deciding on what format would be best. The league had hoped to have struck gold with the format this year, but it turned out to be a total disaster.
The NBA had introduced a four-team mini-tournament, and fans absolutely hated the games. They weren’t the only ones, either. NBA stars criticized the format, and it was clear that a change was needed once again.
Giannis Antetokounmpo stated that the solution was to make it Team USA vs. the World. Antetokounmpo believes that would be the most interesting and exciting format. He also suggested that the game should be held overseas at some point.
There is no word about the All-Star Game being played outside of North America at the moment. As for U.S. vs. the World, here’s what Silver had to say during an appearance on Breakfast Ball.
“The game will be on NBC on the very day we’re on,” Silver said. “The lead-in will be Winter Olympic events. And then coming out of the All-Star Game, which is now going to be in the afternoon instead of the evening, there will be more Olympic events. So what better time to feature some form of USA against the World?
“I’m not exactly sure what the format will be yet, but obviously we paid a lot of attention to what the NHL did, which was a huge success,” Silver added.
The NHL’s 4 Nations Face-Off was a huge success, and the NBA certainly took notice. Ultimately, though, this will come down to how seriously the players take the game. The NHL players gave it their all, and time will tell if the NBA stars decide to do the same.
