The NBA wrapped up the 2025 All-Star Weekend on Sunday, with a brand-new format in place. The 24 All-Stars were divided into three teams of eight for a four-team Sunday night tournament where the fourth team was the winner of the Rising Stars Challenge on Friday.
The new format hasn’t gone over well with many players and its fans, especially due to the production of the event. Instituting an All-Star tournament is another tournament-related decision made by Silver in recent years after adding the Play-In Tournament and NBA Cup. An anonymous GM has criticized Silver for doing the same.
“Adam Silver is obsessed with tournaments. Play-in, in-season, now All-Star. They’ve not proven to benefit our league.”
The NBA’s pivot to adding more competitive action by introducing tournaments has been noticeable in recent seasons. It started with the 2020-21 season when the Play-In Tournament was made official to improve Playoff competition after a one-season trial in the 2020 Orlando bubble.
The 2023-24 season saw the introduction of the In-Season Tournament, which was later rebranded to the NBA Cup this season. These two tournaments are now going to be yearly parts of the NBA season, with the Play-In becoming well-received over recent seasons. The NBA Cup is still fighting to establish its own history and purpose, but it has led to noticeably more competitive early-season games already.
We don’t know if the All-Star Tournament will stick around for next season, as this year’s game was also heavily criticized. However, the players can’t be blamed this time as the All-Star broadcast was filled with a horrible decision to include mid-game influencer engagement spots, whether it was Mr. Beast or Kevin Hart.
There were more ads and sponsored segments than basketball games, so it was almost unwatchable for a fan. The on-court action looked decent and better than in recent years, so there might be merit in the tournament format, although it needs tweaks.
There was a pretty major outcry from Draymond Green regarding the inclusion of Rising Stars on All-Star Sunday given the value of playing on the All-Star court.
“I worked so hard to play on Sunday night of All-Star Weekend and because the ratings are down and the game is bad, we’re bringing in Rising Stars. That’s not a fix. I never played in the Rising Stars game, and these guys get to touch the All-Star floor on Sunday night?… Those guys did not make the All-Star team. To be playing on All-Star and you did not make the team, it’s absurd.”
The NBA could look to adjust the fourth team by adding an All-Snub team, which would’ve included the likes of LaMelo Ball, Domantas Sabonis, Ja Morant, and more instead of rookies like Dalton Knecht, Zach Edey, and others.
Most players have aggressively called for a return to the East vs. West format. It’ll be interesting to see how the NBA adjusts its format for next season after the negative reactions from this year.
Adam Silver’s tournament could’ve proved to be entertaining, but the poor broadcast took the wind out of any competitive sails in the game and wound up making another unwatchable All-Star Sunday.
Thank you for being a valued reader of Fadeaway World. If you liked this article, please consider following us on Google News. We really appreciate your support.
