Changes to the NBA All-Star Game format are reportedly coming into sharper focus.
After reports that the league was considering a four-team tournament for the All-Star Game, the tournament will likely be a pick-up style with the two semifinals played before 40 and the championship before 25.
The 2025 NBA All-Star Game is scheduled for February 16 at the Golden State Warriors’ Chase Center.
As previously reported, the four teams would consist of three All-Star teams of eight players each, with the fourth team being the winner of the Rising Stars Challenge.
The Rising Stars game is also a four-team tournament, with each team consisting of rookies and sophomores. G League standouts also make up one of the rosters.
Among the players in last year’s Rising Stars competition were Victor Wembanyama, Chet Holmgren, Paolo Banchero, Jalen Williams and Dereck Lively II. Matas Buzelis and Ron Holland, who were both selected in the first round of the 2024 NBA Draft, also participated.
Coaching staffs from the top two teams from each conference would lead the All-Star tournament teams. If the current standings hold, Kenny Atkinson of the Cleveland Cavaliers and Joe Manzulla of the Boston Celtics would coach the Eastern teams. The Western teams would be coached by Steve Kerr of the Warriors and Mark Daigneault of the Oklahoma City Thunder.
The NBA and commissioner Adam Silver were eager to make changes to the All-Star Game after last year’s game was not very competitive and ended with a final score of 211–186.
“I think there’s no question that the players were disappointed in last year’s All-Star Game as well,” Silver told reporters ahead of the Heat-Wizards game in Mexico City on Nov. 2. “We all want to do a better job of providing competition and entertainment for our fans.”
NBA All-Star Weekend could also feature a variation on last season’s NBA vs. WNBA three-point challenge, featuring Golden State’s Stephen Curry and the New York Liberty’s Sabrina Ionescu. Among the players rumored to be included in an expanded league are Indiana Fever star Caitlin Clark and Klay Thompson of the Dallas Mavericks.
