NBA stars can hate the new All-Star format all they want, but they're the main reason for the big change.
It seems that over the last handful of years that the NBA's All-Star Weekend has left much to be desired. Recently, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver has attempted to revamp the events in an attempt to make it not only more watchable for the fans but also more intriguing to be a part of from the player's perspective. Overall, the slight changes that have been made in recent years have been hit or miss.
Heading into the 2025 NBA All-Star Weekend, there will be another change made to the format of the game itself. In an attempt to retool the NBA's All-Star Game as we know it, Silver made the bold decision to scrap the game itself and then, instead, replace it with a mini-tournament by breaking up the All-Stars into different teams.
The NBA's new All-Star format
As has been announced by the league, the new All-Star format for the 2025 Sunday game will feature the same 24 All-Star players but instead of being split into a West and East Team as has traditionally been the format, they will be divided into three teams of eight. A fourth team (the winning team from the Rising Stars Game) will be added to help create a balanced tournament. There will be three "mini-games" played to 40 to decide the winner.
The pushback from the NBA's biggest stars
As you would expect, there's already some strong pushback from the players; most people don't like change, especially at the beginning. But even as stars across the league begin to bash the changes to All-Star weekend, they only have themselves to blame. The biggest reason why the NBA has resorted to changing up the All-Star format is because the game itself has become borderline unwatchable for the average NBA fan. The diehards still love seeing star pairings that we likely may never see again.
However, for the average fan who may not be familiar with every player on the All-Star team, the recent lack of effort and competitiveness has been a huge turnoff. In an attempt to salvage All-Star Weekend as we know it, it's only natural for NBA commissioner Adam Silver to try and play around with the format.
The lack of effort and seriousness that the star players across the league have approached the NBA All-Star Game with in recent years has led us to this very moment and change. It's easy to point fingers but this time around, the stars have no one to blame other than themselves.