The famous weekend will undergo an interesting change this year…
The NBA has officially unveiled a major revamp to its All-Star Game, confirming that the event will return to a “United States versus the World” format while also introducing a three-team setup featuring eight players per side.
Two of those teams will represent American players, with the third made up entirely of international stars.
While the fundamentals of the selection process remain familiar, with fans, players, and media members voting for the starters and coaches choosing the reserves, several key adjustments have been introduced.
Most notably, positional designations have been scrapped entirely.
Previously, starting line-ups were composed of two backcourt and three frontcourt players, while the reserves followed a similar structure plus two wild cards.
Under the new system, the top five vote-getters overall will start, regardless of their position, while the next seven players in voting will serve as reserves, again, position-free.
To address potential imbalances between American and international players, the league has introduced a safeguard. If the final 24-player pool doesn’t naturally produce 16 Americans and eight international players, NBA commissioner Adam Silver will step in to add extra players to reach those minimum thresholds.
For example, if voting yields 14 Americans and 10 internationals, Silver would add two more Americans. Conversely, if there are 18 Americans and six internationals, two international players would be named to balance the numbers.
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New broadcast partnership and timing
The All-Star Game will also make its debut on NBC, which takes over broadcasting rights this year as part of the NBA’s new media deal.
The league and network hope the refreshed format will inject excitement into an event that in recent years has struggled to capture player intensity and fan engagement.
NBC will integrate the All-Star festivities into its coverage of the Winter Olympic Games in February.
As a result, tip-off has been moved earlier to 5:00pm ET, a shift from the traditional prime-time slot, and will follow directly after a Team USA hockey broadcast.
Format and gameplay changes
This year’s event will feature a new competitive layout. Instead of two teams playing four traditional quarters, the All-Star Game will consist of four 12-minute quarters played in a different structure.
The first three quarters will be a round-robin format, with each of the three teams playing two short games. The final “fourth quarter” will feature the top two teams from that round-robin stage competing for the championship. If all three teams finish with identical 1-1 records, point differential will determine the finalists.
All-Star Weekend will take place in Los Angeles at the Intuit Dome, the new home of the Clippers, and is set to begin on Friday, February 13.
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