NBA Tries to Reignite All-Star Game Flame—Again

LOS ANGELES — NBA All-Star weekend has descended on L.A. It has a new format and a new venue, but the questions swirling around the event feel very familiar. Will people care enough to watch? Will the players care enough to try?

The NBA is well aware it’s up against these issues again—and that the pressure is on to perform.

Last year’s event across TNT Sports platforms barely registered, becoming the second-least-watched NBA All-Star Game on record, averaging just 4.7 million viewers. That’s a 13% decline from the 2024 game. 

This year, the viewership calculus may be different: The game is airing on NBC for the first time since the network reacquired NBA media rights in its new deal beginning this season. The timing is good for the NBA: NBC is currently holding lots of attention as it carries the Winter Olympics, for which viewership is way up. 

NBC has carved out the primetime spot for the NBA—the All-Star Game will air Sunday at 5 p.m. ET—to create conditions for the best possible outcome. But even with the cleared broadcast window, the Milan Cortina Games will continue to air across several platforms, which means the NBA will still have to deliver a good enough product to make viewers shift gears.

“We’re thrilled to be back on NBC 24 years later,” Silver told reporters on Saturday. “We’re sandwiched between the Olympics now so it seemed like the appropriate time to try this new format.” 

The league aims to do that this year by getting players more invested. For 2026, the All-Star Game setup pits the U.S. vs. the World—a format commissioner Adam Silver introduced in hopes of stoking players’ national pride after seeing the success of the NHL’s 4 Nations Face-Off tournament (which largely stole the spotlight from the NBA’s All-Star weekend last year). It is yet another effort to find the right format since moving away from the traditional Eastern vs. Western Conference competition in 2018.

Last year’s game had three teams drafted by TNT Sports commentators and former players Shaquille O’Neal, Charles Barkley, and Kenny Smith; this year, the league will have to see whether the team-composition tweak can shift fan sentiment and draw more interest.

Otherwise, the format isn’t much different from last year’s: a round-robin tournament of 12-minute games with two teams of American players and one international team; the championship game will be between the two teams with the best record and point-differential will serve as a tiebreaker. But that approach drew a lot of criticism in 2025: too much time between games, commercials interrupting game flow, and an extended halftime honoring TNT’s Inside the NBA crew—despite the show being licensed to continue on ESPN in the new media deal. 

At Saturday’s All-Star media day, Clippers star Kawhi Leonard was asked if he liked the new format. 

“I can’t say I hate it,” Leonard said. “I really don’t know what the situation is. I know it’s three teams. Is it a pickup game or are we playing til somebody scores? I’d rather it just be East and West and just go out there and compete.” 

If the NBA is going to succeed with the All-Star Game, the time is now. League viewership started off strong this season, and it has continued to post solid ratings.

What could be the biggest needle-mover, though, is out of the NBA’s hands. While the league is doing all it can to try to make the All-Star Game exciting again, it’s up to the players to bring competition back to the court. 

It’s already a talking point among players in L.A.

“I’ve seen the All-Star Game, and obviously it hasn’t been competitive. And I’ve always thought myself that if I was in there, I’m never stepping onto the court to lose, or not caring,” Spurs star Victor Wembanyama said. “Just like at home, I’m never stepping into a board game not caring, thinking I’m going to lose. … I’m going to be out there, I might as well win.”

But Kevin Durant was skeptical of Wembanyama’s comments. “We’ll see,” he said. “He said that last year, too. They said it was the worst All-Star Game that people watched. So we’re going to see. Who knows what’s going to happen? This format might change the game, but who knows? We’ll see.”

On Saturday, Nikola Jokic was asked if the new format would spur more effort. 

“I think we’re going to see tomorrow,” Jokic told reporters. “For me, I’m going to play like I play every year. So I think … I’m going to play how I play every year. I’m not sure that it is going to bring another fire to me, no, because I play every game same. So to me, no.”