LOS ANGELES — Adam Silver may have an All-Star format to work with.
Sunday’s three-team tournament had a surprising degree of effort and competitiveness before it ended with a 47–21 blowout win by Team USA’s Stripes over Team Stars.
“I like this format,” Timberwolves star Anthony Edwards told reporters after Sunday’s game. Edwards was named the game’s MVP. “I think it makes us compete because it’s only 12 minutes, and the three different teams separate the guys. I think it was really good.”
Whether it was the new format, earlier start time, proximity to the Olympics broadcast, or simply the move from cable to NBC, ratings were up significantly.
The games were just one part of a massive operation that had much of the league gathered in L.A. Here are three things we heard from players, executives, and agents over the course of All-Star weekend:
1. Expansion is likely, but don’t write it in Sharpie just yet. Commissioner Adam Silver was asked about domestic expansion in Saturday’s press conference. He said he expects it to be heavily discussed at March’s Board of Governors meeting, with a vote coming later in the year. Silver has fluctuated his stance on expansion. At times he’s made it sound like all but a certainty; in recent years, he’s hedged.
FOS talked to multiple team executives, players and other basketball personnel over the weekend, including a few with ties to the Pacific Northwest, where Seattle has long been rumored as a likely expansion city.
“I think it’s going to happen,” a longtime team executive told FOS about expansion. “I think we find a way to get there.”
2. The WNBA was absent. Outside of NBA owners that also own WNBA teams, the women’s league had an unusually scant presence at All-Star this year before its 30th season. The All-Star celebrity game usually has a handful of WNBA participants, but none played this year while its union negotiates with the league over a new CBA. Additionally, there was no 3-point shooting contest between Stephen Curry and Sabrina Ionescu like there was in 2024 and was attempted in 2025.
“I’ve been through so many cycles of collective bargaining and often things tend to get done at the 11th hour,” Silver said of the WNBA situation Saturday. “We are awfully close to the 11th hour now when it comes to bargaining.”
The league appears to be on the precipice of delaying its season. Sources have previously told FOS that without a CBA this month, there would not be enough time to conduct free agency, an expansion draft, and a rookie draft and still start the season as scheduled on May 8.
A rumor throughout the weekend was that there would be a demonstration by WNBA players in Los Angeles to push for a better deal—WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert reports to Silver—or even announce a strike. But the weekend ended without any such event.
3. The dunk contest was a dud—again. This year marked ten years since the legendary 2016 contest between Aaron Gordon and Zach LaVine, one of the best in the storied history of the event. Since LaVine defeated Gordon in a dunk-off, though, it has been all downhill for what used to be one of the league’s premier events.
Heat forward Keshad Johnson kept that trend going Saturday, beating Spurs rookie Carter Bryant in forgettable fashion.
Silver appears to have figured something out with the All-Star Game. Maybe his attention now turns to Saturday. LeBron James is extremely unlikely to participate in the contest with his career in its twilight; his two-decade absence will go down as a major what-if in the event’s history. But can Silver get stars like Ja Morant, Zion Williamson, or Anthony Edwards to participate at some point? None are older than 26 and all are among the league’s biggest rim-rockers. Morant and Williamson could use some positive PR, too. Would either of them participate to help revive the contest?
