Image Credit: Kyle Terada-Imagn Images

NBA All-Star Format To Change in 2026: Adam Silver Confirms USA vs. World

NBA All-Star goes international next February

Image Credit: Kyle Terada-Imagn Images

Fans have been calling for a more competitive NBA All-Star format following the disappointing showcase this February. Talks of a USA vs. World showdown have been circulating, and NBA Commissioner Adam Silver has now officially greenlit the idea. Adam Silver on Wednesday confirmed that USA vs. World All Star game will take place next season.

While featuring on the FS1’s “Breakfast Ball” programme, the top brass delivered what fans wanted. This year’s NBA All-Star event saw dismal viewership, featuring three teams picked by TNT analysts Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith, and Shaquille O’Neal, along with one team of rising G-League players.

The All-Star format has lost its spark in recent years, with players rarely taking the competition seriously. Defensive effort in recent All-Star games has been virtually non-existent. After all the controversy and massive viewership drop, NBA has finally decided to make some big changes.

Adam Silver says that the 2026 NBA All Star game will be “Team USA vs Team World.”

The game will be broadcast on NBC.

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— SleeperWarriors (@SleeperWarriors) June 4, 2025

However, Adam Silver didn’t reveal specific details about what the new NBA All-Star format would look like. He himself hadn’t decided on that one suggesting there was time to look into it. Anyways, the games would take place in February, 2026.

Adam Silver Defends 2025 NBA Finals

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver has come out in defense of this year’s NBA finalists Indiana Pacers and the OKC Thunder. There are rumors that the viewership of the upcoming series would tank down as both are ‘small market’ teams.

Adam Silver drew a comparison with the NFL’s Super Bowl to defend the league’s small market finalists. He said, “If we were going into a Super Bowl and it was Packers vs. Steelers, you guys would celebrate that. People wouldn’t talk about Pittsburgh being a small market.”

The NBA has become more competitive due to the scrutinized nature of the CBA agreements. It has allowed a parity among sides where small market teams are also emerging into the big scene. Over the past seven seasons, the league has had seven different winners.

Out of those seven, two have been first-time champions. Toronto Raptors won it in 2019, the Denver Nuggets in 2023. While the Milwaukee Bucks broke a 50 year drought in 2021. This year as well, the Pacers and the OKC Thunder can be the first time champs.