NBA Commissioner Adam Silver has explored various options to improve certain events around the league. One of the areas that has constantly been talked about that needs improvement is the All-Star Game. Due to the lack of effort most star players present during the game, fans have gradually lost interest in watching it. This led Silver and the rest of the association to make certain changes to the event.
One suggestion that has long been tossed around is the concept of playing the game similar to the format of the Rising Stars Challenge. One of the formats that the league used for the rookies and sophomores is the USA versus the World. Top-rising Americans would go against a team composed of international youngsters.
On Thursday, Silver appeared in front of the media and had a press conference. The main topic of the press briefing was to announce the league’s plans to expand in Europe. One of the topics that the commissioner talked about was the All-Star game. Specifically, the USA versus the World concept.
“People floated USA (versus) World, I’m not sure that makes sense with the level of development, if that’s fair to lump all the other countries together these days,” Silver said. “Maybe we can single out if there are some international teams that can compete.”
Although he didn’t shoot down the idea entirely, the concept isn’t the top priority for the commissioner.
Silver’s honest thoughts on the 2025 NBA All-Star Game
The recent NBA All-Star game featured a different way of competition. The league introduced a new format that features four teams. Three of the teams were composed of star players who were voted by fans and coaches. The final team is the winner of the Rising Stars’ mini-tournament.
Like the concept of the Rising Stars Challenge, the main event featured a mini-tournament. However, it wasn’t well-received by most fans. When asked about his thoughts on the supporters’ reception to the format, Silver did not hold back.
“I thought we made almost an immeasurable amount of progress — sitting there, I thought this was a little better — but it was a miss,” Silver said. “We’re not there in terms of creating an All-Star experience that we can be proud of and that our players can be proud of.”
Adam Silver says the changes for the All-Star game "was a miss"
(h/t @ohnohedidnt24 )
— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) March 27, 2025
The NBA Commissioner stated that the league is attempting to improve the event and is “a bit back to the drawing board.” He also acknowledged that one of the things that fans didn’t like about the weekend was the excessively lengthy breaks.
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Reign also writes NBA and WNBA news updates on Sportskeeda. He started as a feature writer for AirAlamo, an NBA website that covers the San Antonio Spurs. Some of his work can also be seen on Valley of the Suns, a Phoenix Suns-centric website, where he served as a contributing writer.
