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The NBA's quest for a more competitive All-Star Game led the league to unveil its new 'US vs. the World' format on Tuesday night.
When the NBA's top players gather at LA's Intuit Dome on February 15, they won't be divided between Eastern and Western Conferences, but rather by their immigration status.
Two teams consisting of American stars and one International team will compete in a round-robin tournament consisting of four 12-minute games, or about the length of a standard NBA contest. After the first three games, the two teams with the best record will advance to the championship, and if all three are tied 1-1 after the opening round, point differential will be used to determine the final opponents.
Discussions of a US-World format had been brewing for years. And just last season, the rival NHL scrapped its struggling All-Star format for a wildly popular 4 Nations Face-Off consisting of games between Finland, Sweden, the US and the ultimate-champion Team Canada.
Picking teams will remain more or less the same, although position designations are no longer a consideration. Starters will be determined by voting among fans, players and media, while coaches will choose 14 reserves. Commissioner Adam Silver will be ready to pick any additional All-Stars if the voting process fails to render a minimum of 16 Americans and eight international players.
Early reviews from fans were not encouraging, even after years of complaints about a lack of energy and defensive intensity during the annual sponsor-driven event.
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'NBA All-Star game is getting worse by the year,' one critic wrote online.
'The NBA done made their All Star Game more confusing than The NASCAR playoffs,' another added, likening the new format to one of the more confusing postseason chases in sports.
Others hesitated to condemn the new format entirely, but were nonetheless skeptical.
'I guess I’ll wait to see how it is in execution but the new NBA All Star game format feels way too gimmicky,' one wrote on X.
Some felt put off by the shorter contests: 'We don’t want to see three 12 minute games bro smdh.'
However, the NBA did a similar truncated format last year, only without dividing players by nationality. Basketball greats Charles Barkley, Shaquille O'Neal, Candace Parker and Kenny Smith picked teams, and three brief games were played.
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Unfortunately for the league, complaints about player intensity and defense continued, prompting the league to search for a more competitive format in 2026.
As for the teams, it's still not known how the Americans will be divided, but many fans online felt the International squad has an advantage with MVPs Giannis Antetokounmpo (Greece), Nikola Jokic (Serbia) and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (Canada) not to mention former Rookies of the Year Luka Doncic (Slovenia) and Victor Wembanyama (France).
'Bruh SGA, Giannis, Jokic and Luka are going to murder everyone lmao,' one fan wrote online. 'US has more players, World has better quality.'
Another added: 'What I want is Wemby, Jokic, Luka, Giannis and SGA to humiliate the lazy American players. maybe then they'll start playing hard.'
