After years of dwindling enthusiasm and declining viewership, the NBA is giving its midseason classic a global twist.

In 2026, the NBA will once again make a much-needed change to its All-Star Game format following a 13% decrease in viewership this past season.

During an appearance on FS1’s “Breakfast Ball”, NBA commissioner Adam Silver announced that the 2026 All-Star game will feature a USA vs World type contest.

Silver noted that there will be some changes to the fan viewing experience when it comes to the All-Star Game.

For starters, the game’s rights will return to NBC for the first time since 2002, and rather than being played during prime time, the game will be played in the afternoon to coincide with NBC’s coverage of the 2026 Milan Winter Olympics.

“The very day we’re on, the lead in will be Winter Olympic events, and then coming out of the All-Star Game, which is now going to be in the afternoon instead of the evening, there will be more Olympic events,” Silver explained.

Silver said that with the Olympics going on and with the success of the NHL’s Four Nations Faceoff replacing its traditional All-Star Game, 2026 will be the right time for the NBA to jump on the international competition trend.

FIBA and USA Basketball are undoubtedly cheering on this decision by the NBA after a widely successful 2024 Paris Olympics that saw the USA vs France Gold Medal game average 19.5 million viewers, the most for an Olympic final since the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.

The NBA itself is going to be another clear winner, as the game will undoubtedly draw big-time ratings and revenue.

Speaking of ratings, NBC was already a huge winner getting its NBA broadcasting rights back, but getting them in a year that features an All-Star game with the US vs World format is a huge score.

On the flip side, TNT will come out of this a loser after failing to garner a new contract with the NBA and not being able to broadcast this new format after producing several All-Star Games with formats widely unpopular to fans.

As for the fans, they will undoubtedly be a huge winner here, as finally, the NBA will give them the USA vs World format they have been asking for for years.

When you stack these things up, there almost seemingly are no negative sides, but there is a huge one, and it has to do with the people who make the game go… the players.

Last season, 16 players who made the All-Star Game were American players ineligible to play for Team World.
The Team USA roster won’t roll 16 players deep, so it’s fair to say there will be multiple players who deserve to be All-Stars that won’t be.

When it comes to Team World, their hypothetical roster was just seven of last season’s All-Stars.

It’s fair to go ahead and make that number eight, assuming that Los Angeles Lakers superstar Luka Doncic will make the team after he missed the game with an injury last season.

Still, there will be several players who make up the Team World roster with less deserving cases compared to some American players who will be sitting at home.

Despite that, several of the NBA’s Global Superstars have spoken in wide support of this format change.

Just a few days before Silver announced the change, Milwaukee Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo quoted a fan edit of potential starting lineups for the game, saying, “This should be next year All-Star Game format!! Must-see basketball.

Spurs sophomore standout Victor Wembanyama said he is a “fan of that notion,” and Houston Rockets star Alperen Sengun seemed to be ahead of the curve when asked about the potential format change after last year’s game.

“Of course, I think it would be nice,” Şengün said. “You know, that’s not my decision, but yeah, they try different stuff every year, and I’m excited to see what’s gonna happen next year.”

While at the TNT desk during the All-Star Game, four-time NBA All-Star Draymond Green echoed the same reference to the NHL’s Four Nations that Silver did.

“Sometimes things just get old and kind of need a facelift,” Green said. “I know they’ve done different things to try to get it going. I think what’ll be interesting to see is how this 4 Nations thing turns out in hockey. If that turns out great, might have to peek an eye.”

Safe to say that the NHL’s event did “turn out great,” and now the NBA is cleverly following in their footsteps.

At the end of the day, the NBA’s goal is to create a product that fans support, and there is no doubt, a switch to the USA vs World format will be heavily supported by the fans.