Adam Silver Says 2026 NBA All-Star Game Will Feature USA vs. World Format

The 2026 NBA All-Star Game will pit the top United States players against the best players from around the rest of the globe.

Silver confirmed that the USA vs. World format, a popular idea among several top NBA players, will be implemented at the 2026 All-Star Game. / Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images

The NBA All-Star Game will look different than it ever has in 2026.

During an appearance on FS1's Breakfast Ball, NBA commissioner Adam Silver on Wednesday announced that the 2026 All-Star Game will feature a USA vs. World format.

"Yes," Silver said when asked if the previously discussed idea will make an appearance in 2026. "So next year, as part of our new media deals, the All-Star Game returns to NBC, where it was when we were younger. And it so happens that next season, we'll be smack in the middle of the Winter Olympics."

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver confirms there will be USA vs. the World in the 2026 All-Star Game 👀

"I'm not exactly sure what the format will be yet. I paid a lot of attention to what the NHL did, which was a huge success."@craigcartonlive | @DannyParkins | @markschlereth pic.twitter.com/WsEzhe4Jkk

— Breakfast Ball (@BrkfstBallOnFS1) June 4, 2025

"The game will be on NBC and 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. So what better time to feature some form of USA against the World?"

The NBA in 2024-25 debuted a new All-Star Game format in which four teams comprised of All-Stars drafted by TNT's Inside the NBA analysts competed in a mini-tournament. The format featured two semifinal games and then one final between the victors of each semifinal.

The new format was not well-received by players or fans. Plus, the NBA's All-Star Game was upstaged by the immense popularity of the NHL's 4 Nations Face-Off, an Olympics-style hockey tournament featuring the best players from the United States, Canada, Sweden and Finland.

It was from the NHL's success with its own new All-Star Game where the idea of a USA vs. World format for the NBA sprouted. Top players, such as San Antonio Spurs star Victor Wembanyama and Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo, expressed their approval of such a format. Others, like Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green, admitted that the All-Star Game sometimes needs "a facelift" and noted that the NHL's 4 Nations Face-Off would be worth monitoring.

"I'm not exactly sure what the format will be yet," Silver continued. "I paid a lot of attention to what the NHL did, which was a huge success."

Among the potential drawbacks of such a format is that roughly 70 percent of players in the NBA are American, leaving a much larger pool for a Team USA and a much smaller one for a Team World.

"Not to say we couldn't figure out a way around this, but to the extent we want to have a fair process for picking All-Stars, if you're picking half the players from a 30% pool and the other half from a 70% pool, it might not be fair to the players," NBA commissioner Adam Silver said in January during the NBA Paris Games. "So, that's one thing we're looking at."

The 2026 NBA All-Star Weekend will take place in Los Angeles from Feb. 13-15.

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