NBA All-Star Game’s USA vs. World Format Brings Back Real Intensity

Overtime in the first game of the NBA’s new All-Star format?

A buzzer beater to win the second?

A potential game-tying missed three to end the third?

Somewhere inside the Intuit Dome, Adam Silver had to be smiling.

Much has been made about the depressing state of the NBA’s All-Star Game. Historically, competition has never been fierce. Lately, it’s become nonexistent. Last year the league drew criticism for a goofy, three-team format that included one filled with non-All-Stars. The year before that, the two teams combined for nearly 400 points. The year before that … you get the idea.

Few believed this year would be any different. The NBA tweaked the format (again), creating two U.S. teams and a World team to compete in a round-robin tournament. The league hoped national pride might spark some Olympic-level competition. “The players have embraced it,” Silver said. Or did they? Asked on Saturday if the format might ratchet up the intensity, Anthony Edwards replied, “No.”

Turned out, Silver was right. The first game—a matchup between the USA Stars team against the World—was terrific. Before the game, Victor Wembanyama hinted that there would be a shift in intensity. “I’m confident in the way it’s going to go,” he said. In 10 minutes, Wembanyama scored 14 points, adding six rebounds and three blocks. When a Scottie Barnes buzzer beater won the game for the Stars, Wembanyama was visibly upset going back to the sideline.

“Not going to lie,” said Edwards. “Wembanyama set the tone.”

The second game was nearly as good. A Stars vs. Stripes matchup went back and forth with six lead changes. At one point, the Stripes led by eight. At another, the Stars led by four. LeBron James, 41, playing in his 22nd All-Star Game, had eight points. Jalen Duren, 22, making his first All-Star appearance, had seven. With the Stripes down one in the closing seconds, the ball found De’Aaron Fox, who knocked down a game-winning three.

Said Kevin Durant, “I think it was definitely a step up in the competitive department.”

The third game was the Kawhi Leonard show. Leonard was Silver’s pick to fill out the U.S. roster after the coaches left him off. On Saturday, Leonard was asked if he believed the NBA’s investigation into the Clippers’ alleged cap circumvention with Leonard played a role in the coaches’ decision to initially leave him off the team. “I don’t think so,” Leonard said. “I don’t think Adam Silver would let something like that play into how a player is playing on the court.” On Sunday, Leonard showed why he deserved a spot, racking up 31 points in 12 minutes, including the game-winning three.

“That’s what the home crowd wanted to see,” Leonard said. “I’m glad I was able to do something in that game.”

And the final, championship game … O.K., that stunk.

Still, this event was a big win for the NBA. Silver had been under siege this weekend. The Dunk Contest was dull, the celebrity game lacked, you know, celebrities and while it was fun to watch Damian Lillard hop off the couch to win the Three-Point Contest, it’s a tough look for the league when its top marksman is recovering from a torn Achilles. Meanwhile, Silver spent his All-Star news conference parrying questions about tanking, a cap circumvention investigation and expansion.

The NBA needed this. It needed Wembanyama carrying the torch. “It was a pretty good display of basketball,” Wembanyama said. It needed Leonard, who grew up attending All-Star events in Los Angeles, to show out in this one. “I want to take the opportunity to play great and take advantage of it and go out there and ball,” Leonard said. It needed Edwards, the All-Star MVP, to play like a star. And talk like one. On NBA TV, Edwards noted that Luka Dončić and Nikola Jokić are “not trying to play in the All-Star Game.” Later, he said his opening-game win over the World team meant the most.

“They say they’re the best players in the world,” Edwards said. “So beating them is the best feeling in the world.”

There was a changing of the guard vibe this weekend. Durant, Leonard and Stephen Curry are still around, and at his media availability on Sunday, LeBron James didn’t sound like a man ready to retire. “When I know, you guys will know,” James said. The faces of the league will still be the faces a while longer.

But new ones are rising. Edwards was brilliant. Wembanyama was a monster. Cade Cunningham, Devin Booker and Tyrese Maxey each had moments. A takeaway from the game was that the next generation is here, and they are ready to take over.

“I think we are ready to step forward,” said Maxey. “We have a lot of guys in the locker room ready to take the next step.”

No one is happier to hear that than Silver. There will be no negative headlines coming out of this game. No calls for a new format. No comparisons to the Pro Bowl. The NBA has found a format that works, and its players have embraced it. As Silver handed out the championship trophy, he thanked the players for competing.

“We all appreciate that,” said Silver.

Now do it again next year.

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