NBA Stars like Giannis playing in 1v1 Tournament could save All-Star Weekend

A 1v1 or 2v2 tournament could be the thing that saves NBA All-Star weekend.

Since we've already covered how cool a coed 2v2 tournament could look on Saturday night, today we'll focus on 1v1 between NBA All-Stars.

Ones is a whole different ball game; you're on an island, left to beat your opponent with your own skill, size, and defense. No outs, no one else to blame, just you and the basketball.

The best players on the planet competing in the ultimate test of individual talent is exactly what the weekend celebrating the best players in the sport needs.

After rejuvenating NBA All-Star Game with USA vs. World format, the league and NBC Sports are eyeing how they can improve All-Star Saturday next year.

Among NBC's ideas: Adding a fourth event to Saturday night such as a new 1-on-1 or 2-on-2 competition.https://t.co/bm4OglvO2c
— Michael McCarthy (@MMcCarthyREV) February 18, 2026

Giannis Antetokounmpo, James Harden, Kyrie Irving, Anthony Edwards among stars down for a 1v1 All-Star tournament

"I like ones a lot."

Giannis is all for a 1v1 competition. pic.twitter.com/gIv16pQyBM
— Milwaukee Bucks (@Bucks) February 14, 2026

Kyrie Irving - "When there's smoke, there's fire. I'm that fire in 1-on-1."

James Harden - "I'm winning."

Anthony Edwards – "Who do I think would win? Including myself? Me."

Giannis Antetokounmpo - "I like ones a lot."

Damian Lillard - "Anytime you can do something like that, put something on the line, I think all the true competitors would be open to doing it."

Anthony Edwards, James Harden, Giannis and Kyrie are down for a 1v1 event at NBA All-Star weekend!

Harden: "I'm winning."
Kyrie: "When there's smoke, there's fire. I'm that fire in 1-on-1."

(via @Rachel__Nichols) pic.twitter.com/8ZTEzWNr2X https://t.co/NJ1uvn5gbT
— Ballislife.com (@Ballislife) February 16, 2026

Incentivizing star players may be one factor, but as Lillard says, true competitors want to compete.

The women's Unrivaled league found success with a 1v1 tourney, able to make the grand prize more than the entire year's salary in the WNBA, with the inevitable Chelsea Gray making yet another heist.

The NBA won't match that promise in theory, but they can fork over a hefty cash prize as incentive; for example, the NBA Cup prize includes one million dollars split amongst teammates.

Donovan Mitchell – "(Unrivaled) definitely paved the way."

The numbers tell the story quickly.

🔹 $196,267: 2025 salary in the WNBA
🔹 $200,000: 1-on-1 championship earning at Unrivaled

In a matter of nights, Chelsea Gray made more in a controlled, half-court showcase than she will over the course of an entire WNBA season.

That… pic.twitter.com/qw4cbLxYgd
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) February 18, 2026

Idea #1 – The 1-v-1 Tourney only works if we split up bracket by height

Durant vs Wembanyama — Feb 15, 2026; Inglewood, California, USA; Team USA Stripes forward Kevin Durant (35) of the Houston Rockets shoots against Team World center Victor Wembanyama (1) of the San Antonio Spurs in game three during the 75th NBA All Star Game at Intuit Dome. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images | Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images

A 1-v-1 tournament could save NBA All-Star Weekend.

The only way it works, though, is if we split everyone up by weight class; or, rather, since this is basketball, let's split everyone up by height class:

First let's consider 2 groups: split up everyone around the league average height of 6'7", sending the 6'7" and up crowd to the left side of the gym and the 6'6" and below crowd to the right.

The reason the tournament has to be split by height to start?

The big man advantage in one-on-one is even more of an advantage in ones than it is in five-on-five; between the size, skill, and feel for today's unicorn bigs, it could become unfair for most matchups.

No matter how skilled the superstar guards are, anyone below 6'6" or so playing against a seven-footer who can move around will more often than not lose simply due to Big Brother Syndrome.

Big Brother Syndrome are those handful of years in the driveway games of hoops growing up where the big brother has the advantage over the little brother due to a combination of his size, feel for the game, and strength to generally overpower the little brother just about every time they play.

This may fuel the little brother to develop into an even stronger basketball player than the big brother eventually, but as long as big bro has the advantage in physicality, it will pretty much stay that way until the little brother outgrows or matches the bigger brother in size, equaling the playing the field.

The problem for NBA players is, for the most part, they're done growing; guards and wings need a handicap for this event to give fans and players the fairest, most exciting basketball product possible.

This is why we need to pin all the big man against each other on one side of the bracket while all the wings and guards duke it out on the other side of the bracket.

With the All-Star game having two baskets open, this could produce two live one-on-one games going on at once throughout the day for a single-elimination event between the Top-30 or Top-60 players in the league.

The NBA could space the games out to make each game feel as big as an OG Dragon Ball tournament match, or they could run through the games at max speed like a mix of March Madness with NFL Redzone non-stop action.

Durant vs. Wemby and Giannis vs Jokic and LeBron vs Kawhi on the left.

Luka vs Shai and Steph vs DMitch and Ant vs Zion and Cade vs Booker on the right.

Win your height class, and you can win the war representing every man your size.

With Luka, Shai, Zion, Cade, Booker making the 6'6" and under cut, could any be a sneaky matchup to take out the guards, and finish off one big wing or big man to end it?

Would a one-on-one final showdown between Anthony Edwards and. Victor Wembanyama not trigger an international crisis level of swagger and smack talk around the NBA world?

What would a final between Kyrie Irving and Giannis Antetokounmpo look like?

Who wins ones between Steph Curry and Nikola Jokic?

Could Shai Gilgeous-Alexander give Kawhi Leonard trouble?

Would Luka Doncic vs Kevin Durant be the greatest ones show on hardwood?

Could we see Dame Time knock out Father Time LeBron James?

What if Zion Williamson was the ones matchup no one wanted to see coming that takes out a Joel Embiid in the final round?

This is the moment basketball twitter and barbershop talk has been building towards.

These are the questions the basketball world needs answers to.

The 6'6"-and-under height class predominantly filled with guards fight amongst themselves for the glory to represent the guy who make it to the big league not just with height and athleticism, but by mastering their craft.

On the other side of the court, the 6'7"-and-up club of big wings and big men bang bodies down low until the last big wing or man is standing.

Now we have 2 winners of each height class ready to play each other in the ultimate showdown; shoot, take the final four for one more crossover matchup in the One-on-One Final Four just to add some drama!

Idea #2 – What if we split up the bracket into 3 categories by position?

A second version of this idea is to split the league's stars up into three groups instead of two:
Guards (6'5" and below) – Wings (between 6'6" and 6'11") – Bigs (7ft and up)

This separates the pool of players into the three positions modern basketball fans are most familiar with and it gives every player their best chance to make it to the final round since they generally won't have to deal with too much of a size advantage before then.

Now instead of a Final Four, we have 3 1v1 Winners declared Best of their Position at Guard/Wing/Big, a title they'll carry for a year, and then they will all face off against each other in The Final Three:

The Final Three Rules & Regulations:

Double elimination, first to 11 by 1s and 2s...

GM1 = big vs wing
GM2= GM1 winner vs guard
GM3= GM2 winner vs GM1 loser

Winner stays on court until only one remains

Win your height class, and you can win the war.

Instead of the superstars with size advantage beating up on everyone else, make them dominate their peers, saving the best of every position for last.

And who knows, when it comes down to one-vs-one, just one matchup, one game, in one big moment, anyone can get hot, and a guard or a wing could beat a big on the right night.