The NBA Could Borrow an Idea From Unrivaled League to Reinvigorate All-Star Weekend

The ongoing battle to save the All-Star Game may take yet another turn.

Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors celebrates with the MVP trophy after the NBA All-Star Game. / Kyle Terada-Imagn Images

Before NBA All-Star weekend even ended, there were already calls that more change was needed.

Despite a new format that saw four teams of All-Stars competing in a mini-tournament, reviews of the event remained mixed at best. It’s pretty easy to take shots at the NBA All-Star Game at this point in its lifecycle, but the hits do keep on coming.

That said, there is now yet another new format idea creating some buzz as a potential opportunity for future All-Star weekends, and it’s one that we’ve already seen work to great success: a one-on-one tournament.

Days before the NBA All-Star Game, Unrivaled, the upstart three-on-three women’s basketball league founded by some of the stars of the WNBA, put on a one-on-one tournament that created plenty of great TV-ready matchups.

According to a report from Front Office Sports, one-on-one is one of several ideas under consideration for the future of the NBA All-Star weekend. As Rachel Nichols of Fox Sports 1 found, the idea already has plenty of support amongst players.

On Open Run, I asked a bunch of NBA All Stars what they thought of doing a 1-on-1 tourney at next year’s event - and a LOT of them said they’re in. Let’s go… pic.twitter.com/SDwHb84Qpc

— Rachel Nichols (@Rachel__Nichols) February 17, 2025

Let’s get this done, Adam Silver. If we can get one more year out of LeBron James, a LeBron vs. KD one-on-one matchup would tear down the building, or at the very least be extremely fun to watch.

The rest of the potential matchups are just as exciting—SGA vs. Curry? Giannis vs. Jokic? Wemby vs. literally any other pro player? We are ready to watch.

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