For years, the NBA All-Star Game was a “glorified shoot-around” that left fans and league executives frustrated. After the 2024 contest saw a record-breaking 397 combined points with virtually zero defense, Commissioner Adam Silver knew the traditional format was irredeemable.
He finally struck gold this weekend at the Intuit Dome in Los Angeles with a high-stakes, three-team round-robin tournament that successfully weaponized national pride.
The 2026 format pitted two American squads—the “young gun” USA Stars and the veteran USA Stripes—against a formidable Team World. By shifting the event to NBC as a lead-in for Winter Olympics coverage, the league leaned into the “USA vs. The World” narrative that has come to define the modern, global NBA. The result? A level of competitiveness not seen in over a decade.
The tone was set immediately in Game 1 by Victor Wembanyama. The Spurs superstar treated the opening tip like a Game 7, tipping to Jamal Murray before sprinting into the paint for a dominant seal-and-dunk that caught the Americans off guard.
Wembanyama’s 33-point, 9-rebound tournament performance (across two games) forced the USA squads to actually play defense
. “He set the tone, man, and it woke me up for sure,” admitted Anthony Edwards, who led the USA Stars with 32 total points across three games and earned the Kobe Bryant MVP Trophy.
Unlike the sluggish exhibitions of the past, the 12-minute “sprint” games created genuine tension. Three of the four games were decided by three points or fewer (including overtime in Game 1), with highlights including a buzzer-beating three-pointer from De’Aaron Fox in Game 2 and a 31-point masterclass in just 12 minutes from Kawhi Leonard in Game 3.
While the veteran Stripes eventually ran out of gas in the championship, falling 47–21 to the Stars, the intensity remained high throughout the round-robin. By combining a tournament bracket with the looming threat of international dominance, Adam Silver didn’t just change the rules; he restored the game’s soul.
