Changes are coming to the NBA All-Star Game. The league confirmed Tuesday that the 2025 NBA All-Star Game in San Francisco will be a “mini-tournament” featuring four teams: three NBA All-Stars teams plus the winner of the annual Rising Stars Challenge. Charles Barkley, Shaquille O’Neal and Kenny Smith of TNT’s “Inside the NBA” will serve as “honorary general managers” for the three NBA All-Star teams and will be responsible for drafting their eight-man rosters.
Here are more details on the changes to the All-Star Game.
NBA All-Star Game Format
- The NBA moves to a mini-tournament featuring four teams: three NBA All-Stars teams and the winner of the Rising Stars challenge. The Rising Stars Challenge – itself a four-team tournament – will take place Friday night and feature the league’s top first- and second-year players as well as a handful of G League players.
- Each NBA All-Stars team will have eight players. There will be a total of 24 NBA All-Stars (excluding injury replacements), the same number as previous seasons.
- The format of the tournament, according to the NBA press release: “Two teams will face each other in one semifinal (game 1), and the two remaining teams will meet in the other semifinal (game 2) The winning teams of Game 1 and Game 2 will advance to compete in the championship (Game 3), the winner will be the first team to reach or exceed 40 points.
- The voting process remains the same, so 10 players will still be chosen as “starters” and there will be 12 players per conference. Again, according to the NBA press release: “The five players honored as starters in each conference will be selected by fans (50% of the votes), current NBA players (25%) and a panel of media (25%). The seven players honored as reserves from each conference will be selected by NBA head coaches » Voting begins Thursday (Dec. 19).
- There is a prize pool of $1.8 million. Each player on the championship-winning team receives $125,000. Players from the second-placed team receive $50,000. Players from losing teams in the semi-finals receive $25,000.
Previously, the league held a 48-minute All-Star Game, traditionally between the Eastern Conference and the Western Conference. Teams were chosen by top vote-getters between 2018 and 2023, but the league returned to the East versus the West last season in Indianapolis. The result was a 397-point affair which has attracted much criticism.
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver has repeatedly said lamented the quality of the game during the recent All-Star Games and said the league was open to changing the format. During his press briefing in Mexico on November 2, Silver hinted at something like that when saying that the league was considering not having a “traditional game format” this year.
Silver added: “I think everyone was disappointed with what they saw last year. It wasn’t just the league, it was the players, the players’ association. I think that we all did what we thought we could, thinking that we would — especially in Indiana, sort of the heart of basketball — somehow we would try. “college experience and we would see a more competitive game.”
Silver said the league has confirmed a committee to discuss the issue with the NBPA and team representatives to try “something new” to “get the fans excited and also get the players excited, so it’s something they’re excited to be a part of.”
The 2025 All-Star Weekend will be held February 14-16 in San Francisco. Silver said league officials have “had direct conversations” with Golden State Warriors superstar Stephen Curry about the format change because Curry is “very proud and wants to make sure the players are doing their best.”
