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[Saba Sports News] The NBA is taking cues from the NHL’s recent All-Star format and is exploring a similar approach to breathe new life into its own All-Star Game.
Speaking to reporters in New York on Monday, NBA commissioner Adam Silver and league operations president Byron Spruell expressed interest in adopting a model like the NHL’s “4 Nations Face-Off.”
Instead of a traditional All-Star Game, the NHL showcased players competing for their home countries—Canada, the U.S., Finland, and Sweden—in a spirited mini-tournament. The effort level was high, and ratings soared as a result. Canada ultimately won the title, but not before the U.S. handed them a dramatic loss in the round-robin stage.
The NBA, meanwhile, has struggled with low-intensity All-Star matchups that have turned off viewers. Silver believes a more competitive, nationally-driven format could reverse that trend.
“Given the strong interest in international basketball, particularly following last summer’s Olympics in Paris, we’re in discussions with the players’ association about new concepts—potentially having NBA players represent their countries or regions rather than sticking to our traditional All-Star formats,” Silver told *The Athletic*.
Next year’s All-Star Game is scheduled for the Intuit Dome near Los Angeles, with NBC airing the event. With L.A. also set to host the 2028 Summer Olympics—another NBC property—the network is reportedly on board with pushing a country-based showdown.
The 2026 All-Star weekend, which overlaps with the Winter Olympics in Italy (also on NBC), presents another opportunity to trial the revamped format.