Imagine this lineup: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Luka Doncic, Nikola Jokic and Victor Wembanyama, all on the floor at the same time as teammates.<\/p>\n
MVPs. Scoring champions. NBA champions. Triple-double machines. Defensive wizards. International players, all together in one highly decorated, incredibly accomplished, flat-out-scary lineup the likes of which probably has not been seen too many times in basketball history.<\/p>\n
The NBA seems on the brink of making it possible.<\/p>\n
Changes to the All-Star format<\/a> are most certainly coming, once again, and the plan that the NBA has settled on is one that has U.S. players going up against players from the rest of the world in a tournament setting. Think Ryder Cup golf or 4 Nations Face-Off hockey, and it just so happens that this season\u2019s All-Star weekend<\/a> at Inglewood, California, is smack in the middle of another national-pride sporting event \u2014 the 2026 Milan-Cortina Olympics.<\/p>\n \u201cI talk to a lot of fans, and All-Star Games for whatever reason take on particular interest around basketball,\u201d NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said. \u201cI think we should be able to create something that\u2019s fun, exciting, engaging. Not expecting guys to play the way they would in the finals necessarily or even in a playoff game, but yet to go out, play hard, put on a good show for the fans.\u201d<\/p>\n The plan, which isn\u2019t yet finalized, calls for a three-team tournament: two American teams and one international team, all with eight-man rosters. The reason: Roughly two-thirds of NBA players are American and one-third are not, which is why the NBA thinks it\u2019d be fair to give Americans two-thirds of the roster spots.<\/p>\n \u201cHopefully, it\u2019s going to be better,\u201d said Jokic, the Denver star.<\/p>\n It has become almost an annual exercise for the NBA: fixing the All-Star Game. Silver and other league officials \u2014 and to be fair, some players as well \u2014 desperately want the product to be better and more competitive. They tried having captains like LeBron James, Kevin Durant and Antetokounmpo pick the teams for a few years, and not much changed. They tried go back to the standard Eastern Conference vs. Western Conference format, and it wasn\u2019t great either. Having a final score of 211-186 in Indianapolis in 2024 was the last straw in many respects, so the NBA last year tried a mini-tournament on for size and few people cared for that.<\/p>\n Golden State\u2019s Stephen Curry was MVP of that All-Star event, a four-teams-of-eight competition that had a 41-25 final score in the title matchup and saw the final game stopped for about 20 minutes for a tribute to TNT and its run as a league broadcaster.<\/p>\n \u201cI honestly thought last year went great until it dragged on for a long time,\u201d Curry said. \u201cWe all know that All-Star has changed over the years, but there has to be some type of solution for keeping the players fresh and loose and keeping the action going. Last year it came to a screeching halt. But whatever the format is, I know we\u2019re going to keep taking swings at the plate to figure it out, and that\u2019s what the league is supposed to do.\u201d<\/p>\n International players have said they love the idea of a U.S. vs. The World concept. Antetokounmpo, the Milwaukee star, has talked about it previously and playfully said that the league should give him credit for the idea.<\/p>\n \u201cThe NBA\u2019s going to take all the credit. But I love it, man,\u201d Antetokounmpo said.<\/p>\n \u201cI think it\u2019s going to be exciting for people to watch. I\u2019m going to play hard. I\u2019ve always been playing hard, but I think it\u2019s going to put a little bit more juice to the game. \u2026 All players have ego. Nobody wants to be embarrassed. Guys will play harder because they don\u2019t want to become \u2014 I don\u2019t know how you say this \u2014 they don\u2019t want to become viral. I\u2019m excited for this format.\u201d<\/p>\n