Subsequent 12 months’s NBA All-Star Recreation will characteristic a “USA versus the World” format, NBA commissioner Adam Silver mentioned on Wednesday.
The transfer comes after final February’s revamped tournament-style format, that includes celebrity-picked rosters, was seen as a flop by gamers and drew comparatively low US tv scores.
Requested on Fox Sports activities One about having a USA towards the World format for the elite-level contest, the primary phrase out of Silver’s mouth was “Sure.”
“Subsequent 12 months, as a part of our new media deal, the All-Star Recreation returns to NBC, and it so occurs that subsequent season will probably be smack in the course of the Winter Olympics,” Silver mentioned.
“So the sport will probably be on NBC and the very day we’re on, the lead-in will probably be Winter Olympic occasions and popping out of the All-Star Recreation — which is now going to be within the afternoon as a substitute of the night — there will probably be extra Olympic occasions.
“So what higher time to characteristic some type of USA towards the world?”
Such an All-Star format gives the prospect of Canada’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, this season’s NBA Most Precious Participant from Oklahoma Metropolis, going towards American Tyrese Haliburton of NBA Finals rival Indiana.
It may provide LeBron James, Kevin Durant and Stephen Curry as US teammates towards such international stars as Giannis Antetokounmpo, Nikola Jokic and Victor Wembanyama.
Silver mentioned that whereas no format was set, the NBA regarded on the success of the NHL’s 4-Nations Face-Off final February, which gained nice consideration for a USA-Canada rivalry.
“I’m not precisely positive what the format will probably be but,” Silver mentioned. “Clearly, (we’ve) paid quite a lot of consideration to what the NHL did, which was an enormous success.”
Silver additionally famous the US TV scores success for final 12 months’s Paris Olympic basketball event, received by the US assortment of NBA stars.