NBA in view of the USA against the world format for 2026 All-Star game, says Adam Silver, says Adam Silver

NBA, in view of the USA against World Format for 2026 All-Star game, Adam Silver originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia, according to Adam Silver, according to Adam Silver

Further changes come to the NBA All-Star game.

The league has experimented with various iterations in recent years, including design teams, Elam Endings and most recently a tournament with four teams – an already backed format.

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Now Adam Silver The Athletic has announced that the NBA 2026 examined a potential showdown between American players and global stars.

One factor that the league is considering is that NBC will broadcast the game for the first time since 2002 in February.

“Our all-star game will return to NBC next season in the middle of reporting on the Winter Olympics,” said Silver to The Athletic. “In view of the strong interest that we have seen at international basketball competitions, we last discuss at the Olympic Games in Paris last summer concepts with the Players Association that concentrate on NBA players who have used their countries or regions instead of the traditional formats in the past.”

Byron Spruell, the President of the NBA operations, repeated Silvers feelings.

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“NBC is very leaning into her in view of her role – we are too,” said Spruell. “I want to do something new and different again, but excited about the possibility.”

The newly opened Intuit Dome in Los Angeles will be hosting on Sunday, February 15, in the afternoon of the All-Star game 2026. NBC will follow the game with the Olympic Prime Time Reporting from Italy.

Silver added that the arena, which will organize basketball games during the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles, gives NBA a unique chance of playing on the international topic.

“We will compete in the arena at Intuit, where the basketball competition will take place at the 2028 Olympics,” said Silver. “I think all of these factors when they come together offers us an enormous opportunity for us to do something with an international competition instead of the traditional all-star formats that we have used.”

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At a time, it would have been far -fetched to have a competition in which American players compete against everyone else. But many of the best players in the world are now coming outside of the USA -including every NBA MVP from 2019 to this season (three outsiders are MVP finalists in 2025).

The pool of foreign players includes Nikola Jokić (Serbia), Giannis Antetokounmpo (Greece), Luka Dončić (Slovenia), Shai Gilgeous-Aalexander (Canada), Victor Wembanyama (France), Pascal Siakam (Cameron) Alperen Şengün (Turkish). Joel Empbiid was born in Cameroon, but took part internationally as an American citizen for the USA.

The NHL used a similar idea for its all-star format of 2025, in which the 4 national allusion was considered a massive success. While the NBA would not use an excellent tournament like the NHL, it would try to build this feeling of pride in the representation of its country.