By Miguel Mike Medina
Photo: CBS Sports
The NBA and Players Association will have a new format for the 2025 NBA All-Star Game.
For the first time, the NBA All-Star Game will feature a mini-tournament with four teams and three games.
The event will be held on Sunday, February 16, at Chase Center in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Here is what the format will look like for the All-Star Game:
Two teams will meet in one semifinal (Game 1), and the remaining two teams will meet in the other semifinal (Game 2).
The winning teams from Game 1 and Game 2 will advance to face each other in the championship (Game 3). The winner will be the first team to reach or surpass 40 points for each game.
Each team will have eight players and be named for a TNT NBA analyst. The 24 NBA All-Star selections will be divided evenly into three teams, with the rosters drafted by TNT’s Inside the NBA commentators and honorary team general managers Charles Barkley, Shaquille O’Neal, and Kenny Smith.
Many are dissatisfied with the new All-Star game format. Kevin Durant, for example, expressed his dissatisfaction during a media press conference.
“I hate it,” Durant said. “Absolutely hate it. Terrible. We should go back to East-West. Just play a game. We’ve been trying to bring that flare back somehow with All-Star Weekend; I think we keep the tradition. We’ll see how this one works. You never know; I might be wrong; I’m just another guy with an opinion, but we’ll see how it works.”
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The four NBA All-Star Game head coaches will come from the coaching staffs of the teams with the best regular-season record in each conference through games played on Sunday, Feb. 2.
The head coach of the leading Eastern Conference team and the head coach of the leading Western Conference team will each coach an NBA All-Star team.
All-Star voting begins on Dec. 19. The voting process determines the 24 NBA All-Stars will remain the same.
The five players honored as starters in each conference will be selected by fans (50% of the vote), current NBA players (25%), and a media panel (25%).
This format will require a lot of luck and dedication from the players for the league to work. It’s not looking good, especially since one of the best players in the league, Durant, made it clear that he hates it.
We shouldn’t be surprised if more players voice their opinions against this format.
Miguel Mike Medina is the publisher of The MMM Journal. He can be reached at medinamiguelmike@gmail.com and themmmjournal@gmail.com
X: @mmm_sportnfilms, Instagram: @miguel_passionforsports and @themmmjournal, LinkedIn: The MMM Journal, TikTok: @miguelmikemedina
