NBA All-Star Game Gets a Competitive Edge with New Tournament Format

In recent years, NBA All-Star weekend has been criticized for a lack of effort from the league’s top players. To address this, the NBA has experimented with various solutions, from the Elam Ending to a player-led draft, before eventually returning to the classic East vs. West format.

However, the lackluster effort and outdated structure led to an absurd 211-186 score in last year’s game, with little defense played. After that, the NBA decided it was time for a change. So, for the 2025 All-Star game, a new tournament-style format will be introduced, featuring four teams.

Three of those teams will be made up of the 24 All-Stars, drafted by Inside the NBA’s Shaquille O’Neal, Kenny Smith, and Charles Barkley. The fourth team will be the winner of Friday night’s Rising Stars Challenge, which itself is a four-team tournament of rookies, sophomores, and an all-G-League squad.

The four teams will play three games, with a pair of semifinals preceding the All-Star game final. The semis will be first to 40 points wins, before a race to 25 in the final. The target scores and shorter games are an effort to manufacture a higher level of intensity, in a game that in recent years has made a game of 2K seem like an ultramarathon.

With such a rich talent pool, ultimately, it’ll likely come down to which team puts in the highest level of effort. But, with the three All-Star teams drafted, it’s Team Shaq (+155) led by Lebron James and Steph Curry who are favoured to win at BET99*. Team Chuck (+170) led by Nikola Jokic and Giannis Antetokounmpo, is close behind while Team Kenny (+370) led by Anthony Edwards and Jalen Brunson, make up the long shot. 

Whether this new format succeeds remains to be seen, but at the very least, the NBA is doing something -- faint praise we couldn’t extend to the league’s actual All-Stars in recent years.

Click here to view all the NBA All-Star Weekend markets at BET99.

*Odds as of February 11, 2025.