Every four years, the world comes together for the summer Olympics, where the best basketball players in the world play for their countries. But in the NBA All-Star game, where the same level of talent is present, the competition and energy is lackluster when compared to the olympics. Between fear of injury, poor formatting and low stakes, many players don’t take the game seriously. This disappoints fans, and people begin to tune out and lose interest.
The league made note of this and returned to the East vs West style game in 2024, resulting in marginally increased viewership of 5.4 million. However, it was still considered low for a league considering the increase in popularity across the globe each calendar year.
Various elements explain the All-Star Game’s decline over the last few years, one being the repetitiveness of the event, as it hasn’t changed in almost 70 years. An example of this repetitiveness can be seen in the Dunk Contest, an event that used to be must-watch TV. From All-star players jumping over cars and seven-footers to players blowing out a candle on the rim mid-dunk, highlights were in no short supply throughout the event.In 2016, the NBA experienced one of its best All-Star dunk contests, including some of the most memorable dunks from Zach LaVine and Aaron Gordon, who displayed extreme athleticism and creativity. Players are still doing similar things nowadays, however, the aspect of originality has completely dissipated.
Another argument could be that the players are not trying or participating in the event. In the last few games, it has been readily apparent that none of the players actually want to be there, as it is technically their one week off from September to April, or possibly longer, depending on how their team does in the playoffs. With star players like Nikola Jokic and Luka Doncic shooting terrible shots from half-court five times a game, the game has never been less competitive. The scores are a perfect example of the lack of competitiveness; in 2024, the East All-Stars took down the West All-Stars 211-186, having both teams hit or surpass the record for most points scored by a traditional team in an NBA game ever. The lack of defensive effort shown by players makes the game feel pointless.
And finally, players outright sit out of the events. The dunk contest is another great example of this argument. In the 90s-20s, we got to see star players like Michael Jordan, Dominique Wilkins, Nate Robinson and Allen Iverson take on the dunk contest, some of the most formidable NBA players of the time. Nowadays, the contest is headlined by Mac McClung, who has won the contest the last three years in a row, as well as rookie players that casual fans might not have gotten to know yet.
This brings us to 2025, where the format of the game was altered by the NBA once again. It consisted of a four-team style tournament; three of the teams were picked by Inside the NBA anchors Shaquille O’Neal, Charles Barkley and Kenny Smith, and the fourth team was made up of “Rising Stars” which featured some of the best first and second year players in the league. This was done with the hopes of motivating all-stars to try harder, with the idea that losing to the younger players would cause humiliation.Some of the games were more competitive than in years past, but it still was not at the standard that most fans uphold the NBA to, and the game saw its second lowest ratings ever.
Similarly to the NBA, the NHL was experiencing issues with its All-Star game until they found a format that proved successful.. The NHL split up their All-Stars into teams from four different countries, including USA, Canada, Finland and Sweden, calling it the Four Nations Tournament. The format presented immediate success and positive ratings from fans. The players were all giving their best effort, as they were driven by their rivalry with other countries. This was predominantly evident in the USA vs Canada games. The players in the NHL have not been allowed to participate in the Winter Olympics since 2014, meaning that it’s been a while since we have seen this rivalry in its purest form. The teams met twice during the tournament, with the USA winning the first game 3-1. The tournament final sparked massive excitement, breaking records across the hockey world. The showdown between the USA and Canada drew 16 million viewers in North America alone — more than double the NHL’s previous high o f 8.9 million for Game Seven of the 2019 Stanley Cup Final. It marked the most-watched non-Olympic hockey game in history.
The pride of playing for your home country is not rivaled by anything in sports. To know that your whole country is cheering for you can be extremely powerful and motivational for players, possibly even more motivational than any amount of money.
This tournament’s format provides the perfect solution for the NBA All-Star game. One might say that the NHL is more nationally diverse and that was the only reason the tournament was so competitive. This argument is questionable if we take a look at the 2024 Olympics. Although the US team was made up almost entirely of All-Star players, they still had competitive matches against Canada, Serbia and France—teams led by NBA superstars Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Nikola Jokić and Victor Wembanyama. However, the presence of a single elite player is not always enough to match the overall depth and firepower of teams like the United States or Canada.
A solution to this would be having a team of players that originate from outside of France, Canada and the United States. For example, a possible lineup could be Nikola Jokic, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Luka Doncic, Domantas Sabonis and Kristaps Porzingis. This list of five excludes other Stars like Ivica Zubac, Jonas Valančiūnas, Alperen Şengün, Franz Wagner and the NBA leader in steals this year, Dyson Daniels. This team may end up being better than the USA, Canada or France while increasing competition and viewership.
Even so, this would not be the end of the Dunk Contest or Skills competition, as the events could be converted into competitive, team-style events for the countries to take part in.
The level of effort would rival that of the NBA Playoffs, as the players are playing for more than just themselves. As a fan, it would be more entertaining to cheer for your home country than just your favorite player. It would ideally serve as a scaled-down version of Olympic basketball However, it wouldn’t diminish the hype surrounding the Olympics, as there are still players outside the NBA who headline the Olympics every few years.
Instead of having the whole event in one city over a short weekend, the games could be played internationally, similar to the Four Nations Tournament and the Olympics. This would bring more international fandom and exposure to a growing league, and in general, just increase popularity surrounding basketball.
The solution to the NBA All-Star problem lies right beside them, within the sport of Hockey. The NHL broadcasted a solution to the NBA and 16 million other enthusiastic fans when they debuted their Four Nations Tournament. Implementing the Four Nations Tournament into the NBA All-Star weekend would bring effort back to the event, along with intense rivalries and engaged fans.
