So, Did "USA vs. The World" Fix The All-Star Game?

For several years, NBA fans have been petitioning the league to switch things up in the All-Star Game. After all the blowouts, reckless outside shooting, and pronounced lack of effort on the defensive end, basketball die-hards had seen enough.

So, the NBA decided to adopt a format that reflects the global profile of its talent pool. “USA vs. The World,” they called it. The question is, did this format change make a difference? This Sunday, was the NBA able to fix the All-Star Game?

As far as competitive intensity goes, there was significant improvement. All three of the round-robin games were decided by three points or less, with the initial contest between Team World and Team USA Stars even going to overtime. Thanks in part to the technical know-how of coaches like JB Bickerstaff, Darko Rajakovic, and Mitch Johnson, teams were running more offensive and defensive sets than usual in an All-Star setting.

On multiple occasions, Victor Wembanyama (widely considered the next face of the league) showed that he cared deeply about winning games in this mini-tournament at Intuit Dome. Wemby was closing out, pointing defensive coverages to teammates in transition, and throwing his hands in disgust when an unnecessary double team cost Team World in the first game.

If Wembanyama’s commitment is any indication of things to come, the league’s future is in good hands. Here’s the problem: Not even an out-of-this-world entity like the French phenom can single-handedly fix the ills that NBA fans complain about.

For one, there’s the fact that two of this generation’s biggest icons (Luka Doncic and Nikola Jokic) barely played on Sunday. But there’s no one to blame, really: Doncic and Jokic are both dealing with injuries that threaten to compromise their respective teams’ shelf life in the playoffs. A third icon, reigning NBA MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, did not even suit up at all due to an abdominal strain.

On top of this, the ending of the event fell quite flat as Team USA Stars blew out Team USA Stripes to win the championship game. Could the format have been tweaked so that Stripes (comprised of some old heads like LeBron James and Kevin Durant) didn’t have to play three consecutive times? Was there anything that could have pushed the Stripes to exert more effort on defense when it counted the most?

Hindsight is a good teacher, of course, and NBA Commissioner Adam Silver now has plenty of data that he can use to refine the format for 2027. But, no matter the framework that the All-Star Game (or Games) will follow, factors like midseason injuries and unwillingness to go full throttle always threaten to derail the festivities.