The NBA—a league not used to losing PR wars to other leagues—lost one in February.
That month, the league offered a gimmicky All-Star spectacle in San Francisco that won considerable criticism. Meanwhile, pundits tripped over themselves to praise the NHL for successfully staging a widely discussed midseason international tournament, the 4-Nations Face-off.
NBA commissioner Adam Silver appears to have heard the criticism, and deemed the format change "a miss" Thursday.
"We're not there, in terms of creating an All-Star experience we can be proud of and our players can be proud of," Silver said in New York as the league's Board of Governors convened.
Adam Silver admits the changes for this year's All-Star game "was a miss" pic.twitter.com/APwFzxDQRL
— Oh No He Didn't (@ohnohedidnt24) March 27, 2025
Adam Silver on the All-Star Game (part 2):
— Oh No He Didn't (@ohnohedidnt24) March 27, 2025
"The breaks were too long and I get it. It was opportunity to celebrate TNT. The long stoppage in play in that final game didn't work for anyone. So we're a bit back to the drawing board" pic.twitter.com/cM7MzGAIxL
Adam Silver says the changes for the All-Star Game this year “was a miss.” He says NBC is excited about taking on the All-Star Game moving forward and that it being part of NBC’s Olympic coverage could become part of changes.
— Tim Bontemps (@TimBontemps) March 27, 2025
The 2025 event was a single-elimination four-team tournament, with teams captained by four TNT pundits. Next year, NBC will have the rights to the game—which Silver hopes will help infuse fresh ideas into the event.
"The breaks were too long—and I get it. It was opportunity to celebrate TNT," Silver said. "The long stoppage in play in that final game didn't work for anyone. So we're a bit back to the drawing board."
More NBA on Sports Illustrated
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Adam Silver Offers Blunt Assessment of 2025's Much-Maligned All-Star Format.
