NBA commissioner Adam Silver made an honest admission about the league’s latest attempt to reinvent the All-Star Game.
In a press conference Thursday, Silver said he felt the league’s new All-Star format represented some progress, but ultimately viewed the event as a failure. The commissioner suggested further changes would be needed to reinvigorate the event.
“I thought we made almost an immeasurable amount of progress,” Silver said. “Sitting there, I thought this was a little better, but it was a miss. We’re not there in terms of creating an All-Star experience we can be proud of and our players can be proud of.”
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
For the first time this season, the league split the All-Stars into three teams, and included the winners of the Rising Stars competition in the event as well. The hope was that a four-team tournament would create a bit more energy, but the league hurt its own cause with some bad decisions that alienated both fans and players. The changes also failed to reverse the game’s slide in TV ratings.
It is becoming harder to envision what the NBA can do to salvage what is supposed to be its showcase regular season event. Top players simply are not motivated to put forth their best effort in the game, and at least one superstar has suggested the league eliminate the event completely. Presumably, the league will not take that suggestion anytime soon, but it is fair to wonder how much the NBA can do to actually fix the game.
