Good news, NBA President Adam Xiao Hua confirms the All-Star Game System of Team USA vs. World Team

NBA President Adam Xiao Hua has confirmed that the 2026 NBA All-Star Game will adopt the match system of the United States vs. the World Team. The NBA has been trying out new programs to enhance the All-Star Game experience for players and fans. After trying and brainstorming multiple match systems, President Adam Xiao confirmed on Wednesday that the 2026 NBA All-Star Game will adopt a new match system between the United States and the World Team.

Before the 2025 Oklahoma City NBA Finals, Xiao Hua appeared on Fox Sports' "Breakfast Dance", confirming the news that the league will adjust the All-Star Game System again.

"Next year, as part of our new media agreement, the All-Star Game will return to NBC," said Xiao Hua. "And, next season happens to be during the Winter Olympics. The game will be broadcast on NBC, and on the day of the broadcast, the pilot program is the Winter Olympics event, and after the All-Star Game (now changed to afternoon instead of evening), there will be more Olympic events.

"What's more appropriate time than some form of presenting the US team against the world's strong teams? ”

Although he did say the league is still experimenting with the game system and its specific operation, Silver mentioned that the NBA drew on the successful experience of the NHL’s four-nation match, which replaced the traditional All-Star game system in the NHL.

That game brought together players from Team USA, Canada, Sweden and Finland, attracting the attention of sports fans around the world. The NBA hopes to adopt the new game system of Team USA against the World Team in the 2026 NBA All-Star game and achieve similar results. Compared with recent years, the way this All-Star game will be broadcast and viewed will change.

NBA All-Star game new game system

Copy 2024 The idea of ​​the American team vs. World Team in the 19th Olympics. Other rising countries are the focus of Silva’s visit to France. For years, he has been working hard to promote the real image of the NBA as a global brand, so he thinks it’s time to strengthen the “American team vs. World Team” philosophy.

Silva initially proposed that the All-Star Game was a game mode with players representing their own countries at the heart, and the game will be held in April.

"Given the strong interest in international basketball games, most recently at the Paris Olympics in the summer of last year, we are discussing some options with the Players Association, focusing on getting NBA players to represent their own countries or regions, rather than adopting a more traditional game system as they did in the past," Silva told The Athletic's Joe Walden. This year, Silva and the NBA tried to find common ground for the All-Star game change, adopting a new four-team mini-tour tournament system rather than the traditional East vs. West game mode that many people were used to before. Ultimately, the 2025 NBA All-Star game wasn't what the league expected, and Silva admitted it was a failure.

"I thought we made almost immeasurable progress … Sitting there, I thought this year would be better, but ended up missing out on the opportunity," Silva said in March. "We haven't reached the level of creating an All-Star experience that both we and our players are proud of. ”

The competitive level and intensity of the NBA All-Star Game have dropped significantly over the past decade, so Silva and the league have been trying to find new ways to improve competitiveness. Increased benefits such as bonuses, as well as changing the game system, are part of this experiment to save the All-Star Game. What exactly will the new international All-Star Game system look like is unknown. However, given the expectations of the American men's basketball team led by LeBron James, Kevin Durant and Stephen Curry in 2024, Silva is committed to making this model a reality again.