Victor Wembanyama has been named an All-Star Starter for the first time in his career, and one former player thinks the league needs to alter the format.
The 2026 NBA All-Star Game will not buck the trend of recent events, and in an effort to "shake it up," the league has instituted a new format.
Instead of a normal, 48-minute game, two teams of U.S. players and one team of international players (known as the World team) will compete in a round-robin tournament featuring four 12-minute games.
While it's on the right track, as the USA vs. World format is incredibly popular, one former player thinks it should just be a normal game, with one domestic and one international team going head-to-head.
Why Team World Would Crush USA#
Of the ten All-Star Starters already revealed, half are American, and half are international. However, there's a case to be made that Nikola Jokic, Victor Wembanyama, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Luka Doncic, and Giannis Antetokounmpo are the five best players in the world.
In a regular All-Star Game, "Team World" would wipe the floor with the USA.
"I think Adam Silver, who I love and respect, made a huge mistake," said Charles Barkley on the Dan LeBatard Show. Make it international against the US. All this, you play a team, you play a team, and all this other stuff, I've been saying for 10 years, the international team against the United States team would be a perfect scenario. The reason they don't want to do it, because the international team would kick our ass. That's exactly why they won't do it."
Think about it. A starting five of Wemby, Jokic, SGA, Doncic, and Giannis with Alperen Sengun, Deni Avdija, and Pascal Siakam coming off the bench? Any lineup of American-born players would struggle, which might only draw in even more viewers.
"The top four or five players in the NBA today are international players," he added. "But it would be great. We don't have to win. It's kind of like the Olympics. I don't think it'd be the worst thing in the world if the United States didn't win. I think it'd be actually a boom if another country won. I think it'd be a boom for basketball if another country won. But I think the All-Star Game is screwed up. We need to go international against America."
Would it add international appeal? Yep. Would an American audience be able to turn away as they get their clock cleaned? Nope! The solution to the All-Star Game is right in front of the league's face, but they want to preserve some national pride instead.