By Johnny Askounis/ info@eurohoops.net
Coming off several tweaks to the NBA All-Star Game, falling short of finally producing a team with players from the rest of the world taking on standouts from the United States remained an issue, especially now and taking into consideration the groundbreaking success of the NHL’s 4 Nations Face-Off.
The NBA has surely been experimenting over recent years. Addressing the need to evolve the product, the league moved on from the traditional clash of the best players from the Eastern and Western Conferences. Team captains selected their teams from 2018 to 2023 and the 2025 All-Star Game featured the first-ever mini-tournament between four teams, including Chuck’s Global Stars, more or less a squad that could have been easily branded as Team World in a matchup against the best American players, and thus delivering what a large chunk of the basketball world, including NBA players, want to see.
Meanwhile, the NHL presented a mini-tournament stretching over one week, replacing the usual All-Star Game. Seven games were played in Montreal and Boston, concluding in a Final between the United States and Canada in TD Garden on Thursday with the latter crowned as champions. Despite lacking affiliation with the International Ice Hockey Federation, IIHF, the tournament served as a preview of the league’s return to Olympic participation in 2026 with the national ice hockey governing bodies selecting their respective national teams.
Favored by current political issues, leading to Canadian fans booing the anthem of the United States before the clash between the two countries and the opener of the preliminary round-robin schedule being marked by three fights over the first nine seconds going viral and setting the pace for the rest of the tournament, it was a huge success from attendance and TV ratings to fans making the event constantly trend across social media. Nevertheless, the most attractive superstars of the league playing meaningful games and representing their respective countries naturally lived rent-free in the minds of fans wondering how a similar approach from the NBA would generate excitement in the basketball world.
Among the main issues would be the international diversity of the NHL allowing the formation of four teams, Sweden and Finland, in addition to Canada and the United States. The succeeding player pool is unable to create a large field with NBA selections representing specific countries, at least without possibly reaching out to other leagues around the world. Moreover, if Team USA takes on players from the Rest of the World, international NBA players would likely have an easier path into the All-Star Game, compared to Americans.
From 2015 to 2021, the NBA held an annual meeting with Team World and Team USA colliding in the Rising Stars Challenge. This format expanding to the All-Star Game has been discussed and to a significant extent approved by players, including Giannis Antetokounmpo in the background of the 74th annual meeting of the best players in the league in San Francisco.
Looking into a possible Team World, the Greek Freak would be teaming up with the likes of Serbian Nikola Jokic and Slovenian Luka Doncic to face the best from the United States. Who can ignore a clash of the top players in the world in those terms? It is safe to assume increased focus by the players which in turn would make it much more interesting for the fans.
What would it mean for the basketball world?
Considering ongoing talks of an expansion into Europe, commonly referred to as NBA Europe, some ideas can wander beyond potentially establishing a new league in the Old Continent or simply boosting the current ecosystem with marketing expertise to possibly creating a worldwide celebration of basketball once a year, instead of the All-Star Game being focused within the league based in North America. Introducing a meeting of the NBA and Turkish Airlines EuroLeague champions, a mini-tournament featuring teams outside the NBA, or directly taking a page out of the NHL and going international are some intriguing ideas. This would surely generate buzz, a treat for people in attendance and those following from all around the world.
Moving forward, the NHL intends to focus the midseason break on the Winter Olympic Games and a World Cup of Hockey tournament replacing the All-Star Game every two years. Hopefully, the NBA and other governing bodies around the world are ready to consider similar options.