New Changes To The 2026 NBA All Star Weekend Have Leaked Including A Potential $1 Million 1-On-1 Tournament And Stars In The Dunk Contest

Ezra Shaw. Getty Images.

I'm not sure what the NBA's goal was for their 2025 All Star Game/Weekend, but I imagine it wasn't for it to largely be considered the worst All Star Game of all time. The annoying part is almost everything that sucked about the whole experience had nothing to do with the actual basketball being played and everything to do with all the bullshit that came with it. When you get just 30 minutes total of actual basketball to watch, that's a bit of an issue.

It's also no surprise that given the public narrative around the game and the league, it wouldn't take long before we heard about potential changes for the 2026 All Star Game. Honestly, the tournament style wasn't even that bad, it was the stoppages that were killer. I think there's still potential in that idea, it just needs some tweaks which is perfectly fine.

I also don't hate any of the potential additions, in fact, they all sound pretty great

I've always been in favor of adding King of The Court type of event to the NBA All Star Weekend, so I love this 1 on 1 idea. Guys like Kyrie are openly talking about how they welcome all challengers

and this is something I think the players would take seriously enough to make it worth it. The King Of The Court clips that come out of Team USA are always awesome, and for $1M I'd imagine players would certainly give a shit

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Get rid of the Skills Competition and put this instead and I don't think a single person complains. Get us some big names in something like this and you're cooking with gas.

The earlier start time is cool and all, but it means nothing if they're still going to do those bullshit 20+ minute breaks right in the middle of games. That needs to be scrapped immediately as it ruined the entire viewing experience. Make the target score 70 or 75 so games take longer if you need to kill TV time. More basketball will always be the answer and not 20 minute stoppages. 

The last one, big name dunkers in the dunk contest, is definitely an "I'll believe it when I see it" situation. Ja Morant got everyone all hot and bothered about the possibility during this year's contest

and while I'm a firm believer in you don't need a big name in order for a Dunk Contest to be good, you just need big dunks, I certainly won't complain if some of the best dunkers in the league want to participate. My thing is, you can't be talking like this and then not come through the next season. Barring injury, Ja and LaVine need to be part of the mix or else this is all pretty lame. If the league is now also going to leak it, they have to follow through as well.

If you're telling me that at the very least, next year's All Star Weekend could give me King Of The Court and they've removed the bullshit stoppages, I really do think there's potential for it to be an entertaining viewing experience. The basketball itself is good enough, just get back to that being the main thing and everything else will take care of itself.