That led to a four-team tournament on Feb. 16 featuring teams drafted by Hall of Fame forward Charles Barkley, Hall of Fame center Shaquille O'Neal, and guard Kenny Smith—as well as the winner of the league's annual Rising Stars showcase. Per a Monday report from Sports Business Journal, the NBA is considering tweaking the format yet again in 2026.

The NBA is hardly the only major sport whose All-Star Game seems outdated and irrelevant, so it's time to tinker even more.

That number is a 13 percent decrease on the 2024 NBA All-Star Game, which drew 5.398 million viewers. And the numbers get even worse than that. It was the second-least-watched game in the event’s history, according to Front Office Sports, barely beating out the 2023 game, which had about 4.6 million people watching.

Front Office Sports reported on Wednesday that the 2025 NBA All-Star Game averaged just 4.7 million viewers across all TNT platforms. That is down 13 percent when compared to last year’s NBA All-Star Game.

After what was a controversial All-Star weekend, the NBA is reportedly considering making some big changes for next year. According to Sports Business Journal, the league could be looking to bring back the four-team tournament but alter it.

The NBA experimented with a new format for the All-Star Game this year after criticism of the traditional East-West game. Fans and analysts complained that the regular game had degraded into a glorified layup line,