Will Nikola Jokić ‘bring another fire’ to the new All-Star format?
The The format of the All-Star Game has changed againas it will be split between the two USA teams and the World team. The reason for this was to make the game more competitive, but at the end of the day, it’s the players that make it interesting, not the format. Nikola Jokic has been one of the most consistent players in the All-Star game for the past few years, and nothing has changed in terms of his play.
During its media availability, they asked him if he would play differently this year because of the format, and as expected, he said nothing would change.
“Every year I will play the way I play. I am not sure that it will bring me another fire, because I play the same every game,” Jokić said.
“Every year I’m going to play the way I play. I’m not sure it’s going to bring me another fire because I play the same every game. Not me.”
Nikola Jokić shares his thoughts on the new All-Star format 🗣pic.twitter.com/elrpATGk2S
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) February 14, 2026
Other players noted that the competition starts with the players. Kawhi Leonard thinks he’s playing it should return to the classic East vs. West format.
“He’ll start with the starters, whoever comes out first,” Leonard said. “For me, personally, we should go back to how it was, and if the guys want to play hard, they’re going to play hard. I think it’s going to be competitive this year. I don’t know what the format is. But I hope the guys compete. They usually do, but it’s also an All-Star game.”
There hasn’t been much competition over the years during the All-Star Game, and the most energy was when they scored. For some reason they broke that format and made several different teams, and it didn’t do anything to make it better.
It will be interesting to see if this new format changes the way any of the players approach the game, because if not, they may have to make more changes.
2026-02-15 14:37:00
