NBC is pushing for a 1-on-1 or 2-on-2 contest for All-Star Saturday
Recently, the The NBA All-Star weekend festivities are over at the Intuit Dome in Los Angeles, home of the Clippers. Although the game itself received better reviews than in previous years, many fans were left disappointed by the events of Saturday afternoon, which culminated in a dunk contest, Miami Heat winger Keshad Johnson won.
One idea that was pushed by fans has been implementing a 1-1 tournament between players on All-Star weekend for many years, and recently Michael McCarthy of Front Office Sports reported that NBC is already lobbying for some new additions to All-Star weekend, and that “potential options include adding a fourth event, such as a 1-on-1 or 2-on-2 tournament.”
“For NBC, we’re thinking about whether there’s another element that could be added that would make Saturday an even bigger showcase for the players,” NBC Sports executive producer Sam Flood said.
NBC has taken over much of the NBA broadcast this year, including All-Star weekend festivities, and therefore has a big stake in how entertaining the action is for fans.
NBC executives seemed pleased with what they saw from the game itself.
“The star of the weekend? We had real basketball for 48 minutes of action, the way they formatted it with 12-minute games. It created 48 minutes of basketball just like you would play in a normal game. Tying the drama of USA vs. the World was really the perfect way to elevate the All-Star Game and give us a winning story,” Olompodics said.
Indeed, the round robin saw a significant increase in competition from previous years, which some attributed to the tone set early by San Antonio Spurs star Victor Wembanyama.
Either way, it remains to be seen if the All-Stars would agree to put their pride on the line and compete in a 1-on-1 tournament during future All-Star weekends.
2026-02-18 19:38:00
