2025 NBA All Star Game format explained: How it affects potential Charlotte Hornets participants

Checking out the new All Star Game format through a Hornets lens.

Matt Alquiza | 4 Hours Ago

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Charlotte Hornets

The NBA has officially announced sweeping changes to the 2025 All Star Game and boy they are a doozy. In their never-ending quest to get multi-millionaires to care about a generally meaningless exhibition game smack dab in the middle of an 82 game grind of a season, Adam Silver and his team approved radical changes to the game that make is absolutely unrecognizable from what it once was.

Here are the now confirmed changes explained by the league: “The NBA is switching to a mini-tournament featuring four teams: three teams of NBA All-Stars and the winner of the Rising Stars challenge.”

"Two teams will meet in one semifinal (Game 1), and the remaining two teams will meet in the other semifinal (Game 2). The winning teams from Game 1 and Game 2 will advance to face each other in the championship (Game 3). For each game, the winner will be the first team to reach or surpass 40 points."

Will it change anything in terms of effort levels? Who knows. I’m all for whatever it takes to make the game more competitive. NBA fans used to long for All Star weekend when the league’s preeminent showmen would convene in one city to put on a show for viewers around the world.

If I was the czar of the NBA All Star Game I'd return the Elam ending to the annual contest. The fourth quarter of those close contests was peak All Star basketball and a spectacle worth tuning in to.

In terms of the Charlotte Hornets, this format change makes it more likely that the Queen City’s franchise will have a participant playing on Sunday.

NBA All Star format changes open the door for young Hornets to participate

Both Tidjane Salaün and Brandon Miller should be invited to Friday night’s Rising Stars Challenge. A Friday night victory for either of Charlotte’s foundational pieces will guarantee participation in Sunday night’s festivities.

The only other Hornets with a chance at being named an All Star is LaMelo Ball. The extraterrestrial point guard was a shoo-in for a nomination before a calf injury knocked him out for two weeks, but as it stands he is questionable at best to be invited to the contest. However, another torrid stretch from now until early February will all but guarantee Melo his second All Star appearance in his young career.