Explaining the 2025 All-Star Game new format: Everything you need to know about tournament play

There's a chance that a team headlined by Nikola Jokic and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is playing for an All-Star Game championship against a team headlined by Dink Pate and JD Davison.

If you don't know who those two players are, you're probably not alone; but with the new All-Star Game format, fans are going to get familiar with some new faces this weekend in the Bay Area.

The NBA changed All-Star Game formats after a lack of effort from NBA players in recent years caused a nearly unwatchable product. Will this format fix anything? I have no idea, but it's worth a shot.

What is the new All-Star Game tournament format?

This year's All-Star Game will be a mini-tournament, in which four teams will compete for the ASG championship. Each game will be to 40 points. The winners of the two semifinal games will meet in the championship, which will also be to 40 points. There will be no clock in this year's ASG.

How were the NBA All-Star teams decided?

As usual, there were 24 NBA players selected to the All-Star Game. But for the first time ever, those 24 players have been split into three teams instead of two.

To determine the teams, Inside the NBA anchors Kenny Smith, Charles Barkley and Shaquille O'Neil each "drafted" players to their rosters. I think it's pretty clear the NBA told them who to draft so each team has a "theme," but that's fine. The teams are fun, after all.

Here are the complete All-Star Game rosters:

Team Chuck (Chuck's Global Stars):

Of course, the "theme" of Chuck's team is international players.

Barkley originally drafted Giannis Antetokounmpo too, but he will miss the game due to injury, and is being replaced by Trae Young. Also, Donovan mitchell is from New York, but there weren't any other international players to choose from.

Team Shaq (Shaq's OGs)

The theme for Shaq's team? Old! They stuck with the theme for the injury replacement, too, as Kyrie Irving (old) wil replace Anthony Davis (old), who is out with an injury.

Team Kenny (Kenny's Young Stars)

This team rocks. It's certainly not as talented as the other two, but my hope is the young guys give real effort and don't think they're too cool to be at the ASG.

How is the fourth team decided?

The fourth team in the mini All-Star Game tournament will be the team that wins the Rising Stars Challenge, which will take place on Friday. Three of the teams in the Challenge are made up of NBA Rising Stars, and one is made up of G League All-Stars. The semifinal games will be to 40 points, and the championship game will be to 25. The winner of the championship game will

So, to recap, there are two tournaments; the first one is the Rising Stars Challenge on Friday, which consists of three teams of NBA Rising Stars and one team of NBA G League All-Stars. The winner of that tournament will be the fourth team in the NBA All-Star Game mini-tournament on Sunday.

This is how mostly unknown G League players could possibly match up with NBA superstars. If the G League team wins the Rising Stars Challenge, they will face off with one of the NBA All-Star teams, which would be... kind of unfair, quite frankly.

Who is coaching the fourth team?

The three Rising Stars teams will be coached by Tim Hardaway, Chris Mullin and Mitch Richmond, with the G League All-Star team being coached by Jeremy Lin.

However, whichever team wins the Rising Stars Challenge will be coached by Candace Parker on Sunday. So, while Hardaway, Mullin, Richmond and Lin will be coaching Friday, it will be Parker taking over the winning squad on Sunday.