Steph Curry offers potential solution for addressing All-Star Game ‘competition' originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
The NBA All-Star Game could use some work.
And while he isn’t participating in the 75th edition — hosted at Intuit Dome in Los Angeles — on Sunday due to a right knee injury, Warriors superstar Steph Curry shared his thoughts on how the event can improve in future years.
“Unfortunately, I can’t help this year because I’m not playing,” Curry told reporters during NBA All-Star media day Saturday. “But I think the only thing I would think about is shortening the game. That might be the only real suggestion I would have, just because it’s hard to replicate the intensity of a regular-season game. Nobody’s asking anybody to act like it’s a playoff game with those types of stakes. But a shorter game, maybe.”
“I know they’re doing a great job of trying to shorten the day for us as All-Stars because we’re sort of used to a certain game day prep that gets your body ready to go. The timeouts aren’t as long, and the breaks in between games aren’t as long. The league is doing a great job in trying to address that. That’s the only suggestion I would have. The 40-minute game, maybe? If you’re going back to the 2 teams format. But in this situation, short and sweet is better. I think that would help the competition.”
Most fans and players would agree with Curry’s sentiment that a competitive, “short and sweet” star-studded contest would be ideal.
The 2026 NBA All-Star Game, however, will consist of a mini round-robin tournament with four 12-minute games featuring two teams of American players and one team of international players — and all three squads probably won’t be breaking much of a sweat.
But when Curry speaks, people listen.
Time will tell if NBA commissioner Adam Silver and the league incorporate the 12-time All-Star’s ideas when potentially adjusting the game’s format for increased competition.