Everything you need to know about NBA All-Star Weekend | The GIST

The fun tips off with tonight’s Rising Stars game, the NBA’s annual showcase of the best young talent…well, most of it. Twenty-one rookies and second-year players were drafted onto three teams coached by league legends Vince Carter, Tracy McGrady, and Carmelo Anthony. The fourth team features G League players and is helmed by former NBAer Austin Rivers.

• Team Melo will play Team Austin at 9 p.m. ET, followed by a clash between Team T-Mac and Team Vince at 9:55 p.m. ET. These semifinal games are a race to 40 points, then the winners will battle in a first-to-25 championship. Short and sweet.

In the spirit of introducing young talent to the world, here’s three up-and-comers to watch:

🐝 Kon Knueppel (Charlotte Hornets) — Team T-Mac: Hot on injured Dallas Maverick Cooper Flagg’s heels in the Rookie of the Year race is his former Duke teammate, a player who never thought he’d hoop in the NBA. But Knueppel’s here to stay, averaging 18.9 points per game and generating some, ahem, colorful commentary.

💙 VJ Edgecombe (Philadelphia 76ers) — Team Vince: Anyone who draws comparisons to iconic NBA Hall of Famer Dwyane Wade has our full attention. From his natural playmaking ability to his elite athleticism, Edgecombe’s been fearless for the Sixers all season, particularly impressing with his two-way play.

🐴 Stephon Castle (San Antonio Spurs) — Team Melo: The reigning NBA Rookie of the Year took the league by storm last year, and he’s only getting better. Castle just became the third-youngest player in NBA history to put up a 40-point triple-double, beaten to the milestone by only LeBron James and Luka Dončić — pretty good company for the 21-year-old.

Basketball’s a team sport, but All-Star Saturday Night is all about the individual. From the long-range assassins to the high-flying dunkers, let’s break down the three-event slate, which begins at 5 p.m. ET.

🪣 The three-point contest: These sharpshooters have just 70 seconds to knock down as many threes as possible, with the three highest scorers advance to the championship round — and our money’s on Portland Trail Blazer Damian Lillard. The perennial All-Star’s been sidelined with a torn Achilles, giving him plenty of time to perfect his shot.

💫 The Shooting Stars challenge: Taking the place of the skills challenge, the Shooting Stars challenge is back like it never left. Featuring four themed teams of three — two NBA players and one league legend — the goal is to hit as many shots as possible from seven spots on the floor…in a specific order. It’s giving playground energy.

💪 The dunk contest: The night ends with what’s always been the marquee event, but let’s be honest, it’s lost some of its luster recently as the league’s best dunkers have opted out. This year is following that same trend with Carter Bryant (San Antonio Spurs), Jaxson Hayes (LA Lakers), Keshad Johnson (Miami Heat), and Jase Richardson (Orlando Magic) making up the four-man field.

• Each player will perform two dunks in front of a panel of five judges. The two dunkers with the highest combined scores advance to the second round, where the process is repeated to crown a champion. It’s time to slam now.

Could one of these dunk contest debutants throw down a jaw-dropping jam? Time will tell, but until then…

Last but not least, Sunday brings the ASG, beginning at 5 p.m. ET. And the NBA is in full makeover mode, debuting a brand-new format after years of revamps and rejiggers.

📚 The history: Traditionally, the ASG was a single game between the best players from the Eastern and Western Conferences. The ASG reached its 21st century viewership peak in 2002, when 13.1M folks tuned in — but the eyeballs have plummeted since.

• Given the dwindling viewership, the NBA started shaking up the format in 2018, but nothing’s stuck. In fact, the 2025 ASG, which featured the league’s first attempt at a “mini-tournament style game” was the second least-watched ASG ever.

• In an effort to entice more than last year’s 4.7M viewers — and perhaps to encourage more competitiveness between players — the NBA is leaning on a tried-and-true theme this time around: international competition.

⚙️ How the 2026 edition works: This year’s ASG is a U.S. vs. World competition, with the league’s best divided into three teams according to their nationality. There are two American teams — Stars and Stripes — and one World squad.

• The All-Star “Game” will actually be four 12-minute mini-games. The first three games are round robin play and will go as follows:

1️⃣ Game 1: USA Stars vs. Team World

2️⃣ Game 2: USA Stripes vs. winner of Game 1

3️⃣ Game 3: USA Stripes vs. loser of Game 1

• Those tilts will decide the All-Star Championship, which will feature the top two teams from the round robin. If all three teams finish 1-1, point differential will determine who plays for the championship. Here for the innovation.

Now that we have a handle on the new format, here are a few standout players to watch on every squad.

🇺🇸 Team Stars: From the strength and on-court swagger of Anthony Edwards (Minnesota Timberwolves) to the scrappiness of Tyrese Maxey (Philadelphia 76ers), Team Stars is ready to shine bright. They also boast seven-footer Chet Holmgren (Oklahoma City Thunder) for all things defense.

🇺🇸 Team Stripes: No Steph Curry? No problem. Even without the injured Golden State Warrior, Team Stripes’ veteran power is hard to ignore, led by 22-time All-Star LeBron James (LA Lakers), Durant (Houston Rockets), and workhorses Jaylen Brown (Boston Celtics) and Jalen Brunson (NY Knicks).

🌍 Team World: Much like Team Stripes, Team World will be without one of their best stars: injured reigning league MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. There’s still tons of talent though, with Nikola Jokić (Denver Nuggets), Dončić, and Victor Wembanyama (San Antonio Spurs) all on the same team. How lucky are we?