On Sunday, February 15, a new NBA All-Star format debuted, to celebrate the 75th edition of the friendly match in the middle of the regular season, and to improve reception following the criticised recent editions. The format consisted of a round robin tournament between three teams: USA Stars, USA Stripes, and World, four 12-minute games in total.
Team World was eliminated, losing 37-35 to the Stars and 48-45 to the Stripes. Team World featured some of the best players in the league coming from abroad, but the absence of Giannis Antetokounmpo and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander due to injury, and weak performances by Luka Doncic and Nikola Jokic (only two points, two rebounds and two assists combined) meant their elimination.
The matches, however, were more competitive, with very close results (USA Stripes beat USA Stars 40 in the round robin match) except for the final, where the Stars defeated the Stripes 47-21, with Anthony Edwards, shooting guard for Minnesota Timberwolves, being named MVP.
Fan reception for this format, both at the stadium and watching at home on NBC, was greatly improved from the previous All-Star editions.