NBA All-Star Weekend brought a new format to the All-Star Game, which consisted of four different teams playing in a tournament-style environment. Outside of the actual basketball games, there were long breaks that consisted of side challenges with fans, music performances, and dedications. At the end of the game, players were asked about the format, and Trae Youg gave his honest thoughts.

“Nah, I didn’t like it at all to be honest with you,” Young said. “I don’t know what the fans reaction was yet, but it was too many breaks. It was too long of a break. Guys were over there ready to play. I thought it was very competitive in the beginning, but as the games kept going on, I think it was too long of breaks.”

There was a 17-minute break in between the final game, which honored TNT for their work, and it felt like that ended up being longer than the actual game.

“That's too long of a break,” Young said. “I didn't know how long it was, but it felt like it was 30 minutes. For me, I'm a traditional East-West guy, I think there's a way to make an incentice to make guys compete really hard, and do the best players from the East and best players from the West.”

Trae Young and others share thoughts on new format

Chuckís Global Stars guard Trae Young (11) of the Atlanta Hawks shoots the ball against Kennyís Young Stars during the 2025 NBA All Star Game at Chase Center.
Cary Edmondson-Imagn Images
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Trae Young was not the only person who wasn't a fan of the new All-Star Game format. During multiple times on the TNT broadcast, Draymond Green did not let up on the new format, and when asked what he would rank it on the scale of 1-10, he said, “Zero. It sucks. Awful.”

“Now we get the ‘treat’ of watching the Olympic team against a U19 team. C’mon. What are we doing? This is ridiculous. Awful,” Green continued. “The [Rising Stars] shouldn’t have been out there… They never belonged on that court. Those games weren’t exciting at all.”

There's no doubt that things will have to change again next season for players and fans to enjoy the full All-Star experience because the reviews weren't the best.

Many people think that they should just go back to the regular East versus West, and the winner of the game gets home-court advantage in the NBA Finals, which isn't a bad idea. Some actually liked the four-team format, but they didn't like all the breaks that came in between in the game.