San Francisco is set to host the NBA All-Star Game in 2025. The announcement, made by the NBA on Monday November 6th, revealed that the Chase Center in San Francisco will be the venue for the game on Feb. 16, 2025, marking the first time since 2000 that the Bay Area will host this marquee event.

For Golden State Warriors and NBA superstar Stephen Curry, it’ll be the first chance to participate in the All-Star festivities on his home turf after a career spanning nine All-Star appearances. NBA Commissioner Adam Silver acknowledged the global appeal of Stephen Curry, stating, “Steph has such global appeal, everywhere he goes the games sell out and people want to see him. I think in some ways the fans here in the Bay Area are a bit spoiled… I’d say it’s a true bonus we’re coming here while we’re still in Steph’s prime.”

The way that Steph is playing this season, it’s not a stretch that he would make the All-Star team. The question is whether he’ll be playing for the Western Conference or the USA Team.

USA All Stars vs. All-World All-Stars

While the exact format for the 2025 All-Star Game remains undecided, Silver floated the idea of a Ryder-Cup style format, with U.S. players facing an International team. Despite experimenting with a draft system in the past, Silver emphasized the need for the game to resemble “real basketball,” expressing a desire to return to a more traditional format.

The prospect of a “World vs. USA” All-Star Game has been discussed over the last several years so much so that players have been asked about it. Giannis Antetokounmpo expressed confidence in a World team victory, stating, “I would be confident that we will win.” 

The hypothetical matchup would feature a roster of the 12 best American-born players against the 12 best international-born players, creating an intriguing dynamic for both players and creating a competitive environment – something previous NBA All-Star Games have lacked. No doubt NBA fans would be intrigued too, running to casinos with same-day withdrawals to place bets down on whether size or speed would win.

the rise of the internationals isn’t something that happened overnight, they have been franchise players for a couple decades now but no time in NBA history has the top 10 players had arguably 5-6 foreign-born players starting with Antetokounmpo, Doncic, Jokic and Embiid. While we’re a couple years away, but it wouldn’t be difficult to create a 12-man roster of foreign born players. These 20 Players are candidates for the World All-Stars in 2025

• Nikola Jokic, Serbia
• Giannis Antetokounmpo, Greece
• Luka Doncic, Slovenia
• Joel Embiid, Cameroon
• Shai Gilgeous Alexander, Canada
• Victor Wembanyama, France
• Lauri Markennen, Finland
• Pascal Siakam, Cameroon
• Domantas Sabonis, Lithuania
• Jamal Murray, Canada
• Karl Anthony Towns, Dominican Republic
• Alperen Sengun, Turkey
• Rudy Gobert, France
• Deandre Ayton, Bahamas
• Nikola Vucevic, Montenegro
• Kristaps Porzingis, Latvia
• Bojan Bogdanovic, Croatia
• Franz Wagner, Germany

Embiid, Antetokounmpo, Jokic, Doncic, and SGA would be locks for the team. Past that, we personally would fill out the World All-Star Team with Markennen, Siakam, KAT, Jamal Murray, Wembanyama, Sabonis and Franz Wagner.

We chose Wagner over Gobert so that the World team would have more speed on the perimeter. Speed would be the one glaring weakness on the All-World Team; especially with the USA All-Stars having perimeter-heavy players with the likes of Steph Curry, Kevin Durant, Devin Booker, Jayson Tatum, De’Aaron Fox, and Anthony Edwards.

However the World Team would be BIG and LONG potentially boasting a roster that could include six players seven feet or taller:  7-0 Joel Embiid, 7-0 Karl Anthony Towns, 7-1, Nikola Jokic, 7-0 Lauri Markennen, 7-5 Victor Wembanyama and 7-0 Domantas Sabonis. 

With Team USA losing to Germany, Canada, and Lithuania at the 2023 World Championships (and with players from each of these countries), a Team USA vs the NBA’s All-World Team would be an interesting and format that’s sure to fire up the competition of the game. With the NBA’s decision to bring the All-Star Game to San Francisco in 2025, combined with the potential All-World vs. All-USA format, sets the stage for an unforgettable and globally resonant basketball spectacle.