USA vs The World: It probably wouldn’t be competitive

The NBA is actively exploring a significant shift for its 2026 All-Star Game: a USA vs. World format, pitting American-born players against the league’s rising international stars. Per The Athletic, the idea follows a disappointing response to the three-game mini-tournament in 2025, and inspired by the NHL’s successful “Four Nations Face-Off,” featuring players competing by country.

The 2026 NBA All-Star game is scheduled for Los Angeles’ Intuit Dome during NBC’s broadcast of the Winter Olympics, making it an ideal stage to showcase the Association’s global identity. After returning as an All-Star broadcaster for the first time since 2002, NBC is pushing for a fresh, internationally resonant forma. This marketing move reflects a structural shift already playing out on the court.

It’s no longer a novelty to see international names atop NBA leaderboards. The last six MVP awards have gone to players born outside the United States: two for Giannis Antetokounmpo (Greece/Nigeria), two for Nikola Jokić (Serbia), one for Joel Embiid (Cameroon), and consecutive frontrunner seasons from Luka Dončić (Slovenia). In 2025, all three MVP candidates are again international, making it seven (7) in a row.

First Look: USA vs. World

If the NBA went forward with a USA vs. World All-Star Game, here’s what the starting fives could look like:

USA Team vs. World Team:

PG: Jalen Brunson | Luka Dončić (Slovenia)

SG: Anthony Edwards | Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (Canada)

SF: LeBron James | Giannis Antetokounmpo (Greece)

PF: Kevin Durant | Joel Embiid (Cameroon)

C: Anthony Davis | Nikola Jokić (Serbia)

To explore the potential outcomes of such a matchup, I asked ChatGPT to simulate 10,000 games using a simplified scoring model based on player impact ratings (85–98). The result: the World Team won 98.3% of simulations, which tells us two things: (1) ChatGPT doesn’t truly understand basketball (LeBron alone would give the Americans at least 1,000 wins); but (2) with four recent MVPs and strong secondary talent, the World lineup wasn’t just competitive on paper, it was dominant.

Table 1: USA vs World lineups