Potential International lineup for Team USA vs World future All-Star Game format

NBA commissioner Adam Silver made headlines on Saturday during an interview on CNN when he was talking about the All-Star game. He suggested the league would look at a format for the game that would pin a team of United States players against a team of international players.

There is certainly no guarantee that this idea will ever come to light, but it is a fascinating hypothetical scenario. Currently, none of the top four favorites for NBA MVP hail from the United States, and there are more international players in the NBA than ever.

This format could also cause some issues; like an imbalance of all-stars. For example, only four of the 24 players to play in the 2024 All-Star game were international players. So they’d have to find a way to make this work without punishing players for the country they were born in. 

But with more and more international players entering the league, it’s an interesting idea that could increase competition. There could be intrinsic motivation in representing your country along with your NBA team, and while an American team would have more depth, it’s hard to argue the international team would be lacking high-end talent.

For the sake of argument, let’s pretend this hypothetical battle was to go down today and project how it would play out with everybody at full health. We’ll also imagine for the sake of this game that Joel Embidd would play for the international team as he has ties to France, Cameroon, and the United States. 

Let’s imagine the roster for Team USA could look something like this.

Starters

Guard - Stephen Curry

Guard - Anthony Edwards

Forward - Jayson Tatum

Forward - Kevin Durant

Center - Anthony Davis

Bench

Guard - Devin Booker

Guard - Damian Lillard

Guard - Tyrese Haliburton

Forward - LeBron James

Forward - Kawhi Leonard

Forward - Jimmy Butler

Center - Bam Adebayo

I’m sure people will quibble with some of my selections, and that’s fine I am open to being persuaded on the margins, but overall it’s a pretty good snapshot. That’s obviously a very good team, with strengths all over the court. Now let’s look at which players may round out our international team, with 5 starters and 7 reserves.