The NBA All-Star Game has been a staple of the league for decades. It’s an honor to be named an All-Star, as it marks the league’s top players in any given year. But in 2025, the NBA is trying something extremely different for the format of the weekend, abandoning the single-game format they employed previously.
This year’s 24 All-Stars were split into three teams to compete in a four-team, single-elimination tournament. The fourth team was the winner of the Rising Stars tournament, which was the same format with four teams (three of NBA youngsters and one made up of G League stars).
This could be great news for Boston Celtics fans who want to see Jayson Tatum’s name remain in the history books.
New All-Star Game format means Jayson Tatum record will live for a long time
In the 2023 All-Star Game, Tatum set the all-time record for the most points ever scored in a single contest. He dropped a 55-point performance, taking home the MVP award in the process.
Obviously, there have only been a couple of games since then, but with the NBA’s recent format change, it seems unlikely that Tatum’s record will be broken any time soon.
See, while the new All-Star Game format features a three-game tournament (two semifinalmatchups and one finals game), they aren’t full 48-minute contests. Instead, the teams play until one side hits 40 points. And if that’s the case, it will literally be impossible for a player to break Tatum’s record.
Even if the NBA decides to count points scored in both games, that means one player would have to score 55 out of a potential 80 points over the span of two games for his team.
Unless the NBA brings back a format where there is one normal game, then it seems as though the Celtics superstar’s record will live in the history books for a long, long time.
And based on the way this year’s All-Star Game went, that is looking like the case.
The event was very entertaining this season. For the last few years, there was no defense being played, and it was clear that nobody on the court cared who won. But the tournament style and 40-point target score added some extra juice to the games.
Teams were trying to win, and since the target score was just 40 points, it never felt like a side was truly out of it.
So, if the NBA runs it back and keeps seeing success, then Tatum’s record may live for years into the future.