It's the US (and the US) against the world as the NBA All-Star Game tries yet another format

INGLEWOOD, Calif. (AP) — The NBA is trying its fourth All-Star Game format in four years this weekend as it attempts once again to answer one of the bigger existential questions in professional basketball.

How do you get both the players and their fans to care about this midseason showcase?

The newest scheme appears to be the most promising yet, at least according to people like Victor Wembanyama who still believe this game should matter. A team of veteran American All-Stars, a team of younger U.S. players and a third team representing the rest of the world will play a round-robin tournament of 12-minute games Sunday, with the top two meeting again in the final.

It's bold and different, but will it make the All-Stars give more effort than they've provided in these glorified pickup games over the past two decades? And will this setup draw in TV viewers who are already in a nationalistic mood from watching the Winter Olympics?

“I think it definitely has a chance to, and the reason is simple, in my opinion,” Wembanyama said Saturday. “We’ve seen that many of the best players have been increasingly foreign players, so there is some pride on that side. I guess there is some pride also on the American side, which is normal. So I think anything that gets closer to representing a country brings up the pride.”

Others aren't so sure, to put it bluntly.

“With the teams split up, you don’t really know who you’re playing with or what the score is,” Kawhi Leonard said. “I’d rather it just be East and West, and just go out there and compete and see what the outcome is. I don’t think a format can make you compete.”

“Yeah, it is what it is at this point,” Minnesota's Anthony Edwards said with a smirk.

This new concept is debuting in the NBA’s newest arena: Intuit Dome, the futuristic $2 billion basketball shrine opened in 2024 by Los Angeles Clippers owner Steve Ballmer. All-Star Saturday featured Damian Lillard's third career victory in the 3-Point Contest, followed by Miami's Keshad Johnson winning the Slam Dunk Contest.

While the players got a welcome weekend in the Southern California sun, the league is optimistic they'll also provide a more entertaining product on Sunday.

“I’ve had conversations with our guys ... and our guys are coming to play,” said Detroit’s J.B. Bickerstaff, who will coach the younger American team. “They’re going to set a tone. I know that for sure, and I know that the group we have is a group of competitors. So I think the new format is going to help. It’s going to raise the level of competition and put some pride in the game, and then you’ll see the stars that are here being the best of themselves.”

The distinctions on these rosters are more than a bit fungible. The younger Americans' team is called the “Stars,” and the older players are “Stripes," but injury dropouts have blurred the lineups.

The World team has a powerhouse lineup with Wembanyama, Luka Doncic and Nikola Jokic — but it also includes Norman Powell, a born-and-raised Californian who plays for Jamaica internationally, and Karl-Anthony Towns, a New Jersey native who represents his mother’s Dominican Republic.

The NBA has repeatedly changed its All-Star format in the past decade while the sport wrestles with declining interest from both television audiences and the players themselves. The NBA ditched the long-standing East vs. West conference battle in 2018 to allow captains to pick their teams for six seasons, only to go back to the East vs. West format for a year before introducing a four-team tournament last year in San Francisco.

That tournament drew decidedly mixed reactions while Stephen Curry won the MVP award in his home arena. The NBA liked the mini-tournament format enough to bring it back for another year but with the added twist of nominally dividing the players by nationality.

With this iteration, the league is hoping that national pride and novelty will lead to entertaining hoops — but injuries have taken a toll even before the ball is tipped.

Curry won’t be playing for only the third time in the past 13 years, while the World team will be without Giannis Antetokounmpo and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, two former league MVPs. But Leonard will represent the hosts, while Luka Doncic and LeBron James will play despite injury concerns.

James is appearing in his record 21st All-Star Game after being selected for the 22nd time in his unprecedented 23-year career.

The changes could spark excitement, but they're also a bit confusing to fans who grew up watching the East take on the West each winter. That includes Pistons All-Star guard Cade Cunningham, who doesn't think he's really had the true All-Star experience yet.

“I grew up just wanting to be in the All-Star Game, (and) my only two years now, it’s been these different formats,” Cunningham said. “I would like to experience the East versus West. I want to be able to experience what all the greats played in, but I’m just playing the cards I was dealt. I’m sure it will come back eventually.”

AP NBA: https://apnews.com/NBA

Detroit Pistons' Jalen Duren arrives at the NBA All-Star basketball game media day Saturday, Feb. 14, 2026, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Milwaukee Bucks' Giannis Antetokounmpo walks with a rose in his mouth during the NBA All-Star basketball game media day Saturday, Feb. 14, 2026, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Los Angeles Lakers' Luka Doncic talks to reporters during the NBA All-Star basketball game media day Saturday, Feb. 14, 2026, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

San Antonio Spurs' Victor Wembanyama talks to reporters during the NBA All-Star basketball game media day Saturday, Feb. 14, 2026, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

San Antonio Spurs' Victor Wembanyama talks to reporters during the NBA All-Star basketball game media day Saturday, Feb. 14, 2026, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — With Brazil entering the joyous throes of Carnival, Alpine ski racer Lucas Pinheiro Braathen on Saturday gave it another reason to celebrate — an Olympic medal.

It was the first-ever medal at the Winter Games for any country in South America. And not just any medal: Gold.

The win for the 25-year-old known in Brazil as “O cara do ski” — the skiing dude — happened on the first full day of Carnival, the pre-Lenten party that fills city streets with revelers drinking and dancing to their hearts' content. Even if lots of ordinary Brazilians were more preoccupied with that bacchanal, Pinheiro Braathen's gold-medal glory bumped Carnival news from top spots on major news websites. It was another in a series of recent scores for Brazil on top global stages that have provided what some view as long-overdue acclaim.

“This has become one of my top five Brazil gold medals in Olympic history, no doubt,” radio host and sports fanatic Thiago Varella, 41, told The Associated Press from Campinas, a city where Pinheiro Braathen has relatives and took several childhood vacations. “He will be our skiing dude forever. Even people who don’t understand the sport now will come to admire his story and his Brazilian-ness.”

In Milan, several hundred fans packed into Brazil House, a gathering spot organized by its Olympic committee. They erupted, toasting their beer bottles and singing soccer-style chants with Lucas' name. Michelin-starred Brazilian chef Raphael Rego distributed warm cheese bread, traditional breakfast fare back home, before dancing to samba alongside Bruno Fratus, a bronze-winning swimmer in Tokyo’s Summer Games. Wearing green-and-gold, many joined a conga line led by Ginga, the Brazilian Olympic team’s mascot.

“We’re used to this feeling a lot in (soccer), sometimes in volleyball, but, you know, it’s a winter sport, it’s a snow sport,” said Aline Fialho of Recife, in Brazil's northeast. “We don’t have snow in Brazil, so it’s a little bit surreal, but I feel very proud.”

Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva celebrated on his social media channels.

“This unprecedented result shows Brazilian sport has no limits. It is the reflection of talent, dedication and continuous work to strengthen sport in every dimension,” Lula said. “Congratulations to Lucas Pinheiro and all the team involved in this historic achievement, which inspires new generations and widens the horizon for Brazilian sport.”

The soccer-mad nation of 213 million excels at sports in the Summer Olympics, but not so for those on ice and snow. So Pinheiro Braathen and skiing were unlikely to have been at the top of most Brazilians' minds even in a non-Carnival weekend.

Still, the nation started getting excited as it woke up to the possibility of his achievement. At 6 a.m. local time Saturday, the country’s dominant TV network, Globo, was showing alpine skiing alongside Carnival coverage.

After his second and final run, Globo played a song that many Brazilian men, women and children know, bringing home his victory's importance. “Tema da Victoria” ("Victory Theme," in Portuguese) was the soundtrack after every win by Formula 1 driver Ayrton Senna, a national hero and three-time world champion who often challenged and defeated European rivals.

“It is a Brazilian Carnival in the Italian snow!” said TV Globo commentator Paulo Andrade.

In Rio de Janeiro, people were split between curious and celebratory.

Driver Alexandre Novais heard about the skier competing in Italy, but didn't know his name. Stopping at a gas station in Rio’s up-market Ipanema neighborhood, he was impressed that anyone from Brazil could compete in the snow — a far cry from the 30 degrees Celsius (86 Fahrenheit) in Rio. Pinheiro Braathen until 2023 competed for Norway, switching to Brazil last season and adding his mother’s surname.

“I heard of him, I am glad he won," said Novais, 35. "I'm more of a soccer fan, but anyone who chooses to be Brazilian deserves our support.”

Nathalia Martínez, a 25-year-old Colombian in Rio for Carnival, was in her hotel’s lobby when people started screaming with joy. She said she felt proud to see the Brazilian cry as he tried to sing the national anthem.

“That’s 100% Latin America. No Norwegian athlete would be so emotional on the podium. I can say I felt a little represented by him, too,” Martinez said. “I'm really curious to see whether Brazilians will start wearing skiing gear as Carnival costumes.”

Pinheiro Braathen, 25, has embraced his Brazilian heritage, giving interviews in Portuguese and decorating his helmet with “Vamos Dançar” — “Let’s Dance.” He has said his start in sports came from soccer, not skiing, and that his first hero was the World Cup-winning Ronaldinho.

Pinheiro Braathen’s quest for Olympic glory forms part of the nation’s recent achievements on the world’s biggest stages. Many Brazilians have lamented that the country and its cultural makeup and output have long gone underappreciated. There's even an infamous term that for decades encapsulated what writer Nelson Rodrigues perceived as Brazil’s sense of inferiority compared to other nations: “mongrel complex." He coined it in 1950, following the national soccer team’s humiliating World Cup loss at home.

That has been changing. The feature film “I’m Still Here” had box office success at home and abroad, and its nomination for three Academy Awards created something of a frenzy ahead of the awards ceremony last March. It won best international feature, giving Brazil its first Oscar. This year, the film “The Secret Agent” has been nominated for four more, including best picture and best actor.

Pinheiro Braathen’s supporters in Milan said he has helped Brazil gain recognition beyond its usual claims to fame.

“We are showing that we are more than samba and (soccer),” said Giovana Biondo, who is from Sao Paulo and volunteering at the Games. “We love both and we are still very good at both. But I think it’s really sending a message to the whole planet that we are more than the Carnival.”

After his win, Pinheiro Braathen told Globo that he wanted to share his victory with everyone cheering for him in Brazil.

“This can be a point of inspiration for the next generation of children, showing them that nothing is impossible. It doesn’t matter where you’re from. What matters is what’s inside. What the heart does," he said. "I bring Brazilian strength today to bring this flag to the podium. This is Brazil’s.”

Dazio reported from Milan. Associated Press writer David Biller contributed.

AP Winter Olympics coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics

Brazil's Lucas Pinheiro Braathen kisses his gold medal for an alpine ski, men's giant slalom race, at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Bormio, Italy, Saturday, Feb. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)

Supporters of Brazil's Lucas Pinheiro Braathen react at the Brazil House as he starts his second run in the men's giant slalom at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Saturday, Feb. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni)

Brazil's Lucas Pinheiro Braathen speeds down the course, during an alpine ski, men's giant slalom race, at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Bormio, Italy, Saturday, Feb. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Gabriele Facciotti)

Brazilian fans cheer during the medal ceremony of an alpine ski, men's giant slalom race, won by Brazil's Lucas Pinheiro Braathen, at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Bormio, Italy, Saturday, Feb. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

Supporters of Brazil's Lucas Pinheiro Braathen react at the Brazil House as he wins the men's giant slalom at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Saturday, Feb. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni)