Are you one of those sickos who actually enjoys professional sports’ all-star games?! Most all-star games are much maligned nowadays, none more so than the NBA’s annual “contest”. When the players clearly don’t care about the game, it’s hard for the fans to. However, the league thinks they may have fixed that problem with some drastic changes to this year’s game, which is being played in the Golden State Warriors’ Chase Center. And, more importantly, the new format allows more spots for us to get bets down, so there’s at least one positive. Here are your 2025 NBA All-Star Game picks & predictions.
2025 NBA All-Star Game Picks & Predictions
2025 NBA ALL-STAR GAME(S)
Start Time – 8:20 PM EST
The Game(s) part above is not a typo – we are actually getting three games played on Sunday, instead of the traditional one NBA All-Star Game. This year the NBA is offering up a three-game tournament with four competing teams. Two semifinal games to 40 points, then a championship game to the same total – 40. So three games to bet on instead of one!
Three of the teams’ rosters – Team Chuck, Team Kenny, and Team Shaq – will be filled with eight NBA All-Stars each. The fourth team – Team Candace – will be the winning team from the Castrol Rising Stars tournament played on Friday between rookies and sophomores.
Here are the rosters of the three actual All-Star Teams.
Shaq’s OGs
LeBron James
Stephen Curry
Jayson Tatum
Kevin Durant
Damian Lillard
James Harden
Jaylen Brown
Kyrie Irving
Coach: Shaquille O’Neal
Kenny’s Young Stars
Anthony Edwards
Jalen Brunson
Jaren Jackson Jr.
Jalen Williams
Darius Garland
Evan Mobley
Cade Cunningham
Tyler Herro
Coach: Kenny Smith
Chuck’s Global Stars
Nikola Jokic
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
Victor Wembanyama
Pascal Siakam
Alperen Sengun
Karl-Anthony Towns
Donovan Mitchell
Trae Young
Coach: Charles Barkley
Quick thoughts – good luck Coach Smith keeping all those Jalens/Jarens straight. And the United States is technically part of the “globe” so Donovan Mitchell and Trae Young’s inclusion on the Global Stars roster checks out. We obviously don’t know the fourth team yet since we’re waiting for Friday’s action, but the Rising Stars rosters are not impressive, and one of the teams is a roster of G League players. Good luck Coach Candace Parker.
Now, can we finally get down to some winning bets? Sure thing.
Team Kenny vs Team Chuck – 8:20 PM Eastern
We kick things off with the Young Stars vs the Global Stars. And for all these All-Star Game picks and predictions, we’re going to assume that all the participating players will play hard (I know – not a realistic assumption, but I don’t know how to handicap potential effort given by a player).
I’m surprised to see the youngsters (Team Chuck) as a pretty big -175 favorite for this game, so I’ll happily kick things off with a nice-sized dog. A team with the top two players in the league – Nikola Jokic and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander – shouldn’t be an underdog in any game.
Best Bet: Team Kenny ML (+145)
Team Shaq vs Team Candace – 9:10 PM Eastern
The squash match of the day is Team Shaq vs Team Candace. Unless Shaq’s team totally dogs it (which I guess isn’t out of the question considering who their coach is and since it is an All-Star Game), the kids don’t stand a chance. I guess the Rising Stars team will have more motivation to play hard, but the veterans also don’t want to get shown up.
Best Bet: Team Shaq -6.5 (-110)
Since we don’t know at this point who will be in the actual championship game on Saturday, my last play will be a pick for which team will hoist the championship trophy over their heads on Sunday evening. And my pick is the Global Team to beat the OGs in the finals. As for the MVP, let’s get a great number on Jokic
Tournament Winner Best Bet: Team Chuck (+190)
All-Star Game MVP: Nikola Jokic (+2500)
