The 2025 NBA All-Star Game will see a new format for the league’s midseason exhibition, with a four-team, three-game tournament taking place on Sunday. The first matchup pits Kenny’s Young Stars vs. Chuck’s Global Stars, as Kenny Smith’s roster of up-and-comers takes on Charles Barkley’s squad of international talents. Then, Shaq’s OGs vs. Candace’s Rising Stars sees Shaquille O’Neal’s grizzled All-Stars facing Candace Parker’s Rising Stars champions (Team Mullin). The two semifinal winners will then square off in the 2025 NBA All-Star Game Championship, with the winner of all three games being the first team to reach 40 points.
The first matchup of the NBA All-Star Game 2025 tips at 8:20 p.m. ET, with the Final having an approximate tip of 10 p.m. ET. The Global Stars are 3.5-point favorites over the Young Stars, per the latest NBA odds, while the OGs are favored by 6.5 points over the Rising Stars. Shaq’s OGs are the +105 favorites (risk $100 to win $105) as the outright winner of the All-Star Tournament, followed by Chuck’s Global Stars at +160. Bucks guard Damian Lillard won the NBA All-Star Game MVP last year and is listed at +1500 (risk $100 to win $1,500) to win it in 2025. Before making any 2025 NBA All-Star Game picks, be sure to see the NBA predictions from SportsLine’s Mike Barner.
Barner is one of the most respected voices in the industry. His expertise has been on full display lately as he is is on an amazing 80-52 run on his last 132 NBA player prop picks, returning $1,836 to $100 players. Anyone following at sportsbooks and on betting apps could have seen huge returns.
Now, Barner has set his sights on the 2025 NBA All-Star Game. You can visit SportsLine now to see the picks. Here are the latest NBA odds and trends:
- Team Kenny vs. Team Chuck spread: Team Chuck -3.5
- Team Shaq vs. Team Candace money line: Team Shaq -6.5
- NBA All-Star Game tournament odds to win: Team Shaq +105, Team Chuck +160, Team Kenny +350, Team Candace +1100
- NBA All-Star Game picks: See picks at SportsLine
- NBA All-Star Game streaming: FuboTV (Try for free)
2025 NBA All-Star Game predictions
One surprise: Barner is not backing Team Kenny, despite it having young and hungry players whose games are tailor-made for a pick-up-style contest like the All-Star Game, such as former No. 1 overall picks Anthony Edwards and Cade Cunningham. Team Kenny has youth on its side with just one player over 25 years old and an average age of 24.8, but with that youth comes inexperience at All-Star Weekend.
Only one member of Team Kenny — Jalen Brunson — was elected an All-Star starter, while Team Charles has five such starters, and Team Shaq has the remaining four. Being a starter is not only due to the popular vote from fans but also merit-based votes from the media and fellow players based on performance during the first half of the year. Thus, Kenny Smith’s group of youngsters isn’t quite of the same caliber as the more veteran-laden groups of other All-Stars, save for Team Candace.
Speaking of Team Candace, if you want to lean towards youth, then her group of Rising Stars has that edge over Team Kenny. However, before Team Kenny would even have a chance to match up with the Rising Stars team, it would have to get past Team Chuck, which Barner notes has the two leading MVP candidates in Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Nikola Jokic, not to mention a size advantage with Victor Wembanyama, Karl-Anthony Towns and Alperen Sengun. With five players 6-foot-8 or taller, compared to Team Kenny having just two players taller than 6-foot-6, Barner doesn’t even foresee Team Kenny advancing to the NBA All-Star Game Final. See who he is backing at SportsLine.
How to make 2025 NBA All-Star Game picks
Barner believes one crucial X-factor will help another team win it all, making them a must-back. He’s sharing who it is over at SportsLine.
So who wins the NBA All-Star Game 2025, and what crucial X-factor makes one team a must-back? Visit SportsLine right now to get Barner’s overall champion, all from the NBA handicapper who is 80-52 on his past 132 NBA player prop picks.
CBS Sports Staff
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