The 2025 NBA All-Star Game is here with a lot of the same names but a new look.The 2023 All-Star Game featured captains drafting teams. The 2024 event moved back to East vs. West. Now, in 2025, we’re playing a four-team tournament. What that says about All-Star Weekend’s broader, existential issues is a matter of debate.
What it says about betting All-Star Weekend is to be very, very careful. These events keep changing because they’re not working. Betting on All-Star Weekend, to some extent, means betting on players who may or may not take the proceedings seriously.
I can’t tell you who’s going to try to win on Sunday. But I can help guide you strategically through the minefield that is the All-Star betting market. While I will offer picks below for all of the major events, what is more important is the thought processes I’ll guide you through below. There’s no reliable way to pick winners on All-Star Weekend, but you can almost always at least find the right value.
Before our picks, let’s take a look at tonight’s schedule.
Where to watch 2025 NBA All-Star Game
- Time: First semifinal at 8:20 p.m. ET | Date: Sunday, Feb. 16
- Location: Chase Center — San Francisco
- TV channel: TNT | Live stream: Max
- Live updates: Follow along
All-Star Game(s) best bets
I’m going to go a bit unconventional here. Rather than suggesting a single pick to win the All-Star Tournament, I’m going to give an overall strategy. We’re not playing for a huge payout here. We’re playing the arbitrage game.
Take a look at the lines for the individual All-Star matchups. You’ll notice that while Team Chuck vs. Team Kenny is relatively even on the moneyline, Team Shaq is a -450 favorite over Team Candace in the other game. That’s because Team Candace consists of the winning squad from the Rising Stars Challenge. When the real All-Stars take the floor, Cinderella’s slipper is going to get smashed. As lackadaisically as some veteran stars tend to take All-Star Games these days, they are not going to want to be upstaged by a bunch of rookies and sophomores. All-Stars don’t want to get embarrassed.
2025 NBA All-Star Game rosters, teams: Full list of players with four squads competing in new-look format
Sam Quinn
So what can we do with that information? Well, you can get Team Shaq at plus-money odds on FanDuel (+100) to win the whole thing. So here’s what I’m proposing: grab that line now, ahead of time. Let the first two games play out. If Team Shaq gets upset by the Rising Stars, well, my whole plan was ruined anyway. If they indeed win that game, however, they are likely favored in the championship over either Team Chuck or Team Kenny. So just live bet the other side. You’re not trying to figure out which All-Stars are going to care enough to fight for a win here or which of these ridiculous rosters make the most sense. You’re just shorting the rookies and sophomores. Is it especially bold? No, but gimme a break, I picked the G Leaguers to win Rising Stars.
All-Star MVP best bets
Picking the MVP is tricky this year, given the multi-team format. Normally, we’d say to always pick a starter. No reserve has won since Russell Westbrook in 2015. The tricky thing this season is that we don’t know who’s going to start. The NBA named 10 starters… but there are three All-Star Teams. That means 15 players will start, but more importantly, with less depth, everyone is likely to play more. Therefore, we probably have to table the starter rule.
That’s especially true, given the untimed nature of these games. We’re playing to a target score of 40, which is a pretty small sample. That means that the winning team will finish this tournament with 80 total points, so all it will take to win this thing, in all likelihood, will be a few hot stretches. That suggests we should lean towards scoring guards. History is on our side there. Since 2010, the only two big men to win All-Star MVP have been Anthony Davis and Giannis Antetokounmpo. Otherwise, it’s all perimeter players.
So how do we whittle it down from there? The obvious pick would be Stephen Curry at +550. He’s the hometown hero this weekend, and he plays for Team Shaq, so if you assume, as I have, that no veteran All-Stars are going to lose to a Rising Stars team, you can feel relatively safe in assuming that he’ll at least reach the final. I just can’t get there on a +550 favorite in such a wide field. I want better odds.
Fortunately, there are two longer shots that make a lot of sense. Team Chuck, built largely around international players, is largely comprised of big men. There are only three perimeter players on the team: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (+800), Donovan Mitchell (+2400) and Trae Young (+4200). I’m not crazy about Mitchell. Outside of his 40-point explosion in 2023, his All-Star history has been quiet. But Gilgeous-Alexander scored 31 points as a starter a year ago, and as the regular-season MVP favorite, all eyes will be on him. Young is the value play. He has a chip on his shoulder after not getting selected to the All-Star game initially, and he’s tailor made for the All-Star format with his deep 3s and flashy passes.
Those would be my two favorite picks on the board, but I’d want to round out a portfolio with a Team Shaq pick just to cover my bases. Curry is out. How about Damian Lillard at +1400? He’s scored at least 26 points in his last three All-Star Games, so we can safely say he takes the proceedings seriously. He’d be a repeat winner, something the All-Star Game hasn’t had since Westbrook did it in 2015 and 2016, but as the format has changed so drastically, that’s not something I’d pay much mind. Between Lillard, Gilgeous-Alexander and Young, we have three of the tournament’s best “get hot over a short period and steal the show” candidates on our bingo card.
