Jalen Brunson was the oldest player on Kenny Smith’s 2025 NBA All-Star team.
In a desperate attempt to reclaim the former glory of the NBA All-Star weekend, the league tried a new format in 2025.
Let’s just say, the ideas were good, but the execution? It was far from perfect. After all, fans barely saw the All-Stars compete during the “All-Star weekend.”
The league introduced a new mini-tournament format where three teams of NBA All-Stars and one team of Rising Stars competed for the trophy.
The three teams were drafted by Inside the NBA’s crew Shaquille O’Neal, Charles Barkley, and Kenny Smith. New York Knicks star Jalen Brunson played for Kenny’s team, but he was puzzled by his selection.
Each TNT drafter went ahead with a plan in mind when drafting their teams. Shaq’s OGs featured the older NBA stars, while Chuck’s Global Stars focused on drafting international players.
Keeping that in mind, Kenny’s Young Stars was a team with players 25 years old or younger, with the exception of Brunson who is currently 28 years old. JB was as confused as fans when he was drafted to Kenny’s team.
“[Kenny Smith] came in, ‘This is the young stars of the league, I didn’t want to draft anyone over 25.’ And then everyone looked at me. Yeah, I’m 28. So, I was like, ‘Ah,’” Brunson said.
It was an interesting choice on Smith’s part. He could have stayed true to his team’s motto had he drafted either Alperen Sengun or Victor Wembanyama, who are both under 25 years old.
Even with Brunson’s addition, Team Kenny hardly made a dent in the new ASG format, where the first team to 40 points sealed the win.
Kenny’s Young Stars went against Chuck’s Global Stars in their first game. However, they were handed a 41-32 defeat.
As for the final results, the experience ultimately paid off for Team Shaq as they cruised past the Rising Stars and Chuck’s Global Stars to become the first team to clinch the new ASG trophy.
