The NBA Commissioner, Adam Silver, might have an opportunity to add that star power to the Winter Olympics. Appearing on the Rich Eisen Show, Chris Brockman had a blockbuster idea for the 63-year-old. “Basketball should be in the Winter Olympics.” What?

Well, the NHL took a break from Feb 6-24 to send the players to represent the USA for the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan, Italy. Moreover, the league is halfway through its 2025-26 season, but took a pause for the biggest event overseas. Therefore, Brockman’s question seems valid: Why can’t the NBA do the same?

“Every four years, you get rid of the All-Star Game because you have the best stars play on the world stage at the Winter Olympics. It’s perfect,” the reporter advised. However, others in the studio chimed in, saying that Adam Silver won’t let this happen.

Now, if we talk stats, then maybe, taking a break from the ASG wouldn’t harm the NBA. To begin with, viewership is a trouble that the league has been facing for a while now. But this year, the numbers looked slightly promising.

The 2026 NBA All-Star Game, debuting a USA vs The World format, drew an average of 8.8 million viewers across NBC, Peacock, and Telemundo, with a peak audience of nearly 10 million. According to preliminary Nielsen figures and Adobe Analytics digital data, it marked the event’s largest viewership since 2011. A major surge of 87% compared to last year’s 4.7 million.

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Coming back to basketball at the Winter Olympics. Adam Silver’s approval could solve the biggest problems the event has been facing for years, and that is: diversity.

Adam Silver could end the Winter Olympics’ major concern

The Winter Olympics still struggles with a core problem. Outside a small group of athletes, mostly from mountainous European nations, the Games lack diversity and star power. In the United States, only rare figures like Lindsey Vonn or Shaun White break into mainstream culture. As a result, global buzz lags behind the Summer spectacle. Therefore, the IOC should rethink its criteria and add the world’s most popular winter sport in practice: basketball.

The IOC does not classify basketball as a winter sport because it plays the game indoors without ice or snow. However, rules have shifted before when convenient. The Winter Games went to Sochi, Russia, a beachside resort where temperatures rarely drop 40 degrees below, and to Beijing, where organizers manufactured snow. If climate flexibility exists, policy flexibility can too. If a sport thrives during winter, that should be enough.

Moreover, basketball would elevate the Winter Games worldwide while easing pressure in the summer. The tournament has surged recently, with France and Serbia challenging Team USA. Yet it competes with track and field, gymnastics, and swimming across 329 medal events in 32 sports in Paris. Meanwhile, Milan Cortina will host 116 medal events in 16 sports. Growth remains limited if snow and ice remain strict barriers.

Well, Adam Silver is already considering stretching his arms in Europe with a joint league with FIBA. He is also thinking about the NBA’s expansion. So why not consider the Winter Olympics proposal? Once every four years, the All-Star Games could pause as the U.S. would go on its pursuit of more basketball glories.