Suns' Devin Booker Calls for NBA All-Star Game Rosters to Be Expanded

Phoenix Suns guard Devin Booker would support the NBA potentially expanding All-Star rosters to 15 players per conference after being left out of the 2025 event, according to ESPN's Tim MacMahon.

The 2025 NBA All-Star rosters, featuring 12 players from the Eastern and Western Conferences, were announced on Thursday night.

Booker named the Dallas Mavericks' Kyrie Irving, Los Angeles Clippers' Norman Powell, Atlanta Hawks' Trae Young and Charlotte Hornets' LaMelo Ball as players who should have been part of the rosters.

"I think there's enough talented guys out here that are deserving," Booker said Friday, per MacMahon. "I mean, you look at Kyrie, Norman Powell, those guys are having unbelievable, efficient years and winning games. And on the East, I'm sure there's guys too like Trae and LaMelo that are just putting up unheard-of numbers.

"So the more talent in there, the better I think."

NBA All-Star rosters have featured 12 players per conference since 1982. At the time, there were 23 teams in the league.

Despite the NBA's expansion over the following decades, the NBA has stuck with a dozen All-Stars per conference despite commissioner Adam Silver saying in 2015 he was "in favor" of expanding the rosters.

At the time, Silver noted that the expansion would have an impact on how many players receive the All-Star bonuses built into their contracts. He also said adding more players could work if coaches use a platoon system to even out playing time in the All-Star Game.

An eventual expansion to 32 teams could theoretically provide the impetus for bigger All-Star Game rosters. For now, the focus on All-Star snubs like Ball, who currently trails only MVP candidates Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Nikola Jokić in points per game, could put more pressure on the NBA to consider updating the event in the future.