For many years now, the NBA has been trying to figure out a way to fix the All-Star Game. While always an exhibition to show off the skills of the game’s best players, there was a level of competitiveness that would always come through in prior generations, something Los Angeles Lakers legend Kobe Bryant regularly pushed for in the final years of his career.
Unfortunately for the NBA, things have only gotten worse in that regard and the All-Star Game has become borderline unwatchable to many fans around the world, leading to the league trying many different formats. Now, they are switching things up for the 2026 NBA All-Star Game.
The league announced a USA vs. World formats in which three teams, two featuring US-born players and a third featuring international stars, will face off in a round-robin tournament. Some version of a USA vs. World format had been previously rumored, but exactly how it would work was unclear until now.
This will replace last season’s All-Star format where four teams of eight players each faced off in a single-elimination tournament. Three teams were made up of the 24 All-Stars, with five starters and seven reserves from each conference, while the fourth team was the winner of the Rising Stars Challenge. Starters were still chosen via fan, media and player voting while head coaches voted for the reserves in their respective conferences.
Prior to that, the league had dropped the traditional East vs. West format in 2018, in favor of a playground-style draft with the leading vote-getter in each conference being named captains and choosing their own teams from the All-Star pool. Captains would then first choose their starters before filling out the rest of their roster with the reserves and the draft would be televised.
Barring any more unforeseen injuries, the Lakers are sure to have at least one All-Star in superstar guard Luka Doncic, who is on an absolute tear. Austin Reaves also has an excellent chance at making his first All-Star appearance should he continue at his level of play to start the season.
The big question is whether LeBron James will extend his unprecedented run of 21 consecutive All-Star appearances. He has yet to debut this season and that could hurt his chances, but he will still surely receive plenty of fan support, which could be enough to push him through.
2026 NBA All-Star Game format explained
For the 2026 NBA All-Star Game, two teams of U.S. players and one team of international players will compete in a round-robin tournament featuring four 12-minute games total. The three teams will each have a minimum of eight players. Team A will play Team B in Game 1. The winning team from Game 1 will take on Team C in Game 2, followed by the losing team of Game 1 meeting Team C in Game 3.
Following Game 3, the top two teams by record will advance to face each other in the championship game. If all three teams have a 1-1 record after Game 3, the tiebreaker would be point differential.
The process for selecting the All-Stars remains the same with 12 players from each conference receiving the honor. Starters will be selected via a combination of fan (50%), players (25%) and media (25%) votes with the head coaches voting on the seven reserves from each conference. However, this year there will be no position designations and the process for assigning players to the two U.S. teams has yet to be determined.
If necessary, American players with ties to other countries can be used to fill out the international roster. But should the voting not result in 16 US players and 8 international players, Commissioner Adam Silver will select additional All-Stars in order to fill out either group.
That means that for the first time, there could potentially be more than 24 All-Stars suiting up.
When and where is 2026 NBA All-Star Game?
The 2026 NBA All-Star Game will take place on Sunday, Feb. 15 at 2 p.m. PT at the Intuit Dome in Inglewood, CA, home of the Los Angeles Clippers. The showcase will be aired on NBC and Peacock.
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