Greek player Giannis Antetokounmpo (East) and Serbian player Nikola Jokic (West) lead the list of players selected for the 2026 NBA All-Star Game, which will be played in Los Angeles from February 13 to 15, the league announced Monday.
The United States anthem gets booed before an NBA game in London
In addition to Antetokounmpo (Milwaukee Bucks), the Eastern Conference selections were Jalen Brunson (New York Knicks), Cade Cunningham (Detroit Pistons), Tyrese Maxey (Philadelphia 76ers) and Jaylen Brown (Boston Celtics).
In the West, they will be joined by Jokic (Denver Nuggets), Luka Doncic (Los Angeles Lakers), Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (Oklahoma City Thunder), Stephen Curry (Golden State Warriors) and Victor Wembanyama (San Antonio Spurs).
These are the first ten players selected by the fans (50%), players (25%) and journalists (25%) for an All-Star Game that debuts a new format and for the first time will not pit East against West.
Once the list of players selected for the All-Star is complete, they will be distributed into two teams from the United States and one from the rest of the world who will compete in a round-robin mini-tournament before a final between the two best teams.
For Curry, it will be his 12th All-Star appearance, more than any of the other players announced on Monday. He is followed by Antetokounmpo with 10 appearances and Jokic with eight.
LeBron James was left out of the first group of selections after 21 consecutive editions.
The All-Star Game will take place at the Intuit Dome in Inglewood, the home of the Clippers and the league’s most modern arena, which will open in the 2024-25 season.
“It’s as special as the first one was, honestly,” the Canadian said of his nomination. “I grew up watching All-Star games as a kid, dreaming of playing in them. Being able to play in them will always have that same feeling. All the players I looked up to, who I imitated in my game, played in those games, played on that stage. And for me to be able to do it is a blessing and an honor.”
There will be three teams of at least eight players. The games will be one standard NBA quarter, or 12 minutes long.
Team A will play Team B in the first game. The winner of that game will play Team C in the second. The loser of the first game will play Team C in the third game.
The teams with the two best records will play in the championship game. If all three teams are 1-1, point differential would be the tiebreaker.
The league typically has 10 starters chosen by weighted formula voting, then 14 reserves by the coaches, and that is also the case this year.
