Starters for 2026 NBA All-Star Game Revealed
- Jake C
- 3 days ago
- 3 min read
Updated: 3 days ago
Next month’s starters for the 2026 NBA All-Star Game in Los Angeles were announced on Monday.
Los Angeles Lakers’ superstar LeBron James is an omission from the starting lineup for the first time since his rookie season of 2003-04. Filling out the game’s starters out of the Western Conference are Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (Oklahoma City Thunder), Stephen Curry (Golden State Warriors), Luka Doncic (Los Angeles Lakers), Victor Wembanyama (San Antonio Spurs), and Nikola Jokic (Denver Nuggets). The starters out of the Eastern Conference are Jalen Brunson (New York Knicks), Tyrese Maxey (Philadelphia 76ers), Cade Cunningham (Detroit Pistons), Jaylen Brown (Boston Celtics), and Giannis Antetokounmpo (Milwaukee Bucks).
The NBA implemented a new format for the 2026 All-Star Game, a round robin-style tournament where three teams of eight - two teams of American All-Stars and one team of international All-Stars - will compete. Gilgeous-Alexander, Doncic, Jokic, Antetokounmpo, and Wembanyama comprise five of the eight international all-stars for the competition.
Maxey has been somewhat of a revelation for the 23-18, 5th-seeded 76ers. The 25-year-old is third in the NBA in scoring at 30.2 points per game, while shooting an efficient 47.5% from the floor and dishing out 6.7 assists per game. His 30.2 per contest is a near four-point improvement from his 26.3 points per game in 2024-25.
Brown’s 29.8 points per game (6.6 rebounds, 4.7 assists) are fourth in the NBA, as the 29-year-old is leading a surprising Celtics’ team that at 26-16 is third in the Eastern Conference, a positive outcome thus far as the team is without Jayson Tatum and was just 8-7 through the first 15 games this season.
The Pistons lead the Eastern Conference at 31-10, and are guided by their 24-year-old budding superstar Cunningham (he may be one already). The star guard is averaging 25.7 points (45.2%), 9.8 assists (2nd in the NBA), and 5.9 rebounds per game.
Brunson leads the 25-18 Knicks (3rd in the Eastern Conference) at 28.1 points per game on 47.8% shooting and 6.1 assists per game.
Antetokounmpo has played 28 games due to a calf injury and is averaging 28.5 points, 9.8 rebounds, and 5.5 assists in just 29.0 minutes per game. The Bucks are 11th in the conference with an 18-24 record.
Gilgeous-Alexander’s Thunder are tops in the Western Conference at 36-8, and the Canadian leads the way with 31.8 points per game (54.8%) along with 6.2 assists and 4.3 rebounds.
Wembanyama’s Spurs are right behind the Thunder in the standings at 30-13, with the phenom averaging 24.8 points, 10.8 rebounds, and 2.6 blocks in 28.7 minutes per game in 20 starts (29 games, due to a hyper-extended knee).
The Nuggets, third in the conference at 29-14, continue to house the game’s best player in Jokic, who is averaging 29.6 points (6th), 12.2 rebounds (1st), and 11.0 assists per game (1st). The big man has been out of action since sustaining a knee injury on Dec. 29 at Miami.
The Warriors at 25-19 are eighth in the conference, and are led by Curry’s 27.4 points per game. The 37-year-old is shooting 47.0% from the field, 38.9% from downtown, and 93.1% from the free-throw line. With Jimmy Butler out for the season because of a torn ACL, more onus will be on Curry & Co. going forward.
The Lakers are 25-16 (6th in the conference) and Doncic leads the NBA with 33.3 points per game while also registering 8.6 assists and 7.5 rebounds per game. James has played in 24 games and is averaging 22.6 points, 6.9 assists, and 5.9 rebounds per game.
You can make a strong case for a starting spot for the Los Angeles Clippers’ Kawhi Leonard, who has shown a career resurgence this season with a career-high 28.2 points per game (49.7%) with 6.3 rebounds. While the Clippers sport an under .500 record of 19-23, they have won six consecutive games as of Jan. 20 and eight of their last 10. Leonard and James Harden (26.1 points, 8.1 assists) have been the catalysts, particularly Leonard who has games of 41, 55, and 45 points this season. Leonard is likely to be named to the game as another American player, with Harden a question mark as teams with underwhelming records tend not to have two all-stars.
The 2026 NBA All-Star Weekend runs from Feb. 13-15, with the round-robin competition to be played on Sunday, Feb. 15 from the Intuit Dome in Inglewood, Calif., home of the Clippers.