NBA All-Star 2026: What to Expect

With the All-Star break approaching, here is a rundown of everything you can expect from this year's event in Los Angeles.

(Image credits to: NBA)

Practical information

This year's All-Star weekend is being hosted in the Intuit Dome in Los Angeles, home of the LA Clippers. The event takes place on the weekend of 13-15 February, with the main game being hosted on the 15th. This year's All-Star weekend includes: a media day, celebrity game, rising stars tournament, All-Star Saturday night, and the All-Star game following a new format. 

The Format

This year's All-Star game will follow the new “World vs. USA” format. There will be 3 All-Star teams; two made up of American players, and one consisting of players from other countries. They will be competing in a round robin format with 12-minute games.

In the tournament, Team A will be playing Team B in game one. The winning team from game one will play Team C in game 2, followed by the loser of game one facing-off against Team C. After the 3 games, the two teams with the best record will play for the Championship. If all teams have a 1-1 record, the tiebreaker would be the points differential.

All-Star Saturday

Just like every year, the All-Star Saturday will include the point contest, dunk contest, and skills challenge. These challenges aren’t just for All-Stars, other players are able to compete as well. Sometimes these aren’t even NBA players, like Mac McClung in the dunk contest. These challenges are - most of the time - meant to be fun and create a bit of a spectacle.

The Schedule

Friday February 13th

• Ruffles NBA All-Star Celebrity Game

  7 p.m. ET (on ESPN) -  Kia Forum

• Castrol Rising Stars

 9 p.m. ET (on Peacock) - Intuit Dome

• NBA HBCU Classic Presented by AT&T

 11 p.m. ET (on Peacock) - Intuit Dome

Saturday 14 February

• NBA All-Star Media Day Presented by AT&T

 1:30 p.m. ET (on NBA tv) - Intuit Dome

• NBA All-Star Saturday

 5 p.m. (on NBC and Peacock) - Intuit Dome

Sunday 15 February

• 5 p.m. ET (on NBC and Peacock) - Intuit Dome

This Year's All-Stars

The starters for this year's All-Star game were picked by the fans (50% of the vote), current players (25% of the vote), and a media panel (25% of the vote). There will be 12 players from each conference. The 7 reserve players per conference will be picked by the NBA head coaches. This year's starters are:

Eastern Conference: Giannis Antetokounmpo, Jaylen Brown, Jalen Brunson, Cade Cunningham, and Tyrese Maxey

Western Conference: Luka Doncic, Stephen Curry, Shai Gilgeous Alexander, Nikola Jokic, and Victor Wembenyama

The reserves are not yet known, and the team composition with the new format will be revealed later.

This simple guide has provided a rundown of the basics of the All-Star format and was created in the hopes that it allow viewers to enjoy one of the biggest and most exciting spectacles of the NBA season. Whether you are just checking in for the All-Star game, or watching the whole weekend, this guide aims to help you remember when, where, and who.

Article written by Norah d’Hont ©Norah d’Hont 2026