NBA legend left out of All-Star starters for first time in 21 years: meet the teams

The NBA marks a milestone with the 75th edition of the All-Star Game. The showcase event, part of All-Star Weekend, will be played on February 15, 2026, at the Intuit Dome in Inglewood, California – the newly built home of the Clippers. There, the game’s biggest stars will meet under a brand-new format: the United States versus the rest of the world. It is an experiment embraced by commissioner Adam Silver in the hope of breathing life into a matchup that long ago lost much of its sporting edge and that, for the world’s top league, has increasingly become another commercial vehicle and a stage to parade its leading figures. That goal is achieved even as a sense of weariness has settled over the occasion.

As every year, the first step in the sprint toward Sunday night – one day after the highly publicized skills competitions – is the unveiling of the starters: five from the Eastern Conference and five from the Western Conference. Following the announcement on TNT’s traditional television special, these 10 players will take the floor from the opening tip on a night that is meant to be magical, even if that aim is not always met – and lately, almost never.

Eastern Conference starters:

• Tyrese Maxey (shooting guard, Philadelphia 76ers)
• Jaylen Brown (small forward, Boston Celtics)
• Cade Cunningham (point guard, Detroit Pistons)
• Giannis Antetokounmpo (power forward, Milwaukee Bucks)
• Jalen Brunson (point guard, New York Knicks)

Western Conference starters:

• Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (point guard, Oklahoma City Thunder)
• Stephen Curry (point guard, Golden State Warriors)
• Luka Dončić (point guard, Los Angeles Lakers)
• Victor Wembanyama (center, Phoenix Suns)
• Nikola Jokić (center, Denver Nuggets)

What’s new in the NBA All-Star Game?

The announcement of the starters comes with a headline absence: LeBron James will not start for the first time in 21 years, dating back to his rookie season. The King, now in his 23rd NBA campaign, with more than 50,000 points scored across the regular season and playoffs and an astonishing collection of longevity records, was left out of the West’s starting five, the conference he has belonged to since signing with the Lakers in the summer of 2018. Averaging 22.6 points, six rebounds and seven assists – extraordinary numbers at age 41 – he can still be selected as a reserve, although the player himself has hinted that he is not particularly eager to take part, a stance confirmed by his agent, Rich Paul.

Dončić, meanwhile, earns his sixth All-Star appearance after missing out last year; Wembanyama starts for a second straight season; and Giannis and Jokić further cement their status as ever-present figures on the grand stage. The oldest of the starters is Curry, 37, who makes his 12th All-Star Game, his sixth in a row after missing the 2020 edition – the only one he has skipped since 2014. Players such as James Harden (11 appearances), Kawhi Leonard (six) and Kevin Durant (15) also miss out on the top 10 vote-getters, though they remain eligible as reserves.

As has been the case since 2017, the starters are chosen through a combination of fan voting – which counted for everything before that year and now accounts for 50% – alongside votes from players (25%) and the media (25%). The reserves are selected by the coaches, with seven players per conference. That produces 12 players on each side. If changes are required after the initial selection, usually due to injury, commissioner Adam Silver appoints a replacement, adding another All-Star nod to a résumé that still matters greatly to the league’s stars.

What is the NBA All-Star Game format?

On November 12, 2025, the NBA announced the already-mentioned new format for the All-Star Game, pitting the United States – still holding a clear numerical advantage – against the rest of the world. Sunday’s action will take the form of a round-robin tournament with three teams: two made up of American players and one of international players, each with at least eight players, for a total of 24.

The two teams with the best records advance to the final. If all three teams are tied after the third game, point differential will serve as the tiebreaker. All four games will be played in 12-minute time limits, an attempt to make the night more engaging. Whether it succeeds in rekindling competitiveness remains to be seen.

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