The annual midseason exhibition of the world’s best basketball players has arrived in Los Angeles as the city will host the 2026 NBA All-Star Game on Sunday.
For the first time ever, the All-Star Game will have a USA vs. The World concept. This could be a one-year thing—as it happens to coincide with the Winter Olympics taking place—or it could be the future of the NBA All-Star Game.
But before we speculate on future playings of this game, let’s simply focus on the NBA All-Star Game 2026. Here are the top things to know for the 75th edition of the annual showcase of the league’s biggest stars.
4 Games, 3 Teams
The 25 All-Stars have been split into three teams: nine are on Team World, eight are on USA Stars, and eight are on USA Stripes. Team World is, obviously, made up of international players with two notable exceptions, which will be explained later. Meanwhile, the two American squads are split between young players on USA Stars (average age of 24) and veterans on USA Stripes (average age of 32).The USA Stars will face Team World in the first game of the round-robin mini-tournament. Then, USA Stripes will play back-to-back games: first against the Game 1 winner and second against the Game 1 loser. Finally, the championship game will consist of the top two teams based on record, and if there’s a three-way tie after the third game, then point differential will be the tiebreaker. All four games will have a 12-minute limit.
2 Americans in Team World
Of the nine players on Team World, five were born in Europe, one hails from Canada, one is African-born, and two are from the United States.Karl-Anthony Towns who is from New Jersey, and Norman Powell who was born in San Diego are on Team World but have international ties. Towns’ mother was Dominican, and the big man has represented the Dominican Republic National Team since 2012. Powell is of Jamaican descent, and he has represented the nation in international play, including playing for the Jamaican National Team in FIBA Qualifiers last summer.
6 First-Time All-Stars
Powell is among a half-dozen players making their NBA All-Star Game debut, with half of them on Team World and the other half on USA Stars. Joining Powell on the international team are Deni Avdija and Jamal Murray, with the latter making his debut a decade after he was drafted in 2016.The newcomers for USA Stars are Jalen Johnson, Chet Holmgren, and Jalen Duren. After turning 22 just a few months ago, Duren is the second-youngest participant in the 2026 NBA All-Star Game—just weeks older than Victor Wembanyama, who turned 22 last month.
22 and Counting
Speaking of 22, that’s also how many All-Star Game appearances LeBron James will have come tipoff. That extends his own NBA record, as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is second with 19 appearances.
As you’d expect, James holds a host of All-Star Game records including most points (434), most minutes, most field goals made and attempted, and most 3-pointers attempted. He’s also tied for the most triple-doubles in All-Star Game history (1), courtesy of his 29-point, 12-rebound, 10-assist performance in 2011.
The Triple-Double Club
Seemingly every other night, someone goes off for a triple-double in a regular season game. But those have been few and far between in the All-Star Game. There have been just four occurrences in the first 74 editions of the game, including James’ aforementioned. The other three members of the All-Star triple-double club include Michael Jordan (1997), Dwyane Wade (2012) and Kevin Durant (2017).There’s a good chance this four-man club can extend to five, or more, come Sunday. The NBA’s leader in triple-doubles, Nikola Jokic with 20, is part of Team World. In fact, three of the four players with the most triple-doubles this season are taking part in festivities with Jokic, joined by Jalen Johnson (10 triple-doubles) and Luka Doncic (6).
All-Star Game MVP History
Interestingly, none of the four players who recorded All-Star Game triple-doubles actually won the NBA All-Star Game MVP award that year. However, history could be made if LeBron James wins his fourth All-Star Game MVP, as that would tie him with Kobe Bryant and Bob Pettit for the most ever. Kevin Durant (2) is the only other player in this year’s game with multiple MVP awards.Another noteworthy fact about the All-Star Game MVP is that 21 percent of them have been won by someone who plays home games within the market that’s hosting the contest. That includes last year when Steph Curry of the Warriors won it in his home arena of the Chase Center.
Additionally, three of the last five All-Star Games played in the Los Angeles area have been won by players within that market, which would seem to favor either Kawhi Leonard, LeBron James, or Luka Doncic for this year’s edition.
NBA All-Star Game Records
The single-game records for the NBA All-Star Game are:- 55 points (Jayson Tatum, 2023)
- 27 rebounds (Bob Pettit, 1962)
- 22 assists (Magic Johnson, 1984)
- 16 made 3-pointers (Steph Curry, 2022)
- 8 steals (Rick Barry, 1975)
- 6 blocks (Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, 1980)
The 2026 NBA All-Star Game will take place at 5 p.m. ET from the Intuit Dome, home of the Los Angeles Clippers. The game will be broadcast on NBC and will stream on Peacock.
