Biggest NBA All-Star Game Snubs: Kawhi Leonard, Alperen Sengun Among Notables Left Out

The 14 reserves for the 2026 NBA All-Star Game were revealed on Sunday, and the LA Clippers, who will host the game at Intuit Dome, will have no All-Stars.

Los Angeles Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard, right, takes a pass as Brooklyn Nets guard Reece Beekman defends during the first half of an NBA basketball game in Inglewood, Calif., on Jan. 15, 2025. AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill

The 2026 NBA All-Star Game will take place on Feb. 15 from the Intuit Dome in Los Angeles. Two weeks prior to 24 of the league’s best gracing the floor, the rest of the All-Star rosters were revealed.

The 10 starters were previously announced but the remaining 14 reserves were unveiled on Sunday. As is always the case with All-Star and Pro Bowl events, the supply of worthy players exceeds the demand available due to roster limitations.

Several noteworthy players got the All-Star snub this year—here are several who were left out of the 2026 NBA All-Star Game.

Kawhi Leonard, Los Angeles Clippers

At 34 years old, and 14 years into his NBA career, Kawhi Leonard is having his best season. His 27.7 points are a career high, his 2.1 steals lead the league and are his most in 11 years, and he’s even topping the NBA with a 93.6 free throw percentage. That’s doing it on both ends of the court for a resurgent Clippers squad, and Leonard’s stats are historic.

He’s on pace to become just the third player ever to average at least 27 points, two steals and shoot 90 percent from the free throw line, joining a pair of Warriors in Rick Barry (1974–75) and Stephen Curry (2015–16).

Perhaps the ongoing drama regarding Leonard’s alleged involvement in a “no-show” endorsement deal, which in turn helped the Clippers circumvent the salary cap, played a role in his All-Star snub. That’s a shame if that is the case, especially since the Clippers are the host of this year’s event at the Intuit Dome.

Michael Porter Jr., Brooklyn Nets

Yes, you can look at Brooklyn’s 13–34 record and say it isn’t deserving of any All-Stars, but then how did Pascal Siakam of Indiana make it when the Pacers are even worse at 13–36? It seems the league’s U.S. vs. The World format played a role in that as Siakam, from Cameroon, helped the World Team reach the eight players it needed for the contest.

Porter is averaging both more points (25.6 to 23.8) and rebounds (7.3 to 6.9) than Siakam, while posting a blistering 61.8 shooting percentage. That efficiency from the field has allowed the former Nugget to average 3.8 made 3-pointers per game, which trails only Steph Curry (4.5) this season. However, Porter’s biggest impact comes in what matters the most—team success—as the Nets are 12–26 when he plays, admittedly not great, but historically bad at 1–8 when he doesn’t play.

Brandon Ingram, Toronto Raptors

The Raptors have a top 4 seed in the East, with Ingram’s debut season in The Six having much to do with that. He’s putting up 21.9 points to go along with 5.9 rebounds and 3.7 assists, while playing efficiently. Ingram’s averaging just 2.6 turnovers, cutting last year’s mark of 3.8 by nearly one-third.

While All-Star Scottie Barnes is the Raptors’ best player, Ingram is Toronto’s best scorer, which is a need for the team. The Raptors are a defensive-oriented squad, so someone like Ingram who props up the offense could have been acknowledged with his second All-Star nod.

Desmond Bane, Orlando Magic

Three Orlando starters in Franz Wagner (21 games), Jalen Suggs (20), and Paolo Banchero (10) have missed double-digit games this season. Meanwhile, Bane, in his first year in Orlando, has played and started in all 47 of his team’s games, providing much-needed consistency. He got off to a slow start in adjusting to a new team but he’s looked like the pseudo-All-Star he was in his last few years in Memphis.

Over Bane’s last 36 games, he’s putting up over 20 points a night on 38 percent from beyond the arc, while also averaging over 4 rebounds and 4 assists per game. He’s also the biggest reason for Orlando’s jump on the offensive end of the court from one of the worst teams to league average. Last season, the Magic were 27th and 28th in offensive rating and points per game, respectively, but are 17th and 18th this season.

Five years ago, then-teammate Ja Morant was named the NBA’s Most Improved Player and gave the trophy to Bane, who Morant felt was more deserving of the honor. Unfortunately this year, no Magic players were named All-Stars, so none of them can, symbolically, do the same as Morant did.

Alperen Sengun, Houston Rockets

Houston is a top 4 seed in the West, and along with the Oklahoma City Thunder, is the only NBA team to rank among the top 5 in both offensive rating and defensive rating. That comes despite the team lacking a true point guard with the offseason injury to Fred VanVleet, as Sengun has been the lynchpin to the Rockets’ success on both ends of the court. He leads the team in rebounds (9.2), assists (6.4), steals (1.4) and blocks (1.0), while ranking second to All-Star member, Kevin Durant, in points (21.0).

Sengun, Nikola Jokic, and Jalen Johnson are the only players ranking in the top 15 in both rebounds per game and assists per game. Sengun is someone who could very well get an All-NBA selection at the end of the year but missed out on the All-Star Game midseason. However, of all of the players on this list, he has the best chance of being named as an injury replacement seeing as Team World will have to fill the void of injured starter Giannis Antetokounmpo, and the Turkish Sengun is the biggest international snub.