2026 NBA All-Star: Notable omissions and unexpected selections as complete lineups announced
With February approaching, the 2026 NBA All-Star Game is only two weeks away. The starters were revealed on January 19, featuring Luka Doncic, Stephen Curry, Nikola Jokic, Victor Wembanyama, and the reigning MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander from the Western Conference. The Eastern Conference starters include Jalen Brunson, Cade Cunningham, Jaylen Brown, Giannis Antetokounmpo, and Tyrese Maxey.
The reserves were disclosed on Sunday, highlighting Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James and Kevin Durant from the West, along with Donovan Mitchell and Karl-Anthony Towns from the East.
ESPN NBA Insiders Zach Kram and Kevin Pelton analyze the complete rosters for both conferences, discussing notable surprises and omissions, and offering their bold predictions.
Which player were you most surprised to see on the roster?
Pelton: LeBron James stands out as the obvious choice, but the inclusion of Karl-Anthony Towns was unexpected considering the skepticism surrounding his performance this season, particularly amid the Knicks’ recent struggles. I believe teammate Mikal Bridges has been New York’s second-best player after starter Jalen Brunson. While Towns’ history supports the decision, it remains surprising.
Kram: LeBron. It may seem absurd to be astonished that a player with 21 consecutive All-Star appearances would make it 22. However, given that James missed the initial month and his statistics have declined in his age-41 season, along with the intense competition in the Western Conference, it was unexpected that his name was the last revealed during the All-Star roster announcement.
Which player were you most surprised to see left off?
Pelton: Kawhi Leonard. Unless this is a covert aspect of the NBA’s investigation into Leonard’s endorsement deal with Aspiration, I fail to understand it. Leonard has been among the top-10 players this season, and after a rough start, the LA Clippers have emerged as one of the league’s hottest teams since Christmas. Anthony Edwards was the only West reserve I would have selected over Leonard. If I were choosing a multi-time Finals MVP playing in L.A., Leonard would have been an obvious choice over James.
Kram: Alperen Sengun was a first-time All-Star last season, has shown improvement as a defender, and boasts superior statistics this year while helping lead the Houston Rockets to the second-best point differential in the West. New Rocket Kevin Durant was a guaranteed selection, but I believe Sengun should have provided Houston with a second All-Star representative, even if that meant Devin Booker was left out and the surprising Phoenix Suns did not have a single player on the team.
Are we getting close to enough international All-Stars to do a normal USA/World 12 vs. 12 game?
Pelton: We may be nearing parity in terms of international players compared to East vs. West. Part of the answer hinges on how flexible the NBA is willing to be with its definition of international. Donovan Mitchell recently argued to Andscape’s Marc J. Spears that he would like to represent Panama, where his grandmother was born. If the NBA embraced every possible case like that or Kyrie Irving (born in Australia but raised in the U.S.), they could reach 12 without compromising the essence of being an All-Star.
Kram: There are nearly enough deserving international players to complete a 12-person roster; if that were the structure this season, the eight actual international All-Stars would likely be joined by Sengun, Lauri Markkanen, Franz Wagner (despite limited playing time), and Joel Embiid. (Embiid was born in Cameroon but plays for Team USA internationally; the NBA could also opt to include Towns, who was born in New Jersey but represents the Dominican Republic, as an international player.) Josh Giddey, OG Anunoby, and Dillon Brooks also have potential cases.
However, those players generally do not present better All-Star arguments than the ninth-through-12th-best Americans, so I would not recommend such a significant change at this time. Let’s observe how the format functions with three teams (two American, one international) this year before determining if the NBA should alter the All-Star format again.
Give us one bold prediction for the All-Star Game/mini-tournament.
Pelton: The NBA benefits in the short term from altering the format. Drafting teams and implementing a target score (also known as the “Elam ending”) initially led to more competitive games before devolving into the defense-free play we have witnessed recently. I could envision the international team in particular taking the competition seriously and compelling their American counterparts to elevate their performance. However, I do not foresee this or any other change “fixing” the All-Star Game in the long run.
Kram: Victor Wembanyama will earn MVP honors. Big men seldom receive this award at the All-Star game — it has gone to a guard or wing in 13 of the last 15 years, with Anthony Davis and Giannis Antetokounmpo as the only exceptions — but Wembanyama is so competitive that he will gain an edge simply by approaching the event with seriousness. In his first All-Star game last year, he led his team in scoring (11 points in seven minutes), and he and Chris Paul were disqualified for attempting to exploit a loophole in the skills challenge.
