NBA All-Star Game lineups announced; Clippers’ Kawhi Leonard included
Stephen Curry will reunite with Olympic teammates LeBron James and Kevin Durant at the upcoming NBA All-Star Game.
The league revealed the rosters for this season’s midseason showcase event on Tuesday evening, distributing 25 players across three teams. This marks the introduction of a new All-Star format — this time featuring U.S. vs. The World, scheduled for Feb. 15 at the LA Clippers’ venue in Inglewood, California.
πΊπΈ USA STARS. USA STRIPES. WORLD. π
Introducing the 2026 NBA All-Star Game Rosters!
The three teams will engage in a round-robin tournament, with the top two teams progressing to the championship match.
π Sunday, Feb. 15, 5pm/et, NBC and Peacock pic.twitter.com/lhwz8lY9Wu
— NBA (@NBA) February 4, 2026
This concept, which commissioner Adam Silver believes will evoke national pride among the players, comes at an opportune moment. The game will be broadcast on NBC, which is also covering the Milan Cortina Olympics that commence later this week and continue until Feb. 22.
The U.S.-vs.-World idea had been discussed for several years before it materialized this season. The NBA and the National Basketball Players Association introduced the long-anticipated plan in their latest effort to rekindle interest in the game following a tournament format that received mixed reviews last season.
Kawhi Leonard of the Clippers, arguably the most deserving player omitted from the initial list of 24 All-Stars, was added to the pool of U.S. players on Tuesday just before the rosters were announced. This adjustment likely resulted in New York’s Karl-Anthony Towns being placed on the World team.
Towns, who was born in New Jersey, has represented the Dominican Republic in international basketball, which is his late mother’s country of origin.
The NBA had indicated in recent months that it would modify roster sizes as necessary to ensure that all three teams had a minimum of eight players, as required by the new format. Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo is not anticipated to participate for the World team due to injury, which is why that squad consists of nine players.
The U.S. teams were categorized by age: the older players were assigned to USA Stripes, coached by San Antonio’s Mitch Johnson, while the younger players were designated to USA Stars, coached by Detroit’s J.B. Bickerstaff. Earlier on Tuesday, Toronto’s Darko Rajakovic was appointed as the coach of the World team.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
