2026 NBA All-Star: Biggest Surprises and Snubs Revealed

With February now here, the NBA All-Star Game is scheduled to take place in only a fortnight. The initial lineup was revealed on January 19, featuring Luka Doncic, Stephen Curry, Nikola Jokic, Victor Wembanyama, and current MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander representing the Western Conference. For the Eastern Conference, Jalen Brunson, Cade Cunningham, Jaylen Brown, Giannis Antetokounmpo, and Tyrese Maxey were designated as the starting players.

The substitute players were disclosed on Sunday, with LeBron James, the Los Angeles Lakers’ prominent player, and Kevin Durant among those chosen for the West, alongside Donovan Mitchell and Karl-Anthony Towns for the East.

ESPN’s NBA analysts, Zach Kram and Kevin Pelton, analyze the complete Eastern and Western Conference rosters, highlighting the most unexpected inclusions and notable omissions, before offering their audacious forecasts.

What athlete’s inclusion on the lineup generated the most astonishment for you?

Pelton: LeBron James stands out as the obvious selection, but the addition of Karl-Anthony Towns was unexpected, largely due to the considerable skepticism surrounding his performance this year and the somewhat underwhelming showing of the Knicks. In my opinion, Mikal Bridges, a fellow team member, has been the second-most impactful player for New York, trailing only starting guard Jalen Brunson. Considering Towns’ historical accomplishments, his selection is defensible, though it remains surprising.

Kram: James. It might seem illogical to express astonishment regarding an athlete achieving his 22nd consecutive All-Star appearance, having already participated in the previous 21. However, James was absent for the initial month of the season, his statistical output has diminished in his 41st year, and the talent pool in the Western Conference is intensely competitive, leading numerous observers to be taken aback that his name was the final one revealed during the All-Star team declaration.

Who was the athlete whose omission from the list caused you the most astonishment?

Pelton: Kawhi Leonard. He has performed as a top-tier athlete this season, and following a terrible beginning, the LA Clippers have emerged as one of the league’s most dominant teams since the holiday period. Among the Western Conference reserve players, Anthony Edwards was the sole individual I would have selected ahead of Leonard. If the criterion was to choose a multiple-time Finals MVP competing in Los Angeles, Leonard would have been an straightforward preference over James.

Kram: Alperen Sengun participated in his inaugural All-Star event last year, has refined his defensive capabilities, and boasts superior overall statistics this season, simultaneously guiding the Houston Rockets to achieve the second-highest point differential in the Western Conference. Kevin Durant, a recent addition to the Rockets, was an undisputed choice, but I believe Sengun merited providing Houston with an additional All-Star nominee, even if that implied Devin Booker’s exclusion and the unexpected Phoenix Suns failing to have a representative on the squad.

Are we approaching a sufficient number of international All-Stars to stage a standard 12-on-12 contest between Team USA and a World team?

Pelton: The balance between international players and their domestic counterparts might be more equitable than the East versus West division. A portion of the response hinges on the NBA’s precise classification of an “international” player. Donovan Mitchell recently conveyed to Marc J. Spears of Andscape his desire to compete for Panama, the birth country of his paternal grandmother. Should the NBA consider every potential scenario of this nature, or for individuals like Kyrie Irving (who, despite being born in Australia, spent his formative years in the U.S.), they could realistically assemble a roster of 12 without diminishing the prestige associated with being an All-Star.

Kram: There is nearly an adequate supply of deserving international athletes to form a complete 12-member squad; if such a structure were adopted this season, the existing eight international All-Stars would probably be supplemented by Sengun, Lauri Markkanen, Franz Wagner (notwithstanding limited game time), and Joel Embiid. (Embiid originates from Cameroon but competes for Team USA on the international stage; the NBA might also opt to categorize Towns, who was born in New Jersey but represents the Dominican Republic, as an international selection.) Furthermore, Josh Giddey, OG Anunoby, and Dillon Brooks present plausible, though less certain, arguments for inclusion.

Nevertheless, these individuals generally do not possess superior qualifications for All-Star recognition compared to the American players ranked ninth through twelfth, thus I would not currently endorse such a significant alteration. It would be prudent to observe the performance of the three-team structure (comprising two American squads and one international) this year prior to determining if the NBA ought to revise the All-Star configuration yet again.

Provide a single audacious forecast concerning the All-Star Game or its accompanying mini-competition.

Pelton: The NBA gains a temporary advantage by adjusting the event’s structure. The implementation of team drafting and the introduction of a specific target score (known as the “Elam ending”) initially led to more keenly contested matches, prior to regressing to the defensive void observed thereafter. I anticipate that the international squad, especially, will approach the proceedings with earnestness, compelling their American adversaries to elevate their performance. Nonetheless, I do not foresee this, or any other measure, providing a permanent “remedy” for the All-Star Game.

Kram: Victor Wembanyama will secure the MVP distinction. Tall players infrequently claim this accolade at the All-Star event—it has been awarded to a guard or small forward in 13 out of the last 15 years, with Anthony Davis and Giannis Antetokounmpo being the only divergences—yet Wembanyama’s intense drive means he will acquire an edge simply by treating the occasion with earnestness. During his debut All-Star Game last year, he topped his team in points (11 points in seven minutes), and both he and Chris Paul faced disqualification for attempting to capitalize on a regulation flaw in the skills competition.