2026 NBA All-Star: Biggest surprises and snubs as full rosters revealed

As the calendar approaches February, the NBA All-Star Game is only two weeks away. The starters were announced on January 19 and include Luka Doncic, Stephen Curry, Nikola Jokic, Victor Wembanyama and reigning MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander in the West. Jalen Brunson, Cade Cunningham, Jaylen Brown, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Tyrese Maxey were named starters in the East.

The reserves were announced Sunday, including Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James and Kevin Durant in the West, as well as Donovan Mitchell and Karl-Anthony Towns in the East.

ESPN NBA insiders Zach Kram and Kevin Pelton break down the full East and West rosters, including the biggest surprises and snubs, and make their bold predictions.

Which player were you most surprised to see on the roster?

Pelton: LeBron James is the obvious choice, but seeing Karl-Anthony Towns added was surprising because his play this season has sparked a lot of pessimism and the Knicks have been a bit of a disappointment. I think teammate Mikal Bridges is New York’s second-best player after starter Jalen Brunson. Given Towns’ track record, the choice is certainly reasonable but surprising nonetheless.

Kram: Lebron. It seems silly to be surprised that a player who has appeared in the last 21 All-Star games has made 22 in a row. But James missed the first month, his stats are down in his age-41 season and competition is fierce in the Western Conference player pool, leaving many surprised that that was the last name revealed during the All-Star roster announcement.

Which player were you most surprised to see excluded?

Pelton: Kawhi Leonard. They’re a top-10 team this season, and after a terrible start, the LA Clippers have been one of the hottest teams in the league since Christmas. Anthony Edwards was the only Western reserve I would have picked over Leonard. If I had to win the Finals MVP multiple times in Los Angeles, Leonard was an easy choice over James.

Kram: Alperen Sengun was an All-Star for the first time last season, improved as a defender and has better stats across the board this season, while helping the Houston Rockets achieve the second-best point differential in the West. New Rocket Kevin Durant was a favorite, but I think Sengun should have given Houston a second All-Star rep, even if it meant Devin Booker was out and the surprising Phoenix Suns didn’t have a player on the team.

Are we close to enough international All-Stars to play a normal 12-on-12 USA/World match?

Pelton: We might be closer in terms of international matches than East versus West. Part of the answer depends on the NBA’s definition of international. Donovan Mitchell recently argued to Marc J. Spears of Andscape that he would like to represent Panama, where his grandmother was born. If the NBA pushed every possible case like that or that of Kyrie Irving (born in Australia, although he grew up in the United States), it could reach 12 years without diluting the meaning of being an All-Star.

Kram: There are almost enough worthy international players to fill out a 12-person roster; if that were the setting this season, the current eight international All-Stars would likely be joined by Sengun, Lauri Markkanen, Franz Wagner (despite a lack of playing time) and Joel Embiid. (Embiid was born in Cameroon but plays for Team USA internationally; the NBA could also choose to list Towns, who was born in New Jersey but plays for the Dominican Republic, as an international representative.) Josh Giddey, OG Anunoby and Dillon Brooks also have outside cases.

However, these players generally do not have better All-Star case than the ninth to 12th best Americans, so I wouldn’t advocate such a consequential change just yet. Let’s see how the format works with three teams (two American, one international) this year before deciding if the NBA should change the All-Star format again.

Give us a bold prediction for the All-Star Game/mini-tournament.

Pelton: The NBA gains a short-term advantage by changing formats. Team building and the introduction of target scoring (aka the “Elam ending”) initially led to more competitive games, before leading to the defenseless game we’ve seen since. I could see the international team, in particular, taking things seriously and forcing their American opponents to up their game. However, I don’t see this or anything else “fixing” the All-Star Game in the long run.

Kram: Victor Wembanyama wins MVP honors. Big men rarely win this award at the All-Star Game — it’s gone to a guard or wing in 13 of the last 15 years, with Anthony Davis and Giannis Antetokounmpo the only exceptions — but Wembanyama is so competitive that he’ll gain an edge simply by taking the event seriously. 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 trying to exploit a loophole in the skills challenge.