NBA All-Star Game rosters revealed; Clippers’ Kawhi Leonard added
Stephen Curry will once again join his Olympic teammates LeBron James and Kevin Durant, this time at the NBA All-Star Game.
The league announced rosters for this season’s mid-season flagship event on Tuesday evening, splitting 25 names into three teams. It’s the start of another new All-Star format – this one USA vs. World, on February 15 at the home of the LA Clippers in Inglewood, California.
🇫🇷STARS USA. USA STRIPES. WORLD. 🌍
Introducing the 2026 NBA All-Star Game rosters!
The three teams will compete in a round-robin tournament, with the top two teams advancing to the championship game.
🌟 Sunday, February 15, 5 p.m./et, NBC and Peacock pic.twitter.com/lhwz8lY9Wu
-NBA (@NBA) February 4, 2026
It’s a concept that Commissioner Adam Silver believes will contribute to the players’ national pride and is timely. The match will be broadcast on NBC, which also broadcasts the Milan Cortina Olympics which begins later this week and continues until February 22.
The concept of USA vs. World was talked about for years before becoming a reality this season. The NBA and National Basketball Players Association unveiled the long-awaited plan in their latest attempt to spark renewed interest in the game after a widely criticized tournament format last season.
The Clippers’ Kawhi Leonard, probably the most deserving name on the original 24 All-Star roster, was added to the U.S. player pool on Tuesday shortly before the rosters were revealed. And it was probably this decision that sent New York’s Karl-Anthony Towns to the world team.
Towns was born in New Jersey but played international basketball for the Dominican Republic, his late mother’s native country.
The NBA had said in recent months that it would adjust roster sizes as necessary to ensure all three teams have at least eight players, the minimum required in the new format. Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo is not expected to play for the World team due to injury, which is why this team has nine players.
The American teams were divided according to age: the oldest players were assigned to the USA Stripes, coached by Mitch Johnson of San Antonio, the youngest to the USA Stars, coached by JB Bickerstaff of Detroit. Darko Rajakovic of Toronto was named coach of the world team earlier Tuesday.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
