Jan. 20, 2026, 5:01 p.m. CT
The informal became formal on Monday. The 2026 NBA All-Star starters were announced. To no one’s surprise, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was named as one for the third consecutive season. It’s the fourth All-Star bid of his career.
As long as Gilgeous-Alexander remains healthy, he should participate in the weekend festivities for the foreseeable future. The reigning MVP has had a season worthy of bringing home a second prestigious trophy.
With the Oklahoma City Thunder sitting atop the NBA standings and the title favorite, Gilgeous-Alexander has averaged 31.8 points on 54.8% shooting, 6.2 assists and 4.3 rebounds. The NBA All-Star break celebrates the game’s best players and gives teams a chance to collect their breath before the stretch run.
Hoping to drum up interest, the NBA has undergone a new format change to the All-Star Game. That’s been an ongoing storyline for years. It’s a battle that Adam Silver is willing to fight for through the rest of his run as the NBA Commissioner.
This year, the NBA All-Star Game will go with a complex round robin tournament. Per usual, there will be 24 All-Star players — 12 from each conference. It will be a Team USA vs. Team World format. There will be three teams made up of eight players. Two teams will consist of American players, while the other team will consist of international players.
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The round-robin tournament will feature four 12-minute games. Team A will play Team B in Game 1. The Game 1 winner will face Team C in Game 2, followed by the Game 1 loser facing Team C in Game 3.
After Game 3, the top two teams by record will advance to face each other in the championship game. If all three teams have a 1-1 record after Game 3, the tiebreaker would be point differential in each team’s two round-robin games.
Yeah. Good luck explaining that calculus-esque format to your average sports fan who only tunes in because nothing else is going on that Sunday evening.
Gilgeous-Alexander, of course, will be part of Team World. The Canadian will be joined by some of the NBA’s players in Nikola Jokic, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Luka Doncic and Victor Wembanyama. Those other four were also named All-Star starters.
“Should be very fun. The world side has some pretty impressive talents and has caught up to the USA side,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “When I was watching the game back in the day, I don’t think you could’ve done this format because the world didn’t have this many All-Stars. I think it’s cool to see the game evolve globally. We’re here today, so should be fun.”
The 2026 NBA All-Star Game will take place on Sunday, Feb. 15. This year’s weekend extravaganza will happen at LA’s Intuit Dome. There’s a strong chance that Gilgeous-Alexander is joined by Chet Holmgren for Sunday’s event.