ATLANTA – Giannis Antetokounmpo remains one of the NBA’s global superstars, as the Milwaukee Bucks forward was once again voted to start in the 2026 all-star game. It is his 10th consecutive selection and start, the longest active streaks in the league.
Antetokounmpo dueled with the Los Angeles Lakers’ Luka Dončić to be the top fan vote-getter this season, and Dončić edged him with 3.4 million votes to 3.2 million for the Bucks star. Antetokounmpo had been the leading vote-getter in 2024 and 2025.
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“He’s huge,” Bucks head coach Doc Rivers said of Antetokounmpo’s star power. “Not only here, but around the world. He’s a worldly player. Whenever we come to a different town, you can tell people with Giannis jerseys on. There’s going to be fans (in Atlanta) that paid for tickets and have never seen him play and this will be their first time ever witnessing him playing, and I always think about what Michael (Jordan) said about that – you never know who’s first time it is and you want to give a great performance. That’s what makes the great players, great. They have the ability to keep that in brains and do it every night.”
It will be Antetokounmpo’s 10th straight all-star game start. He is the 45th player in history to be selected to at least 10. Only Patrick Ewing (11), Hakeem Olajuwon (12), Dirk Nowitzki (14) and Tim Duncan (15) have more all-star appearances as international players.
Mar 7, 2021; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Team LeBron forward Giannis Antetokounmpo of the Milwaukee Bucks (34) reacts to being named the MVP of the 2021 NBA All-Star Game at State Farm Arena. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports
Antetokounmpo was the MVP of the 2021 showcase.
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Heading into play Jan. 19, Antetokounmpo was averaging 28.8 points, 9.5 rebounds and 5.5 assists per game in 27 appearances. He was shooting 64.7% from the field.
Earlier in the season, Antetokounmpo set the NBA record for most career games with at least 30 points, 10 rebounds and five assists. He also became the sixth-youngest player to score 21,000 career points.
Antetokounmpo was joined by Jaylen Brown (Boston), Jalen Brunson (New York), Cade Cunningham (Detroit) and Tyrese Maxey (Philadelphia) as starters voted in from the Eastern Conference.
Luka Dončić (Los Angeles Lakers), Nikola Jokić (Denver), Stephen Curry (Golden State), Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (Oklahoma City) and Victor Wembanyama (San Antonio) were voted as starters from the Western Conference. The format for the game has changed, however, as there will be one “world” team made up of international players and two teams made up of players representing the United States. The three teams will play a round-robin format.
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NBA commissioner Adam Silver can add players to fill out the rosters if not enough players are selected to fit the criteria. The all-star game will be held in Los Angeles on Feb. 15 at the Intuit Dome.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Bucks’ Giannis Antetokounmpo voted to 10th straight NBA all-star game