The NBA announced its All-Star starters on Monday and to the surprise of no one, Los Angeles Lakers star Luka Dončić took center stage, winning the fan poll by almost 200,000 votes.
The announcement came during the NBA on NBC pregame show ahead of the Oklahoma City Thunder-Cleveland Cavaliers game to tip-off the league’s Martin Luther King Jr. Day broadcast slate.
The fan vote accounted for 50% of the selection process, along with a survey of NBA players and a media panel that were each responsible for 25%. The starters were chosen regardless of position.
Dončić — who led both previous rounds of the fan vote in the weeks leading up to Monday’s reveal — held onto his lead with 3,402,967 total votes. He was the only player in the Western Conference to break three million votes; the next closest player to him was Giannis Antetokounmpo, who received 3,218,398 votes.
Despite being the top vote-getter among fans, Doncic finished sixth in the player survey and second in the media survey with 95 votes apiece. Notably, his Lakers running mate, LeBron James, saw his 21-year all-star starter streak end.
NBA All-Star Game starters
Western Conference
Here is the full starting five for the West:
- Stephen Curry, Golden State Warriors (12th All-Star selection)
- Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Oklahoma City Thunder (fourth)
- Luka Dončić, Los Angeles Lakers (sixth)
- Victor Wembanyama, San Antonio Spurs (second)
- Nikola Jokić, Denver Nuggets (eighth)
Eastern Conference
Here are all five starters from the East:
- Cade Cunningham, Detroit Pistons (second All-Star selection)
- Jalen Brunson, New York Knicks (third)
- Tyrese Maxey, Philadelphia 76ers (second)
- Jaylen Brown, Boston Celtics (fifth)
- Giannis Antetokounmpo, Milwaukee Bucks (10th)
When is the 2026 NBA All-Star Game?
This year’s All-Star Weekend will be held from February 13-15 at the Intuit Dome in Inglewood, California. The festivities will tip-off on Friday with the Celebrity All-Star Game and Rising Stars Game, followed by the three-point and dunk contest on Saturday all leading up to Sunday’s All-Star Game.
This year’s format, however, will be a little different. Instead of a traditional East vs. West matchup or the pickup-style experiments of years past, the NBA is pivoting to a USA vs. the World format. The All-Stars will be split into three teams consisting of eight players and will compete in a round-robin tournament. Reserves will be chosen by the coaches, though there is a contingency plan in which commissioner Adam Silver would fill out the teams if there are not enough domestic or international players.
