The NBA Allstar Game will be played in a new mode this season – it will be a small tournament.
As the league announced, the tournament will take place on February 15, 2026 in Los Angeles with two US teams and an international selection. The three teams will initially each compete against each other once. The two teams with the best record meet in the championship game. All games last twelve minutes. The NBA announces the tournament under the title “USA vs. the World”.
Last season, the NBA had already held the Allstar Game in a tournament format. At that time there were three teams made up of seasoned professionals and a selection of up-and-coming talents.
Nominations by fans, players and media
Each team will consist of at least eight players, and a total of twelve professionals from each of the two conferences will take part in the all-star tournament. While five players each from the Western and Eastern Conferences are selected as “starters” by fans (50 percent), NBA professionals (25 percent) and media (25 percent) regardless of their position, the NBA head coaches nominate the remaining 14 all-stars.
According to the NBA, how the chosen US professionals will be distributed between the two teams will be determined at a later date. If the vote does not select 16 U.S. players and eight international players, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver will select additional all-stars to ensure each group reaches its minimum. This could result in a team having more than eight players on the roster.